Adobe Acrobat Introduction (Self-Paced)

1. Setup and Orientation

• Confirm Acrobat Pro access and Adobe sign-in.
• Organize course files and review the basic PDF workflow, including opening, saving, and exporting files.
• Tour the Acrobat interface, including the Tools panel, document view, and supporting panels.

2. Acrobat Fundamentals (Navigation & Search)

• Understand the differences between Acrobat, Reader, and the web experience.
• Navigate PDFs using the pages panel, thumbnails, and bookmarks.
• Adjust zoom, page display modes, and reading views for easier document review.
• Search within a PDF and use advanced search across multiple PDFs.
• Recognize the difference between text-based PDFs and scanned or image-only PDFs.

3. Review and Commenting (Core Workflow)

• Use the Comment toolset, including highlight, underline, strikethrough, sticky notes, text comments, drawing tools, and stamps.
• Work in the Comments panel to sort, filter, reply to, and manage comments.
• Apply annotation best practices for clear, actionable, and consistent feedback.

4. Document Comparison and Version Control

• Use practical file naming and versioning conventions.
• Compare files to detect changes between document versions.
• Interpret comparison results and resolve discrepancies.
• Apply review notes to revised documents more efficiently.

5. Scan and OCR Fundamentals

• Review scan-to-PDF workflows and common scan repair needs.
• Enhance scanned PDFs by straightening pages, cleaning backgrounds, improving contrast, and reducing noise.
• Use Recognize Text to make PDFs searchable and selectable.
• Consider language settings and OCR accuracy when working with scanned files.
• Spot-check OCR results and correct common errors.
• Save and optimize OCR documents for sharing.

6. Signatures and Approval Workflows

• Understand signature options in Acrobat, including Fill & Sign and Request e-signatures.
• Prepare a document for signing with signature and date fields.
• Guide recipients through the signing process.
• Manage signed files and store finalized copies using good document practices.

7. Forms (Intro Level)

• Identify common use cases for Acrobat forms.
• Use Prepare a Form with auto-detection and manual field creation.
• Create and organize text fields, checkboxes, and dropdowns.
• Apply alignment and consistent naming for form fields.
• Test and distribute a fillable PDF.

8. Acrobat AI Workflows (Practical Use)

• Use AI to summarize long PDFs and identify key points.
• Extract action items, checklists, and open questions during document review.
• Verify AI responses by locating the supporting source passage or page.
• Use Acrobat AI responsibly with attention to document type, sensitivity, and quality control.

9. Workflow Integration and Wrap-Up

• Practice a repeatable Acrobat workflow from review to revision, OCR, signing, and archiving or sharing.
• Complete exercises that combine commenting, scan repair, signatures, and AI-assisted review.
• Review final deliverables and identify ways to apply the workflow to future PDF tasks.