Adobe Acrobat is a family of application software and Web services developed by Adobe Inc. to view, create, manipulate, print and manage files in Portable Document Format (PDF).
The family comprises Acrobat Reader (formerly Reader), Acrobat (formerly Exchange) and Acrobat.com. The basic Acrobat Reader, available for several desktop and mobile platforms, is freeware; it supports viewing, printing and annotating of PDF files.[20] Additional, “Premium”, services are available for reader on paid subscription. The commercial proprietary Acrobat, available for Microsoft Windows and macOS only, can also create, edit, convert, digitally sign, encrypt, export and publish PDF files. Acrobat.com complements the family with a variety of enterprise content management and file hosting services.
First release (version 1.0) on DOS platform in June 1993, and although a lot has changed in the last few years. Among its many features this PDF reader includes printing, adding comments, e-signing your PDF documents and sync features with multiple devices. Adobe Acrobat Document Cloud (DC) is the latest edition, is connected to Adobe Document Cloud services.
The main function of Adobe Acrobat is creating and viewing PDF documents. It can import popular document and image formats and save them as PDF. It is also possible to import a scanner’s output, a website, or the contents of the Windows clipboard.
Because of the nature of the PDF, however, once a PDF document is created, its natural organization and flow cannot be meaningfully modified. In other words, Adobe Acrobat is able to modify the contents of paragraphs and images, but doing so does not repaginate the whole document to accommodate for a longer or shorter document. Acrobat can crop PDF pages, change their order, manipulate hyperlinks, digitally sign a PDF file, add comments, redact certain parts of the PDF file, and ensure its adherence to such standards as PDF/A.
What’s new in Acrobat DC
Top new features and changes in December 2019 release of Acrobat DC

Acrobat DC with Adobe Document Cloud services is the complete PDF solution for working with your most important documents across desktop, web, and mobile devices. Get the latest Acrobat update – on the Help menu, click Check for updates and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the update process.
Search content across files stored in Document Cloud
The search in Acrobat now includes the content of the file in addition to the filename for the files stored in the Document Cloud.
Performance improvements
The following are the key performance improvements in this release:
- Instant rendering of Recent files while switching tabs on the left rail or from the document tabs.
- Creating a review link is now 30% faster.
- Unified search is now 200% faster.
- The download of Document Cloud files and Signature files is now 10 times faster.
- Improved performance of background processes running when you launch Acrobat.
- 15 top crash issues and more than 20 security vulnerabilities are fixed.
A new option in the PDF print settings to replace the existing PDF
When you print a document to PDF using the Adobe PDF printer, you can now choose whether you want to replace the existing PDF file having the same filename in the selected directory. By default, the Replace Existing PDF option is set to Always.
To change the setting, set the Adobe PDF Output Folder to any folder, and then choose one of the options in the Replace Existing PDF drop-down list:
- Always: The existing file is automatically replaced with the new file.
- Ask Every time: You are prompted to enter a new filename and your permission is required before replacing the existing file.
- Never: The new filename is suffixed with a number automatically.
Sign out from Acrobat using your profile and settings menu
To sign out from Acrobat, click your profile picture (avatar) in the upper-right corner of Acrobat and then click Sign Out.
Share files directly from the Windows Explorer context menu
When you right-click a file in Windows Explorer, you see a new Share Using Adobe Acrobat option to share files directly from the context menu.
- In Windows Explorer, right-click the file and choose Share Using Adobe Acrobat.
Note:
Adobe is testing this new PDF sharing experience on Windows. Therefore, the new experience may not be available to all Acrobat DC users.
Also, in the right-click context menu of Windows Explorer, the earlier Convert to Adobe PDF And Email option is now changed to Create And Share Adobe PDF.
Simplified messaging for optimizing PDFs
When you optimize one or more PDFs, the multiple progress bars that used to appear are now replaced with a single progress bar.
The edit text and images tool is available in the quick access toolbar
The Edit Text and Images tool is now added to the top toolbar for easy access.
Note:
If you have customized your quick tools, the Edit Text and Images tool will not be visible in the toolbar.
Enhance Scans tool is renamed to Scan and OCR
The Enhance Scans tool is now renamed to Scan & OCR to better portray and emphasize on OCR capabilities.
Simplified service conversion error message
Applicable to Acrobat DC on macOS
The Adobe Create PDF online service has a file size limitation of 100 MB. When you try to convert a Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file larger than 100 MB, the error message that used to appear is now simplified for better context. The dialog box also provides an option to use the Acrobat local PDF converter instead.
Open PDFs in Acrobat Reader from Google Chrome
A new floating Open in Acrobat button is displayed in Google Chrome when you open an online PDF. On clicking the button, the PDF is downloaded and opened in Acrobat Reader.
Note:
Adobe is testing this feature. Therefore, the new experience may not be available to all Acrobat Reader users.
Benefits
- Documents always look exactly the same
- Documents can be distributed worldwide for almost zero cost and then be digitally printed.
