A
PDF Portfolio contains multiple files assembled into an integrated
PDF unit. The files in a PDF Portfolio can be in different formats
and created in different applications. For example, suppose you
have a project that includes text documents, email messages, spreadsheets,
CAD drawings, and PowerPoint presentations. You could combine all
of these documents into a PDF Portfolio. The original files retain
their individual identities but are assembled into one PDF Portfolio
file. Users can open, read, edit, and format each component file
independently of the other component files in the PDF Portfolio.
Create a PDF Portfolio by using the File > Create PDF Portfolio
command. In Windows, the Acrobat PDFMaker in Outlook and Lotus Notes
can create PDF Portfolios when you convert email messages.
Note: Adobe
Reader® users cannot create PDF Portfolios
or edit the layout, colors, headers, and so on.
Depending on the circumstances, PDF Portfolios offer several
advantages over merging multiple files into a single PDF:
- Adding and deleting
- Add or remove files easily, without having to find and select
all the pages that originated in that file.
- Previewing
- Quickly preview component files without having to open them
in their native applications.
- Editing
- Change individual files within the PDF Portfolio without
affecting the other files. For example, you can renumber pages in
one document without renumbering other documents in the PDF Portfolio.
You can also edit non-PDF files in their native applications from
within a PDF Portfolio; any changes you make are saved to the file
within the PDF Portfolio.
- Distribution
- Share a PDF Portfolio with others and be sure that they are
getting all the component parts.
- Sorting
- Sort component files by categories that you can add to, delete,
hide, and customize. Simply click a column name to sort the list.
- Printing
- Print all the PDFs in a PDF Portfolio, or selected component
PDFs.
- Searching
- Search one or all files in a PDF Portfolio. You can even
search non-PDF component files.
- Incorporating other formats
- Add non-PDF files to an existing PDF Portfolio without converting
them to PDF.
- Independence from source files
- The source files of a PDF Portfolio—even existing files you
add to the PDF Portfolio—are not changed when you create a PDF Portfolio.
Changes you make to the component files within a PDF Portfolio do
not change the original files from which you created the PDF Portfolio.
You can move a PDF Portfolio anywhere on your computer or network
without any risk of losing or disconnecting its components.
- Reuse
- Include the same file in multiple PDF Portfolios.
Note: PDF Portfolios
are different from collections that you create in the Acrobat Organizer.
Organizer collections are simply tools that help you find related
PDFs, regardless of where they are stored in the folder structure
on your computer. PDF Portfolios are actual PDF files, each of which
is stored in a single location on your computer. Also, PDFs attached
to other PDFs do not offer the same benefits as PDF Portfolios.
For videos on PDF Portfolios, see the following resources:
