Software Review: Adobe Technical Communication Suite - Adobe Acrobat 8 3D - Page 2

• Produce highly compressed 3D PDF files – will not only reduce the sizes of the files that are distributed, but also make them in a much more secure. The size of the files can be reduced by as much as 150 times smaller making them easier to share via email.

Enhancements include:

• Convert almost any CAD file to a 3D PDF – with new conversions that are available.

• Combine files from multiple applications – such as CAD files, office documents as well as spreadsheets and other rich media.

• Share your 3D designs with anyone – since all that they need is Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.1 or greater. The will have full access to PMI Data, mark up, zoom, rotate, cross section, and much, much more.

• Create 3D cross section – and call attention to parts or sub-assemblies giving everyone a clearer understanding of how your project fits together.

• Reuse CAD design data in marketing and technical manuals – by using the Adobe Acrobat 8 3D toolkit to clean up CAD designs, add/modify lighting, materials, textures, or colors; create exploded views, and then save them as 3D objects.

• Generate assembly instructions – to produce quality technical documentation and communicate more effectively to anyone using the free reader.

• Create PDF files including 3D designs from Microsoft Office Documents – which allow you to easily insert 3D CAD designs into existing and new Office Documents and then convert them to PDF for easy distribution.

It is quite apparent that Adobe Acrobat 8 3D has had a lot of engineering work done to it, especially with regard to PRC and the massive file conversion capabilities. They are also putting a firm foot down within the engineering market.

I found that Adobe Acrobat 8 3D is a really exciting product to work with and the effect it can have on manufacture and design is enormous. When Acrobat started out it was a product that reproduced documents for easy transport. It has now grown to a product that promotes interactivity. Working with Adobe Acrobat 8 3D I see enormous potential as it sits right now, but also for the future. The way it works with the CAD documents, with interactivity, with RoboHelp, Captivate, and FrameMaker, as well as with all of the other Adobe products, and even products from other manufacturers, makes Acrobat a key linchpin product.

It is easy to mistake Adobe Acrobat as just a simple document transport utility, but that would be like placing focus on the train and forgetting that the train is nothing without the rails. Adobe Acrobat 8 3D, like the rest of the Acrobat family, is the support that links not only the Adobe family together, but many other products and people that rely on that transport to get the job done.

If you have the need to move your 3D images through your company, across town, or around the world, Adobe Acrobat 8 3D comes highly recommended as your transportation system.

Article Author: T. Michael Testi

T. Michael Testi is software developer, a writer, and a photographer. He also blogs at PhotographyTodayNet and at All This and Everything Else.

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