At A Glance 

In today’s enterprise, business professionals struggle with delivering documents reliably and more securely to internal departments, customers and partners. At the same time, IT organizations are continually tasked with reducing workload and expenses. Adobe® Acrobat®

Elements Server

6.0, the newest member of the award-winning Acrobat 6.0 product line and part of the Adobe Intelligent Document Platform, centralizes the creation of Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files across the enterprise. With Acrobat Elements Server 6.0, the integrity of original documents is preserved across a variety of hardware and software platforms. As centrally managed enterprise software, the product also provides a flexible alternative to desktop software management, which can help save time and money.

Acrobat Elements Server 6.0 allows organizations to centrally deploy and manage Adobe PDF creation capabilities across the enterprise. By offering flexible, server-based deployment options combined with a Web services API, Acrobat Elements Server 6.0 makes it easy to integrate Adobe PDF generation into document-based business processes and existing applications.

With Acrobat Elements Server 6.0, employees can create Adobe PDF documents from common file formats using a variety of access methods—e-mail, a Web user interface, watched folders, and Web Services. Anyone using free Adobe Reader® software can view and print these documents with all fonts, graphics and layouts intact. And with Acrobat 6.0 Professional or Acrobat 6.0 Standard, workgroups can drive document reviews using Adobe PDF.

Flexible Deployment Options

E-mail

— Acrobat Elements Server 6.0 enables end users to create a new e-mail message, attach a document to be converted into Adobe PDF, and click ‘Send.’ Acrobat Elements Server 6.0 automatically generates an Adobe PDF file from the attached document and delivers it back to the user by e-mail.

IT administrators can set up multiple e-mail aliases and assign a different set of Adobe PDF creation options to each one. For example, IT managers could configure one e-mail alias for files requiring document security; another alias for press-quality Adobe PDF files; and so on. The e-mail option, like each of the deployment methods, doesn’t require any desktop client installation.

Because e-mail is already a widely used tool, Acrobat Elements Server 6.0 makes it easier than ever for all enterprise users to create Adobe PDF documents.

Web user interface

— Acrobat Elements Server 6.0 enables users to convert a document into Adobe PDF through a simple Web user interface. From a Web browser, the user selects the file to be processed. Acrobat Elements Server 6.0 then converts the selected file into an Adobe PDF document and e-mails it to the requester or to any other designated recipient within the organization.

With this deployment option, IT administrators can customize the interface to allow users to create Adobe PDF documents based on a predefined list of settings.

The Web browser option also allows IT administrators to provide end users with an easy-to-use, familiar interface to generate Adobe PDF files. Adobe PDF creation tools can be integrated into an enterprises’s

Web-based infrastructure. With Acrobat Elements Server 6.0, IT managers can use the sample Web interface out of the box or generate their own.

Watched folders

— Acrobat Elements Server can also be deployed using ‘watched folders.’ With this option, an enterprise user can drag and drop native files into an ‘in’ watched folder to convert them into Adobe PDF documents. The user can then retrieve the Adobe PDF files from an ‘out’ folder on his or her desktop.

Using this option, IT professionals can create multiple watched folders and associate different Adobe PDF settings with each one. For example, one watched folder can be set up for converting files using the highest quality PDF setting, while another can be set up for converting files using the smallest file size setting.

The watched folder option allows end users to simply drag and drop one file, or multiple files at once, to convert them into Adobe PDF.

Web Services API

— IT administrators can use a Web Services API to develop a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) messaging link that allows software applications to programmatically access Acrobat Elements Server 6.0. The Web Services API option also enables IT managers to combine Acrobat Elements Server 6.0 with other Adobe Document Services such as Adobe Document Server 6.0, creating a robust Adobe PDF workflow.

For example, on its own, Acrobat Elements Server 6.0 automates simple Adobe PDF document creation throughout an enterprise. With SOAP messaging links, however, Acrobat Elements Server 6.0 can generate individual Adobe PDF files that Adobe Document Server can then automatically assemble into one customized document, such as a business report containing multiple documents, charts and graphs.

The Web services API option also enables companies to programmatically generate Adobe PDF documents directly from within their automated document workflow applications.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe helps people and businesses communicate better through its world-leading digital imaging, design and document technology platforms for consumers, creative professionals and enterprises. Adobe’s revenue in the last fiscal year exceeded $1 billion. For more information about Adobe, visit  www.adobe.com.

Adobe Introduces Acrobat Elements Server for
Enterprise-wide PDF Creation

“Wharton faculty, students and staff rely on Adobe PDF for sharing information across the enterprise,” said Kendall Whitehouse, director of Advanced Technology Development for the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, which enrolls thousands and employs hundreds across 11 academic departments and 17 research centers. “For a global organization, with faculty and students frequently studying and working across the continent and around the globe, the flexibility of offering server-based PDF creation via the Web from anywhere, at any time and on any computer will be invaluable.”

— Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today introduced Adobe® Acrobat® Elements Server, new software that provides customers greater control over the deployment and maintenance of Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) generation across the enterprise. The product joins the company’s comprehensive line of Adobe PDF creation applications, including Acrobat Elements 6.0 desktop software. Now, organizations have the flexibility to offer PDF generation via the desktop or server, based on specific IT and document process needs.

Using Acrobat Elements Server, IT managers can centrally deploy PDF creation capabilities across a company without the need to manage additional client software on the desktop. Through a selection of user interfaces—the Web for uploading documents, email aliases for sending attachments, or watched folders for drag-and-drop submissions—the product enables Adobe PDF conversion from a variety of common file types. Using the Web services API, Acrobat Elements Server also can be integrated into more complex document creation and assembly workflows driven by enterprise content management systems.

“Enterprise document automation requires document services, such as document generation, to be centrally managed, yet easily accessed by end users and customized by IT managers and enterprise systems,” said Tim Hickernell, vice president, META Group. “Server-based document creation decreases deployment and support costs and optimizes document generation performance.”

Regardless of deployment method, Acrobat Elements Server provides IT administrators the flexibility and power to control the nature of PDF files generated by certain departments, or the entire company, to ensure they meet specific document generation requirements. For example, a finance department may need 128-bit encryption placed on all PDF files or a marketing communications workgroup might require press-ready PDF documents. In each case, Acrobat Elements Server can be configured to automatically deliver the desired result and help maximize productivity.