All single key shortcuts are disabled by default. To enable them, go to Edit Preferences Use Single-key accelerators to access tools. H: Use hand tool. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is a free software to. 3) Get Fast Access to Tools with Single Key Accelerators Single key accelerators let you quickly get to tools by typing a single keystroke such as Z for the Zoom Tool or H for the Hand Tool. Oddly, these are on by default in other Adobe applications, but not in Acrobat.

Become familiar with Adobe Acrobat 6 to ease your efforts with PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Discover keyboard shortcuts for Acrobat tools; get to know File menu commands for opening, closing, and saving PDF files; and when you’re ready, print your PDF files.

Handy Keyboard Shortcuts in Acrobat 6

Adobe Acrobat 6 is chock-full of keyboard shortcuts. To make these keystrokes work, choose Edit→Preferences or press Ctrl+K (Acrobat→Preferences or Command+K on Mac) to open the Preferences dialog box. Choose General on the scroll list to display those options in the dialog box, and in the Miscellaneous area, select the Use Single-Key Accelerators to Access Tools check box, and then click OK.

When the feature is activated, the ToolTips that appear when you hover the mouse pointer over a button tool show not only the tool’s name but its keystroke shortcut, or single-key accelerators, as Adobe likes to call them.

The following table shows the shortcut keystrokes for all the tools in Acrobat 6 that use the single-key accelerators feature:

Common Commands on the Acrobat 6 File Menu

The File menu in Acrobat 6 is home to the common command items for opening, closing, and saving PDF files. Because you can edit PDF files in Acrobat 6, this menu contains a Save option for saving editing changes, as well as a Save As command for renaming, saving copies, and changing file formats. Acrobat 6 also lets you use the Save as Certified Document command to vouch for the contents of a document by digitally signing it.

Among the items for opening, closing, and saving files and the standard print (Page Setup and Print) and exiting commands (Exit on Windows and Quit on the Mac), are various File menu commands categorized in the following areas:

• PDF Creation/Viewing: Use the Create PDF command to easily create a new PDF file from another file, multiple files, your scanner, a web page, or an item in the Clipboard. Choosing any of the commands on the Create PDF submenu opens a dialog box that enables you to select your source items for PDF creation. The My Bookshelf command lets you access your Adobe eBook library and read eBooks within Acrobat 6.

• E-mail: Use the E-mail command to open your default e-mail program and attach the current PDF document to a new message. You can also use the Send by E-mail for Review command to initiate an e-mail review of the current PDF document.

  Choosing the command opens a dialog box where you enter a return e-mail address that reviewers will use to send Comments from a review of an attached PDF back to you. The e-mail address you enter is saved for future reviews. When reviewers receive and open the PDF file in Acrobat 6, they use the Send Comments to Review Initiator command to send their comments back to you.

• Comment/Review: In addition to sending PDF files for review and receiving comments via e-mail, you can also use the Upload for Browser-Based Review command (Windows only) to send a PDF file to a specified server on a local network, company intranet, or the web. Others can then review the online document in their web browsers and provide comments that are uploaded and stored in an Online Comments Repository that you, as the initiator, can review.

  You use the Export Comments to Word command to create a Microsoft Word document containing comments attached to the current PDF file. Note that the PDF file must be tagged using the Accessibility options in order to use this command.

• Printing: Use the Print with Comments command to select print formatting options for a PDF file and its annotations in the Summarize Options dialog box. Here you choose the page layout, the specific comments and how they are sorted in the printout, and font size of printed comments.

Don’t forget the very valuable Revert item on the File menu. You can use the File→Revert command to dump all the edits that you’ve made since you last saved your PDF document. Click the Revert button in the alert dialog box that appears, asking you if you want to revert to the previously saved version of the file, and Acrobat opens this last-saved version without bothering to save your edits.

How to Print PDF Files in Acrobat 6

Printing PDF documents in Adobe Acrobat 6 or Adobe Reader 6 is very similar to printing documents in any other Windows or Macintosh application program that you use.