- Documents can be magnified by up to 1600%, without diminishing the quality.
- The documents can be navigated by keyword search, table of contents or hyperlinks.
- The format is ideal for presentations, since PDF documents always look exactly the same on all platforms.
- The file format is very compact, so files can be sent quickly to recipients.
- Ideal for archiving, since the look and feel of documents is retained and the document size is compact
- The file format is essential for business documents like agreements and forms that must retain their exact appearance for legal reasons.
Licensing
It is available for either licensing Acrobat Standard DC and Acrobat Pro DC for individuals, or for Business in Acrobat DC for teams or Acrobat DC for enterprise under licensing subscription basis. For your licensing requirement, feel free to contact E-SPIN, we can supply in hassle free all-in-one solution, include hardware (desktop, laptop, workstation with operating system), range of scanners and third-party software application you may needed in one package solution.
System requirements
Acrobat Pro DC
These system requirements are for Adobe Acrobat Pro DC software. Because system requirements change with each software update.
Windows
- 1.5GHz or faster processor
- Windows Server 2008 R2 (64 bit), 2012 (64 bit), 2012 R2 (64 bit)†, 2016 (64 bit), or 2019 (64 bit); Windows 7 SP1 (32 bit and 64 bit), Windows 8, 8.1 (32 bit and 64 bit)†, or Windows 10 (32 bit and 64 bit)
- 1GB of RAM
- 4.5GB of available hard-disk space
- 1024×768 screen resolution
- Internet Explorer 11; Firefox (ESR); or Chrome
- Video hardware acceleration (optional)
macOS
Note:
Pre-August 2019 versions of Acrobat DC, Acrobat 2017, and Acrobat 2015 applications cannot be licensed on macOS 10.15 Catalina. Adobe recommends customers updating their Acrobat DC, Acrobat 2017, or Acrobat 2015 to the latest release. To update from within the application, on the Help menu, choose Check for updates and follow onscreen instructions to complete the update process.
- Intel processor
- macOS v10.12, macOS v10.13, macOS v10.14, or macOS v10.15*
- Safari 10.0 or 11.0 (browser plug-in for Safari supported on 64-bit Intel processor only)
- 1GB of RAM
- 2.75GB of available hard-disk space
- 1024×768 screen resolution
Mobile apps**
- Adobe Acrobat Reader: iOS, Android, Windows Phone
- Adobe Scan: iOS, Android
- Adobe Fill & Sign: iOS, Android
- Adobe Sign: iOS, Android
Browser**
These requirements apply to the Acrobat Pro DC subscription plan and are in addition to the requirements listed above.
- Microsoft Windows 10 using Internet Explorer 11, Firefox, or Chrome
- Microsoft Windows 8 using Internet Explorer 10 or later, Firefox, or Chrome
- Microsoft Windows 7 using Internet Explorer 8 or later, Firefox, or Chrome
- Microsoft Windows Vista using Internet Explorer 8 or 9, Firefox, or Chrome
- macOS v10.12 or later using Safari 10 or later, Firefox, or Chrome
The Send for Signature tool – which is included with Acrobat Pro DC subscription plans – relies on cloud services provided by Adobe Sign and has unique browser requirements. View requirements.
Acrobat Standard DC
These system requirements are for Adobe Acrobat Standard DC software. Because system requirements change with each software update.
Windows
- 1.5GHz or faster processor
- Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (64 bit), 2012 (64 bit), 2012 R2 (64 bit)†, 2016 (64 bit), or 2019 (64 bit); Windows 7 SP1 (32 bit and 64 bit), Windows 8, 8.1 (32 bit and 64 bit)†, or Windows 10 (32 bit and 64 bit)
- 1GB of RAM
- 4.5GB of available hard-disk space
- 1024×768 screen resolution
- Internet Explorer 11; Firefox (ESR)
- Video hardware acceleration (optional)
Mobile apps*
- Adobe Acrobat Reader: iOS, Android, Windows Phone
- Adobe Scan: iOS, Android
- Adobe Fill & Sign: iOS, Android
- Adobe Sign: iOS, Android
Browser*
These requirements apply to the Acrobat Standard DC subscription plan and are in addition to the requirements listed above.
- Microsoft Windows 10 using Internet Explorer 11, Firefox, or Chrome
- Microsoft Windows 8 using Internet Explorer 10 or later, Firefox, or Chrome
- Microsoft Windows 7 using Internet Explorer 8 or later, Firefox, or Chrome
- Microsoft Windows Vista using Internet Explorer 8 or 9, Firefox, or Chrome
The Send for Signature tool – which is included with an Acrobat Standard DC subscription – has unique browser requirements.
Note:
Adobe online services are available only to users 13 and older and require agreement to additional terms and the Adobe Privacy Policy. Online services are not available in all countries or languages, may require user registration, and may be discontinued or modified in whole or in part without notice. Additional fees or subscription charges may apply.