When Adobe shipped Acrobat 8, users of the program quickly learned to use and take advantage of the PDF Package feature. This slick technique allowed users to wrap a variety of file types inside of a single PDF file.
As revolutionary as this feature seemed, its weakness was its need to convert these files to PDF in the process. What if you wanted to send a colleague a few PDF files, a Word document, some JPG images and an Excel spreadsheet? That spreadsheet would no longer be 'live,' and the data would be completely static–non functioning. And what if you needed to remove red-eye from one of those JPG photos? You get the point.
The PDF Package feature has been replaced by the PDF Portfolio. The PDF Portfolio houses any type of file you want to share, and even offers live previews of many file types such as Word, Excel, various image formats, and even video files! Users of Acrobat 9 Professional can create PDF Portfolios easily, and users of the free Adobe Reader can open and use the file format.
With Acrobat 9 Professional, assets can be added, removed, annotated and passed around from user to user as a single PDF file! Amazing. Your PDF Portfolio can even contain folders of various documents!
David R. Mankin, an Adobe-Certified Expert in Acrobat and a Certified Technical Trainer, has created a slick presentation that demonstrates the power and coolness of the PDF Portfolio feature.
Hold onto your hat and click here to watch David's presentation.