Before you print a file, you can change the general print settings, such as the paper size or the printing orientation from the default of portrait mode to landscape mode. To change these settings, choose File→Page Setup in Acrobat or Adobe Reader or press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Command+Shift+P on the Mac) to open the Page Setup dialog box, modify the printing options as desired, and then click OK. The actual options and controls available in the Page Setup dialog box vary according to the actual printer selected as your default.

If you just need a printout of the document’s pages using the standard Print options, follow these simple steps:

1. Choose File→Print (in Acrobat or Adobe Reader) or press Ctrl+P (Command+P on the Mac).

   The Print dialog box opens.

2. If you have more than one printer installed on your system, select a different printer to print the PDF document by selecting the name of the printer in the Name drop-down list (Windows) or by selecting a different printer on the Printer drop-down list (Mac).

3. Specify which pages you want to print by doing one of the following:

   • To print all the pages in the current PDF document, leave the All radio button selected.

   • To print just the area of a document that is currently visible in the Acrobat document window, select the Current View radio button.

   • To print only the page currently displayed in Acrobat or Adobe Reader, select the Current Page radio button.

   • To print a continuous range of pages in the document, select the Pages radio button and enter the first page to print in the From text box and the last page to print in the To text box.

4. Click the OK button to begin printing the pages of your PDF file.

Adding More Function To Adobe Reader

You may look over the new Adobe Reader 8 and wish for more features or wonder why Adobe Systems didn’t add more to the newest release. If the thought occurs to you, keep in mind that Adobe Systems offers the Reader software free of charge. Adobe Reader is certainly one of the most feature-rich applications that can be acquired without purchase.

If you want more from Adobe Reader, you do have other purchase options available to you from Adobe Systems. From PDF creation to saving form data for enterprise solutions, Adobe does make these features available to you in the form of online services and server-sideapplications.

If your clients or colleagues don’t have Acrobat Standard or Acrobat Professional and they need to create an occasional PDF file, they can download the free Adobe Reader software and choose File >> Create Adobe PDF Online.

Create Adobe PDF Online is a Web service from Adobe Systems that permits users to upload documents of several different file types. The user uploads the file(s) to Adobe’s Web site, where it is then converted to PDF and sent back to the user.

A free trial period enables you to create your first five PDFs free of charge. After the fifth PDF creation, the cost is $9.99 (US) per month or an annual subscription of $99.99 (US) per year.

Create PDF Online supports many different file formats. The native document formats are as follows:

• Microsoft Office. All Microsoft Office files for Mac and Windows.

• Other Microsoft formats. Microsoft Publisher is supported.

• Adobe formats. Those programs not supporting direct export to PDF, such as earlier versions of PageMaker without the PDF plug-in, are supported. All Creative Suite programs now support export to PDF and using a service to create PDF files is not necessary.

• AutoDesk AutoCAD. AutoCAD is supported.

• Adobe PostScript formats. Any program you use that’s capable of printing can be printed to disk as a PostScript file. You can submit the PostScript file for conversion to PDF.

• Text formats. All ASCII (American Code for Information Interchange) and Rich Text Format (RTF) files can be converted to PDF.

• Image formats. Most of the common image formats such as Windows bitmap (.bmp), GIF (.gif), JPEG (.jpg/.jpeg), PCX (.pcx), PICT (Macintosh) (.pct/.pict), PNG (.png), RLE (.rle), and TIFF (.tif) can be converted to PDF.

• Corel WordPerfect Office formats. Corel WordPerfect files can be converted to PDF.

In addition to Create PDF Online, Adobe also offers Create a Protected PDF Online where you can order PDF creation and security online. Adobe continually adds new services. To see the latest offerings for online services select Help >> Adobe Online Services.

The advanced tools in Adobe Reader for comment and markup, save forms, and digital signatures are features that are available through the Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions Server.

Adobe Acrobat Pro Single Key Accelerators

For users of earlier versions of Acrobat, Reader Extensions enabled users of Adobe Reader versions below 7.0 to perform comment and markup, save forms, and digital signatures functions.

The Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions Server is an enterprise solution intended for large companies that have the technology and resources to offer cost effective solutions for many users or those who want to automate processes like adding these enabling rights to PDFs.

As an example, for 250 users, individual costs break down to about $60 (US) per user. The addition of enabling documents for Reader users in Acrobat Professional to save form data and add digital signatures carries limitations in the End User License Agreement.

For enterprise solutions where the needs exceed the licensing limitations, the Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions server offers unlimited use of PDF files enabled with usage rights. For information about Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions Server, log on to Adobe’s Web site.

If you stop and think for a moment, software developers have to be struggling continually as a product is upgraded to determine what features need to be added and what features can be safely removed without creating problems for the user community.

As we evolve with software development, it would be virtually impossible to retain all features while adding new features for any program. At some point the application would become so large, performance would greatly suffer. Currently, the download for Acrobat Professional on the Mac exceeds 1 gigabyte.

To keep adding more features without eliminating the least used features would expand the program from 1 gigabyte to 2, then to 3 and so on as the program evolves. At some point the performance would deteriorate even on the most powerful computers.

As we upgrade software we will no doubt continually see some features eliminated in favor of newer features meeting more users’ needs and conforming to new technology developments. Features lost in Reader 8 include the Picture Tasks tool and Digital Editions Bookshelf.

You can no longer work with Pictures Tasks and the tool won’t appear when you open image files, files created in Adobe Photoshop Album, or Adobe Photoshop Elements. The Digital Editions Bookshelf really hasn’t been lost. It’s actually been revamped and improved and is now called the Adobe Digital Edition Library.

Some of the features you had with the Digital Edition Bookshelf don’t appear in the Adobe Digital Edition Library, such as creating categories and subcategories. However, the new user interface makes reading eBooks and Digital Editions more pleasing and appealing.

Adobe is a company that assesses each new product upgrade according to user feedback to determine what features are most often requested and what features are least used. This feedback shapes the development for the next product upgrade.

If you find a particular feature eliminated in a product upgrade, then voice your complaint. If enough users ask for a feature, you’ll see the feature return or be implemented in the next release. But be aware: A voice of one won’t change the development of a product. Adobe can respond only to the majority of users.

Viewing PDF Files

Acrobat viewers provide you with many different kinds of tools to view pages and move around PDF documents. As a visitor to PDFs created by other PDF authors, you can use many tools within the program to browse pages and find information quickly.

Single Key Accelerators Acrobat X Pro

As a PDF author you can create viewing options and links to views you know will help the end user explore your files. If you’re familiar with Acrobat 7 viewers, you’ll find little change with viewing options in Acrobat 8. Some of the tools have been reorganized a little, but their uses and the menu commands options are very similar to earlier versions of Acrobat.

Single Key Accelerators Acrobat Reader

Because Acrobat can do so many things for so many different working professionals, Adobe Systems didn’t intend for you to use all the tools and palettes in each editing session. Therefore, you have the opportunity to open and hide different tools and palettes depending on the kind of edits you want to make.

Open a context menu (right click Windows or Control click Mac) on the Toolbar Well and select More Tools. Scroll to the Page Navigation toolbar and check all tools. Scroll down to the File Toolbar and select the Organizer tool. Scroll further down to the Select and Zoom toolbar.

Check all tools and make certain a check mark appears adjacent to the Page Display Toolbar. Open a context menu on the Toolbar Well and select Dock Toolbars. Return to the context menu and select Button Labels >> All Labels. This view shows the names of tools within toolbars to help you become more familiar with tool names.

After loading toolbars and making choices in the context menu opened from the Toolbar Well, your Toolbar Well should look like Figure below.

Several tools and menu commands provide a means for navigating pages and documents. When you’re familiar with alternative methods, you can leave the Navigation toolbar hidden, especially if you’re using other toolbars that occupy a lot of room in the Toolbar Well. If you’re new to Acrobat, keep the Navigation toolbar open.

