Viewing, navigating, and searching

Beyond Adobe Reader window

At a glance, see the main features of Adobe® Reader® 8, and click links to start tasks, get Adobe news, or learn more about features. See Start in the Beyond Adobe Reader window.

Maximized work area

View PDFs in a new visual design for the work area, navigation pane, and toolbars. User interface elements have been removed to maximize space. See View the work area.

Customizable toolbars

Easily hide or show individual tools by right-clicking/Control-clicking a toolbar, or use the More Tools dialog box to customize toolbars. See Display and arrange toolbars.

Search enhancements

Find words or use advanced search tools, all from the same integrated toolbar. View search results in a floating, resizable panel. Search documents in a PDF package. See Search features overview.

Review and commenting

Acrobat Connect meetings

Access the real-time, web-based collaboration capabilities of Acrobat Connect (sold separately). Click the Start Meeting button to escalate from a document review to real-time communication with others over the Internet. Acrobat Connect uses Adobe Flash® CS3 Professional and a personal meeting room for screen sharing, audio and video conferencing, whiteboarding, and more. When you first click the Start Meeting button, you can create a free trial account. Each subsequent time, you go directly to your Acrobat Connect personal meeting room. (Acrobat Connect is not available in all languages.) See Meetings.

Shared reviews

Participate in a shared review. Comments are stored on a central server, allowing all participants to see comments in real time. No extra server software is needed. Shared reviews work with a folder on a network server, a Windows SharePoint workspace, or a web folder on a web server. Comments are automatically retrieved, even if Adobe Reader® isn’t running, and can be added even when you are disconnected from the network. Notifications alert users that there are new comments. Comments from reviewers outside the firewall can be merged into the shared review. See Participating in a PDF review.

Review Tracker

Provides details about all active reviews. For shared reviews, details include the number of comments from a reviewer, the review deadline, server status, unread reviews, and a summary of updated shared reviews. See Tracking PDF reviews.

Commenting and markup enhancements

View and accurately place callout and cloud markups as you apply them. The callout leader automatically moves as you position the callout. Selected comments are highlighted for easier visibility when zoomed out. Rotate stamps and select all tools from a single, integrated toolbar. See Commenting.

Digital signatures

Roaming IDs

Enroll in a signing service where the server holds your private key. Authenticate to the server from Acrobat and allow the document to be signed with your credentials stored on the server. See Set up a roaming ID account.

Signature preview mode and conformance checker

Before signing, view the document content as it will appear after eliminating transparency, scripts, fonts, and other dynamic content that can alter a document’s appearance. Reader automatically runs the Document Integrity Checker, which now includes checking for Qualified Signatures conformance before entering signature preview mode. See Sign in Preview Document mode.

Certificate enhancements

Predetermine the signing certificate. Configure the chain model for certificate validation. See Sharing and managing certificates.

Additional new features

FIPS mode

Version 8.1 of Reader provides a FIPS mode to restrict data protection to Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 approved algorithms using the RSA BSAFE Crypto-C 2.1 encryption module.

Microsoft Windows Vista™ support

Version 8.1 of Reader supports Windows Vista.

Installing Acrobat on 64-bit versions of Windows

Version 8.1 of Reader supports the 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Digital Editions

Read and organize eBooks and other publications with Adobe® Digital Editions (a separate product). When you first click the Digital Editions menu item, you can download and install the Adobe Digital Editions software. After installation, choose Digital Editions to go directly to your Adobe Digital Editions bookshelf. See Adobe Digital Editions.

Booklet printing

Print pages as a simple booklet, for example, 2-up, saddle-stitched. See Print a booklet.

Printing over the Internet

Print documents to a FedEx Kinkos office in the United States. See Print over the Internet.

PDF packages

Easily extract documents from a package. Search and print the current or selected document, or all documents within the package. See About PDF packages.

Forms Tracker

Track the forms you fill out. See About Forms Tracker.

2D Measurement tool enhancements

Measurement is recalculated if start or end points move. Measurements snap to lines, intersections, or corners. See Measure the height, width, or area of objects.

Support for Acrobat 3D Version 8

Version 8.1 of Reader supports Adobe® Acrobat® 3D version 8.