Adobe Acrobat 6

Moving up the ladder, Acrobat 6 Standard lets you combine files from different applications into a single document. The new Add Headers and Footers command adds consistent page numbering, while Add Watermark and Background lets you set up a shared look and feel. If you combine multiple JPEG images into a single PDF, you can use the new Picture Tasks commands to export, edit and print your photos based on imposition layouts.

As well as converting file formats to PDF, Acrobat Standard offers the ability to capture to PDF. The simplest version of capturing is the ability to convert a clipboard image. Paper Capture, which scans and converts existing documents, is in a different league. The scan is automatically OCRed so that the resulting text is searchable and the PDF size is kept to a minimum - ideal for archiving (especially if security is important, thanks to Acrobat's 128-bit encryption).

Even better is Acrobat's Web Capture. This lets you automatically convert web pages and entire websites to a single, easily archived PDF. Now the capability is built into Internet Explorer, which also supports in-browser viewing (this is also promised for Netscape 7). So you browse as normal, and then switch to PDF to automatically store pages you want to keep. With its integrated Explorer Bar side panel, you can quickly target different PDFs to organise your permanent web archives by subject.

But creating the PDF is only part of the story. With Acrobat 6 Standard, Adobe wants to make PDFs part of your everyday workflow, which means targeting workgroup collaboration. Acrobat has always offered commenting tools with which to annotate your PDFs, but their use has been pretty crude - the digital equivalent of plastering your document with sticky notes and then passing it on to the next user. Now the whole process has been overhauled.

The first sign of this is a revamp of the commenting tools. These have been rationalised with the less common options - such as Text Box, File Attachment and new Drawing options - moved to an Advanced Commenting toolbar. Meanwhile, the basic tools have been rethought. With the Text Edits tool it's now possible to automatically mark up insertions, deletions and replacements. The pop-up Note windows offer colour-coding, roll-over connector lines, background spell-checking, basic text formatting and even customisable semi-transparency.

Adding your comments is only part of an efficient workflow: someone needs to initiate and control the whole process. This is simple to do with the new Send by Email for Review command with which you send the PDF and instructions to all interested parties. When users have added their annotations, they just hit the Send Comments command to respond.

Rather than resending the edited PDF, this actually sends an FDF (Form Data Format) file to the originator; opening it automatically incorporates all comments into the single master file. Even more efficient for networked users or those with a WebDAV-enabled server is the Upload for Browser-based Review. This automatically adds all comments to the single master PDF, which is browsable and editable by all (you can also now reply to existing notes to create comment threads).

And that's not the end of Acrobat Standard's review capabilities. To manage the collaboration process, it offers the Review Tracker side panel so the initiator can check who's responded and remind those who haven't. When all comments have been gathered, it allows you to print out side-by-side pages and comments with connector lines, though it's much easier to work your way through them with the reworked Comments navigation pane.