Perhaps one of the most difficult things for most of us to experience is change. Once we become familiar with some form of standard, we like to keep things simple and uncomplicated. The Acrobat User Interface (UI) has changed appearance in Acrobat 8 compared to all earlier versions of Acrobat.

With regard to toolbars and views, you can immediately see a difference in the UI in Acrobat 8. If you want to regain a little of the familiar, there are a few things you can do to get the appearance of the Acrobat workplace similar to what you’re familiar with in earlier viewers.

Follow the steps here to design your Acrobat work environment to regain more of a familiar view as you had with earlier Acrobat viewers. Note that what follows in the steps below is a matter of personal preference.

1. Set Preferences. A couple of Preference items will get you to a more familiar look when using Acrobat 8. Open the Preferences dialog box. The preference items to change include the following:

• Minimized document views. Click Documents in the left pane to open the Documents preferences (Windows only). If there’s one thing I really hate about the new UI, it’s having Acrobat windows minimized to a document’s page size.

Ten levels of toolbars get you a view like a page thumbnail in the Document pane. To prevent your files from defaulting to this view, remove the check from the box where you see Show each document in its own window (requires restart).

As the item description points out, you need to quit Acrobat and relaunch before the preference setting takes effect. This preference setting opens all your PDFs in a single window with one Toolbar Well.

If the check box is enabled, each document you open has a separate Toolbar Well. For the Mac users, unfortunately you’re stuck with the minimized view in Acrobat and all PDF files open with separate Toolbar Wells. There is no preference option on the Mac to change the default view.

• Enable single key accelerators. Click General in the left pane to open the General preferences. This option has always appeared off by default in Acrobat viewers since the preference was added to the General preferences. Check the box for Use single-key accelerators to access tools.

Doing so means that when you’re working on a document and you want to easily access the Zoom tool, you press the Z key. Pressing H gets you the Hand tool, and so on. There are many more preferences that apply to specific editing tasks and they are covered later.

For now, these preferences in Acrobat can help shape your editing environment for viewing and navigating PDF files. Remember though, these are all personal preferences and you can feel free to change items to suit your workflow.

• Always show document page size. Click page Display in the left pane to open the Page Display preferences. In earlier versions of Acrobat, a document’s page size was reported in the document window.

This is a critical bit of information for engineers, creating pros, and others who work with files other than standard letter sizes. By default, the information is not displayed. In the Page Display preferences check the box for Always show document page size.

If you don’t have the Always show document page size preference enabled, you can see document page sizes by moving the cursor to the lower left corner of a page. A pop-up display opens when the cursor is positioned in the lower-left corner reporting page sizes in the current established units of measure.

2. What happened to the Status bar? Another change in the UI in Acrobat 8 is the elimination of the Status Bar. Adobe removed the Status Bar because it often conflicted with your operating system status bar (the Status Bar on Windows and the Dock on the Mac).

Single Key Accelerators Acrobat

This new view provides you more room to view document pages and once you get used to viewing PDFs without the Status Bar, you’ll find the removal of the Status Bar to be a nice addition to Acrobat. If you really want to return to a view similar to earlier Acrobat viewers, you can add toolbars and dock them at the bottom of the Acrobat window.

The point is that Adobe has provided you with the flexibility to customize the Acrobat workplace to suit your personal taste. As an initial default, I recommend you don’t dock toolbars at the bottom of the Acrobat window and use the program.

Single Key Accelerators Acrobat Cloud

You’ll soon find that working with keyboard shortcuts and tools in the Toolbar Well will satisfy all your viewing needs without having to load toolbars at the bottom of the Acrobat window.

Adobe Acrobat Single Key Accelerators

3. Quit Acrobat. After you customize your toolbars and preference settings, quit Acrobat. Acrobat remembers the last settings you made to the toolbars arrangement. Just in case you start moving toolbars around for temporary views, you can return to your initial default by first quitting Acrobat, then restating the program.

4. Relaunch Acrobat. Open Acrobat and your settings will appear as you left them before quitting.