Free Software That Enhances Business Process

I am not an advocate of free software. More specifically those known as “warez” in the Internet circles. In my early years, I tested and used many with near catastrophic results. If the software were not riddled with viruses they were just so poorly written that they would stop your computer entirely. That said, this blog is a focus on those that make our business lives easier and keep the wheels turning. More importantly, how to keep those wheels turning requires applying a little grease from time to time. This is a first of a series on free software that enhances business process. Enjoy and I look forward to your feedback.


As I mentioned before, similar experiences have made people reluctant to update when they receive the notices that an application has an update. Updates happen for a few reasons and mainly because of feature enhancements. Additionally, companies produce patch updates that fix bugs and patch known security flaws. That second part is very important.

The first software is well known and used throughout the world. It is Adobe Acrobat Reader produces by Adobe Software, a giant in the world of graphic design and layout applications. Acrobat Reader, for short, is a free counterpart for Acrobat Pro. The pro version allows users to produce PDF files. PDFs are a universal file format (by way of Acrobat Reader) of sharing documents and being confident that the end user sees exactly what the document was intended to look like. Simply, PDF files remove the dependence on fonts and image links. It’s the format of choice for proofing over via e-mail. PDF files have become so prominent that other applications, such as Microsoft Word 2006 and higher, have included it as a format that it can save to. Many other software have done the same. Web developers can even retrieve data and generating PDF documents on the fly. This automated advancement has lead way to enhanced product spec sheet generation and even automated variable print solutions.

Now that you see the power of PDF you may be asking yourself what do I need to create and read PDF files. If you want to create PDF files you may want to check your current software and see if you already have the capabilities. Look under your “File Save As” and check the drop down for “Adobe PDF” or “PDF” for a file version. Or look for and “Export” or “Export to PDF” function. If either of these are the case, you are good to go. Simply create your PDF, preview it to assure that the conversion went correctly and e-mail. It’s as simple as that.

Acrobat Pro is a robust software that allows you to perform extra task with PDF like creating forms, compiling multiple PDF files into a single multi-page PDF, and even minor edits. Beware, don’t buy Acrobat Pro as a tool to edit PDF files, it’s not as robust in this field as everyone would like it to be. It is always better to go to the native application, make your change, and recreate a PDF with the new changes than trying to stumble through Acrobat Pro’s editing features.

Pro DOES have one great feature that is rarely used, in my experience. This feature is the document proofing tools that allow parties to collaborate and make proofing marks and requests on pages. With Pro, you can make notes, post stickies, draw arrows and everything that and editor would do with a red pen. This allows multiple people to make edit request on one document to request changes. Simply markup your changes, save the file and send it to the next person to make edits or revisions.

Now, where do you get these tools? First, this series is about free software that enhances business processes. Acrobat Pro is not free, you may purchase it from http://www.adobe.com. If you already own one of the Adobe Creative Suite software packages you already have Acrobat Pro. With Pro you can read and make PDF files.

Acrobat Reader, which is the focus of this article, is a free download from Adobe at:

http://get.adobe.com/reader/?promoid=BUIGO

You will frequently get update reminders and notices that Acrobat Reader has received an update. I suggest updating regularly to assure that your reader is current with what ever features that Acrobat Pro is producing.

I hope you have enjoyed this article and look forward to your feedback. Check back later for more articles about free software that enhances business processes.