Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Development
    • Development

    Adobe Bolsters Document Sharing

    By
    Matt Hines
    -
    January 30, 2006
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Adobe Systems last week introduced a new document sharing software package aimed at the process of designing and building products. Customers were upbeat about this targeted version of Acrobat, which could supplant expensive CAD applications in manufacturing businesses.

      Dubbed Acrobat 3D, the system offers the ability for manufacturing companies to author, edit and distribute documents that offer many of the same functions available in todays engineering applications, such as those used in CAD programs.

      Companies have long struggled with finding simple ways to share elements of their designs with other companies while protecting the intellectual property used in the products and making those documents detailed enough to supply adequate levels of information for testing or pricing out manufacturing costs.

      Using Acrobat 3D, engineers can forward three-dimensional images created in CAD programs that can be read by anyone with a current version of the freely available Acrobat Reader, instead of necessitating a license for one of the expensive, specialized design programs.

      One company already using Acrobat 3D is Bradrock Industries, a midsize manufacturer specializing in custom plastic molding and toolmaking in Des Plaines, Ill.

      Nick Butkovitch, IT manager at Bradrock, said that the product has already had a significant impact on simplifying the companys ability to create and share design documents with partners.

      Specifically, Butkovitch said that the ability to share detailed images while protecting them against being copied or stolen has provided an immediate benefit to the company.

      “We can send something for markup approval to a customer or partner but lock it down so theres no real data to take in terms of intellectual property,” Butkovitch said.

      “We used to send prints, drawings or CAD drawings that someone could get fine details from, and that burned us a few times; now we know nothing is heading to China behind our backs,” Butkovitch said.

      The IT manager said Acrobat 3D has simplified his own job by eliminating the need to integrate different types of file formats used by other companies for editing or reviewing designs.

      By partnering with many of the CAD markets leading players, such as Autodesk and UGS, said Adobe Product Manager Rak Bhalla, the software makes it seem as if someone viewing the files in Acrobat 3D is using the actual programs the files were built in.

      “No one is going to buy a CAD license for a product marketing team or for use by technological publishers making product brochures or training manuals,” Bhalla said. “With 3D, the person looking at the file can do almost anything someone using that sort of application can do, in terms of looking at a 3-D image, rotating it, zooming in on something or even taking a cross section.”

      The package also gives manufacturing companies the ability to control which elements of a design might be shared in such a document, making it harder, in theory, for rivals or partners to copy specifics from files distributed for various business purposes.

      In addition, Acrobat 3D offers several features aimed at helping companies speed up the design review process.

      Documents created in the system can be shared among workgroups and allow workers to make notes on a certain part of a CAD image, simplifying the process of communications between product designers and quality assurance workers, or among manufacturing partners working together.

      Whereas such a process previously necessitated many different communications or the integration of multiple documents generated by different recipients, the new application allows for notes to be added directly to a central file or for responses from large numbers of viewers to be combined into a single master file with all their individual annotations.

      Acrobat 3D also promises to help manufacturers pull together reports that include different types of documents, such as spreadsheets, other text documents and CAD files, creating a binder of the data with a single interface.

      Adobes Bhalla said another major goal was to create features that directly address specific challenges in the manufacturing industry, such as those of product inspectors who may be asked to approve or deny certain designs without ever seeing them rendered outside the electronic world.

      “Our PDF products are already entrenched well within manufacturing, but we wanted to see if we can get even deeper,” said Bhalla.

      “These companies have key competitive challenges, including shrinking product life cycles and the demand to reduce costs while remaining innovative, that havent really been supported sufficiently by IT.”

      Bhalla said that Adobe isnt planning to go head-to-head with rivals such as enterprise applications giants SAP or Oracle, which already sell complex automation programs to the manufacturing sector.

      The package comes from Adobes Knowledge Worker business unit and is built on the same technological underpinnings used in the companys existing Acrobat products and Breeze collaboration software.

      Acrobat flips in 3-D

      Adobe teamed with CAD software makers to pull functionality into Acrobat.

      CAD-like features allow

      users to:

      • Load 3-D images into PDF documents
      • View and edit images in any Acrobat reader
      • Rotate, magnify and cross-section images
      • Isolate specific components within an image
      • Post notes on specific areas on an image
      • Combine notes from multiple users into master files
      Matt Hines

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×