Going Paperless: Adobe Acrobat Tips And Tricks for lawyers and law firms. Adobe Acrobat is one of the keys to developing and maintaining a less paper practice. Learn some of the ways to use Acrobat to maximize your investment in electronic file storage, setting up and converting a Word document into Acrobat, commenting, highlighting, and typing on an Acrobat document. As more and more of our federal and local courts require PDF uploads to file pleadings, etc., mastering Acrobat is a must for today’s practitioner.

1. Adobe Acrobat for Law Firms
®
Steven J. Best, Esq.
Affinity Consulting Group
sbest@affinityconsulting.com
Sponsored by:

2. Acrobat v. Others
• Adobe developed the PDF standard;
• Adobe is the crème de la crème of
PDF software;
• Acrobat provides ALL PDF functionality
without issue;
• NEW Action tools are built for Adobe
products;

3. Printing to the PDF Printer
• Print to the Adobe PDF printer to
create an exact replica of a
printed page;
• As simple as PRINT and select
Adobe PDF;
• Word PDF toolbar;
• Set Preferences;
• Choose document, page or
selected area.

4. Once Printed – Save to R.M.

5. Create a Text-Searchable PDF
• Recognize Text
Function;
• Allows searching of
document by
content / words;
• Important as you
begin to move
toward less paper.

6. Security for PDF Files
• Security can enhance your PDF
experience to ensure that
content is viewed, printed and
copied by authorized people;
• Password protect opening,
editing, printing, copying or
editing.
• Uses High Encryption (128-bit)
Level.
• To view security go to FILE:
PROPERTIES: SECURITY (tab).

7. The Typewriter Tool
• Typewriter Tool (v.9) –
“Add or Edit Text Box” in
(v.10);
• Type directly on a PDF;
• Makes filling forms
simple, easy and avoids
PRINT/SCAN back.

8. Snapshot Tool
• Useful to capture a PDF as
a ‘clipping’ to insert it into
a Word document, etc;
• Example – reference a
portion of a PDF in another
program;
• Be sure and click OUT of
the snapshot tool to return
to normal functionality.

9. Electronic Image Stamp Signature
• Scan your actual
signature to Acrobat;
• Incorporate the
image as a CUSTOM
STAMP
• Insert your signature
on a PDF anywhere;
any time;
• Save image with
blank background
for overlay effect.

10. PRO ONLY - Redaction
• Redaction is one of the
few UNFORGIVING tools
in Acrobat; once
redacted data cannot
be “unredacted”;
• Useful when sharing a
document with sensitive
information contained
therein;

11. Annotating/Mark Up PDF
• You can do anything to a PDF
you can do to paper except
burn or tear;
• Highlight, type upon, stamp,
circle, draw, point, erase,
AND add sound file, etc;
• Mastering COMMENT
functionality will help
alleviate the need to print
and comment, etc….

12. Action Tools in X
• Work faster with automated Actions;
• Pre-built Actions let you run a
sequence of tasks automatically with
a single click.
• Complicated tasks, like publishing
sensitive information, guided Actions
will walk you through every step. You
can even stop, restart, skip, or rerun
an Action if you need to.
• Use built-in Actions — or create your
own.
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/pdf-task-automation-action-wizard.html

13. PDF/A (PDF archive)
• PDF/A is one set of standards among a suite of PDF-based
standards managed by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO
• Purpose: Enable the long-term preservation of electronic
documents and provides specifications for the creation,
viewing, and printing of PDF documents, with the intent of
preserving final documents of record as self-contained
documents.
• The standard does not define an archiving strategy or the
goals of an archiving system. Rather, it identifies a "profile" for
a PDF file that makes it possible to reproduce the visual
appearance of the document the exact same way in the
future. This profile specifies what must be included in the file,
while prohibiting features that are not suitable for long-term
archiving.

14. THE I.S.O.

15. PDF/A2
EXAMPLE OF PDF/A PROFILE MANDATES:
• Audio and video content are forbidden.
• JavaScript and executable file launches are forbidden.
• All fonts must be embedded and also must be legally
embeddable for unlimited, universal rendering. This also
applies to the so-called PostScript standard fonts such as
Times or Helvetica.
• Colorspaces specified in a device-independent manner.
• Encryption is forbidden.
• Use of standards-based metadata is mandated.
• External content references are forbidden.

16. CONCLUSION
• Mastering PDF functionality is the first step
to taming the “paper monster”;
• Mastering PDF is increasingly important
for filing documents with Court authorities;
• PDF/A – read up on it and know what is
important for your practice;
• REMEMBER to store your PDF’s in RM for
matter reference and association;
• Decide if your firm needs STD or PRO.

17. Thank You
Steven J. Best, Esq.
Member – Founding Partner
AFFINITY CONSULTING GROUP LLC
Atlanta GA
PH: 770-998-3800
EMAIL: sbest@affinityconsulting.com
www.affinityconsulting.com