Adobe PDF, in plain English

Think of Adobe PDF (Acrobat, Reader, Sign, and the new Acrobat Studio) as your team’s universal language for documents. It preserves formatting, opens everywhere, and now adds smart AI to help you read, edit, share, and sign faster — all with enterprise‑grade security. (adobe.com)

What you can do out of the box

• Create and convert without drama. Go from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images, and scans to high‑quality PDFs — and back again — while keeping layouts intact. OCR makes scans searchable and editable. (helpx.adobe.com)

• Edit like a pro. Fix text, swap images, reorganize pages, and compare versions to spot every change before anything goes out the door. (adobe.com)

• Share and collaborate smoothly. Request comments, track feedback, and keep everyone aligned — in the office, remote, or on mobile. Host shared reviews on SharePoint or share for review right from Acrobat. (helpx.adobe.com)

• Sign and approve faster. Send for e‑signature, track status, and keep a tamper‑evident audit trail so approvals move quickly and are easy to verify. (adobe.com)

• Lock down sensitive info. Add passwords and permissions (including AES‑256), and use true redaction and sanitize to permanently remove private data and hidden metadata. (helpx.adobe.com)

Why back‑office teams love it

• Fewer manual steps. Standardize incoming docs, auto‑OCR them, route for review, and send for signature — all in one tool. (helpx.adobe.com)

• Lower risk and better compliance. Redaction, encryption, audit trails, and standards‑based PDFs help you meet policy and regulatory needs. (experienceleague.adobe.com)

• Cleaner records. PDF is an open ISO standard with archival flavors like PDF/A for long‑term retention, so files stay portable and trustworthy. (adobe.com)

• Consistent look and feel. Every invoice, PO, HR form, or policy memo renders the same for everyone, everywhere. (adobe.com)

AI that actually saves hours

• Ask your documents questions. The built‑in Acrobat AI Assistant summarizes long PDFs, answers questions, and drafts content (emails, briefs, meeting notes) with citations so you can verify sources. It works across sets of PDFs and common office files. (news.adobe.com)

• Go beyond single files with PDF Spaces. Create a shared, AI‑powered workspace that brings up to 100 files and links together, then generate insights or next steps for the team. It’s part of the new Acrobat Studio experience. (helpx.adobe.com)

• Current availability and pricing. Acrobat Studio launched on August 19, 2025 with early‑access pricing starting at $24.99/month for individuals; PDF Spaces and AI Assistant were included at no extra cost through September 1, 2025. (news.adobe.com)

Security, compliance, and trust

• Standards‑first PDFs. PDF is governed by ISO 32000, with accessibility (PDF/UA) and archiving (PDF/A, ISO 19005) supported in Acrobat. That’s why governments and enterprises rely on it for records. (adobe.com)

• Protection that sticks. Apply passwords/permissions, use true redaction and sanitize, and maintain document integrity end‑to‑end. (helpx.adobe.com)

• Legally sound e‑signatures. Acrobat Sign supports U.S. ESIGN and UETA and offers eIDAS‑compliant advanced and qualified electronic signatures through trusted providers, with detailed audit trails. (adobe.com)

Works with what you already use

• Microsoft 365 and SharePoint. Create PDFs, send for signature, and manage reviews right inside the tools your team lives in. (adobe.com)

• Cloud storage. Open and save directly with OneDrive, SharePoint, Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive from Acrobat and Reader. (helpx.adobe.com)

• Business platforms. Integrations are available for Salesforce, Workday, SAP, ServiceNow, Microsoft Teams/Power Automate, and more to automate back‑office workflows. (experienceleague.adobe.com)

On every device

• Desktop, web, and mobile. Review, annotate, sign, and share from anywhere. The standalone Fill & Sign app has been retired — those features now live in Acrobat Reader mobile. (helpx.adobe.com)

• Scan to organized PDFs. The free Adobe Scan app captures receipts, IDs, and multi‑page documents with automatic OCR, then hands off to Acrobat for editing, sharing, or signing. (adobe.com)

Simple ways to strengthen your back office with Adobe PDF

• Standardize inputs. Auto‑OCR all inbound scans, convert Office files to PDF, and apply a consistent file‑naming scheme and retention tags. (helpx.adobe.com)

• Template the routine. Keep approved PDF templates for invoices, vendor onboarding, NDAs, handbooks, and change‑control forms, so teams don’t reinvent the wheel. (adobe.com)

• Bake in controls. Use password policies, permissions, and redaction checklists before external sharing; store a signed audit trail with each agreement. (helpx.adobe.com)

• Create a knowledge hub. Spin up a PDF Space for each project or process (e.g., quarter‑end close), add source files and links, and let AI Assistant surface key points and action items for faster handoffs. (helpx.adobe.com)

Bottom line

If you want a calmer, cleaner, and more accountable back office, Adobe PDF is a safe bet. It unifies creation, collaboration, signatures, AI assistance, and compliance in one place — so your team spends less time pushing paper and more time moving the business forward. (adobe.com)