Adobe somehow just made PDFs exciting

The humble PDF might not feel like cutting edge tech in 2025, but Adobe's out to change that. The software giant that created the Portable Document Format way back in 1993 and released it to the world as an open standard in 2008 is now using AI to expand its versatility – and to help Acrobat keep its place as the best pdf editor.

It's launched a new app called Adobe Acrobat Studio. The central feature is PDF Spaces, an AI-driven hub that provides document insights and summaries, AI-powered sharing and integration with Adobe Express and Firefly. It allows users to upload documents, make sense of them and use them to create presentations and other assets.

The rap is cringey, but Adobe Acrobat Studio does do a lot. It allows users to upload up to 100 files (for now) to PDF Spaces to create an 'AI knowledge hub'. Users can use pre-made AI assistants with different personalities to process the info, or create their own assistants with text prompts. These can analyse the uploaded files particular standpoints and dig out pertinent information.

The AI assistants' summaries include clickable citations linking to relevant parts of the documents, a bit like what you've probably seen in the AI results in Google Search. This saves the time of having to read reams of text yourself. But Acrobat Studio also aims to save users time when it comes to using that information by suggesting next steps, which can include repackaging the data into the new formats.

AI also becomes part of the experience of sharing PDFs since recipients will get AI guidance about a document. Adobe says this means users will no longer be sharing a mere document but also in-built analysis and insights that can help other people make sense of it and use them.

In a media demo yesterday, David Auyeung, Product Marketing Leader for Generative AI at Acrobat, presented the scenario of a sales assistant using the program to create a presentation for clients. He dragged a bunch of files into PDF spaces, and created an AI assistant in the character of a sales assistant.

He asked the assistant to identify customer pain points and to propose solutions, and then turn those solutions into a client-ready presentation using a branded template and stock imagery via Adobe Express. It's starting to sound like people will be getting AI to do all the work and recycle old ideas, but David suggests users would also add their own personal knowledge and insights.

PostScript-based PDF was originally developed to ensure consistency in text and images displayed on different computer systems and software. Over three decades later, the format has evolved to support audio, video, and 3D models. Now Acrobat Studio makes PDFs more interactive and easier to explore and manage.

Adobe has a broad target market in mind – basically any business that needs to work at documents – but it sees particularly clear use cases in marketing, sales, HR and legal and finance.

It's also pitching it as a tool for students who want to generate summaries for study guides and general consumers who want help understanding contracts or other complex documents for things like buying a house. An AI Contract feature is intended to sum up contracts to make them easier to understand.

According to the Acrobat Studio AI assistant's reading of the nine PDF files that Adobe sent me about the release, the new software represents a transformative evolution of Adobe's Acrobat platform, combining the productivity tools of Acrobat Pro with innovative AI-powered features.

The bad news is that, according to my Acrobat AI assistant, existing Acrobat and Creative Cloud users won't automatically get access. Instead, Studio is being sold as a separate product priced at $24.99 per month for individuals and $29.99 per month for teams, with a 14-day free trial available. This includes unlimited access to PDF Spaces, AI Assistants, and Adobe Express Premium tools. According to the Adobe website, the free trial actually lasts 7 days.

UPDATE: Adobe is offering unlimited access to PDF Spaces and AI Assistant at no additional cost until September 1 for existing customers, as well as a free 7-day trial for Acrobat Studio.