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New and enhanced tools in Acrobat 6.0 Professional enable users to quickly create high-quality Adobe PDF files, including PDF/X-compliant documents. PDF/X is an ISO standard that ensures reliable printing of press-ready, high-end colour materials in the publishing industry.

After Adobe PDF creation, Acrobat 6.0 Professional allows creative professionals to quickly validate file quality and ensure proper document output. Along with advanced viewing tools that improve page navigation, the product offers powerful and extensive preflight, output preview and colour separation features to ensure Adobe PDF files will be viewed and printed exactly as intended. Preflight reports can now be embedded in Adobe PDF files to provide information to printers about potential trouble spots in print jobs.

Acrobat 6.0 Professional also enables users to: create PDF files with the click of a button from Microsoft Office applications; create lists of reviewers and track the feedback received by gathering comments into a single Adobe PDF file, or view them collectively in a separate window for easy reconciliation; reduce late-stage errors by sending PDF files for final output by printing composite output for high-quality proofs, saving composite EPS files, or creating host-based or in-RIP separations; check PDF files to ensure proper creation, and preview colour separations as well as transparency flattening; create interactive electronic forms that can be completed and submitted online, simplifying review processes in small workgroups; and create custom stamps or dynamic date-time

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stamps, and redline documents with oval, cloud, and other drawing tools.

'Creative professionals look to Adobe for cutting-edge products that help them deliver stellar work under extremely tight schedules,' said James Heeger, senior vice president, Creative Professional Products, Adobe Systems. 'Products like Adobe InDesign have pioneered a PDF print workflow and with Acrobat 6.0 Professional we're building even more efficiency and reliability into the creative process. From the creation and secure distribution of creative files in Adobe PDF, to advanced capabilities for preflighting and previewing documents, creative professionals now have the power to reliably work electronically with their colleagues, clients and vendors.'

Acrobat 6.0 Professional is part of the new Acrobat 6.0 product line which also includes Acrobat 6.0 Standard, enabling workgroups to simplify document reviews using intuitive tools and a new, task-based interface. Acrobat Elements is a volume-license-only product that allows enterprises to place inexpensive Adobe PDF creation capability on every desktop, enabling reliable document distribution.

Acrobat 6.0 Professional is expected to ship in May 2003 for £355; users of Acrobat 4 and 5 will be able to upgrade for £109. Acrobat 6.0 Standard will cost £235 with upgrades available at £75. All prices are estimates high street prices and include VAT

The company also announced Adobe Reader 6.0, an upgrade and re-naming of the widely distributed, free Acrobat Reader. Adobe Reader, which supports numerous desktop and mobile device platforms, is the definitive application for viewing, interacting with and printing Adobe PDF content ranging from business documents and forms to Photoshop Album slide shows, eBooks, and embedded multimedia. Adobe Reader will be available by the end of May 2003.