Anyone who's ever had to fill in a static PDF form will know what a nightmare it can be. Either you've got to take several steps to convert the PDF into something you can type on, or worse, dust off your printer (remember those?). Thankfully, Adobe and Google have now teamed up to create a much simpler solution to streamline the way we work with PDFs.
Adobe has launched a series of .new browser shortcuts, including PDF.new, which can immediately convert word docs into PDFs, and Sign.new, which will allow you to add text boxes to a static PDF. (Check out the best Photoshop shortcuts for more quick Adobe actions.)
New online tools: open https://t.co/EKx89yFS9E to create a free Adobe Acrobat PDF from a Microsoft Office or image file* https://t.co/9iAHZE8GmP create a PDF form that you can fill, sign, save, and send* https://t.co/O0UgQeeTzg convert jpg image to PDFhttps://t.co/7lxRSPmQOgJuly 30, 2020
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All you have to do is type these URLs into your browser, where you'll end up on an Adobe-branded page ready for you to upload a document. Other new tools include JPGtoPDF.new which can (as the name suggests), convert JPGs into PDFs, and CompressPDF.new, which (as the name also suggests) compress large PDFs. You can find the whole list on Adobe's website.
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Websites that can convert and compress PDFs are nothing new, but this is the first time we've seen official Adobe-branded offerings which, Adobe says, should reduce time spent "scouring the web just to get things done". While it might be a tall order to memorise the URLs for all 9 new Adobe shortcuts (above), bookmark them and you've got yourself a simple and powerful browser-based PDF studio.
In addition to the .new shortcuts, Adobe is also giving everyone access to 20 free Acrobat online tools – after signing in with a free Adobe ID, you can enjoy features such as the ability to send a contract for someone to sign, and to track the signer’s response in real time. If you want to use these more than once a day though, you'll need to sign up for one of Adobe's Acrobat plans.
.new links were introduced by Google in 2018, designed for "less clicking, more creating" by removing the need for menus or long URLs. Many G Suite services have their own shortcuts: doc.new and sheet.new will create a new Google Doc or Sheet respectively.
With Adobe's new shortcuts, creatives should be able to spend less time grappling with PDF-based admin, and more time actually creating. Take a look at the best digital art software for creatives.
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Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles. He has interviewed leaders and designers at brands including Apple, Microsoft and Adobe. Daniel's debut book of short stories and poems was published in 2018, and his comedy newsletter is a Substack Bestseller.
