The measuring tools are available to Acrobat Reader users only if the PDF creator enables measuring functionality. When you use a measuring tool, the Measurement Info panel shows information about the measurement, such as current measurement, delta values, and scale ratio. First, a quick note on cost: Acrobat Reader is free. Acrobat Pro is available as an annual subscription called Acrobat Pro DC (DC stands for Document Cloud) and as a one-time purchase called Acrobat Pro 2020. Adobe also offers a streamlined version of Acrobat called Acrobat Standard, which is currently only available for Windows. And, love it or hate it, PDF, the 'portable document format,' seems to be the go-to format for creating and sharing print-ready files, as well as archiving files that originated as print. For years, the only name in the game for working with PDF documents was Adobe Acrobat, whether in the form of their free reader edition or one of their paid.
Today's post discusses three differences between Acrobat Reader and Acrobat Pro to help you decide which program you should use for your PDF projects.
First, a quick note on cost: Acrobat Reader is free. Acrobat Pro is available as an annual subscription called Acrobat Pro DC (DC stands for Document Cloud) and as a one-time purchase called Acrobat Pro 2020. Adobe also offers a streamlined version of Acrobat called Acrobat Standard, which is currently only available for Windows.
This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.
Watch more than fifty other videos about Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat on my YouTube channel.
The images below show the 2019 versions of Adobe Acrobat Pro DC and Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. Adobe modifies its interfaces occasionally, so your software may look slightly different than these images.
1. Comment Tools (Editing Tools)
What most of us think of as editing tools (e.g., comments, strikethroughs, insertions, highlights), Adobe calls Comment tools. These tools are included in Acrobat Pro and the most up-to-date version of Acrobat Reader.
A significant difference between the two programs is that only Acrobat Pro lets you create and print comment and edit summaries and export comments and edits to Microsoft Word.
Additionally, Acrobat Pro offers more options for selecting and copying text into comment pop-ups.
2. Editing Tools
In the Adobe universe, Editing tools don't relate to copyediting but to direct manipulation of text and images, such as adding, moving, deleting, and rewriting text boxes, as well as adding images, watermarks, and headers and footers (which includes page numbers). These tools aren't available in Acrobat Reader.
3. Microsoft Word Conversion
In the Adobe universe, Editing tools don't relate to copyediting but to direct manipulation of text and images, such as adding, moving, deleting, and rewriting text boxes, as well as adding images, watermarks, and headers and footers (which includes page numbers). These tools aren't available in Acrobat Reader.
3. Microsoft Word Conversion
Acrobat Pro's Export tool lets you convert PDFs to Microsoft Word files and a variety of other formats. Acrobat Reader doesn't include this functionality without purchasing an add-on package. For many writers and editors, this is an important, if not the most important, difference between the two programs because many of us need to convert PDFs to Word files in order to edit them with Word's Track Changes tools.
Other Differences
Here are a several additional features that are only available in Acrobat Pro:
Change Adobe Reader To Pdf Pro As Default
- Comparing files
- Organizing (i.e., moving) pages
- Password protecting files
As you can see, the choice to use Acrobat Reader or Acrobat Pro will depend on your needs. I use Acrobat Pro because I frequently convert PDFs to Word files, compare PDFs, and move pages within PDFs.
Adobe Reader 11 Free Download
If you are an Acrobat Pro beginner or would like to learn new skills, explore my Adobe Acrobat page for a variety of entry-level and advanced tutorials.
