Adobe 2003 Annual Report Download - page 10

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document and image production processes. We provide both desktop and server-based solutions for the document
generation market.
On the desktop, the Adobe Acrobat product family creates PDF documents from everyday office applications,
such as Microsoft Office. In fiscal 2003, we expanded the Acrobat product line from one product into three distinct
products to meet the needs of the different types of customers that require Acrobat functionality:
• Acrobat Elements ― a product launched with the release of version 6.0 of the Acrobat family of products in
our second quarter of fiscal 2003, is a low-cost version of Acrobat that contains Adobe PDF creation
features targeted for enterprise knowledge workers. It provides easy, one-button Adobe PDF creation from
Microsoft Office applications such as Excel, Word, and Outlook, allowing knowledge workers to reliably
share electronic documents within and outside the walls of their organization.
• Acrobat Standard ― also a product that was released in the second quarter of fiscal 2003, targets business
professionals with its Adobe PDF creation, collaboration, and digital signature features. Workgroups and
entire enterprises can utilize Acrobat Standard to implement electronic document workflow solutions that
improve business processes.
• Acrobat Professional ― the third product launched in our second quarter of fiscal 2003, contains expert
features targeted for customers such as Creative Professionals, print service personnel, engineers,
architects, and other similar users. They use Acrobat Professional for advanced capabilities such as
complex electronic document creation from multiple source formats, pre-flighting of documents that are to
be professionally printed, color separation preview and output, electronic form creation, and one-button
PDF creation from software applications such as AutoCAD, Visio, and Microsoft Project. Acrobat
Professional also contains all of the features found in Acrobat Standard.
On servers, Adobe offers a combination of products to generate documents, including Adobe Central Pro
Output Server and Adobe Document Server. Our server products merge output, including XML-based data, from
enterprise applications such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP),
content management, and legacy systems with highly formatted document templates to generate personalized,
reliable documents for print or electronic delivery.
Based on customer need, we also released Acrobat Elements Server in fiscal 2003. Acrobat Elements Server
provides a means for customers to broadly deploy PDF creation for multiple users, and is an alternative to low-cost
Acrobat and PDF generation clone software that exists in the market.
We believe our key advantages in the document generation market include the standardization of PDF in many
government agencies and regulated industries as a format for distributing, viewing, printing, and archiving electronic
documents. In addition, Adobe Reader is available on most platforms, assuring our customers who generate PDF
files that their content will be viewable and printable when distributed. Finally, our solutions employ advanced and
comprehensive security technology to help protect a document’s authenticity, integrity, and confidentiality.
Adobe desktop products that provide document generation capabilities include:
• Adobe Acrobat Professional
• Adobe Acrobat Standard
• Adobe Acrobat Elements
• Adobe Acrobat Capture
Adobe server-based document generation products include:
• Adobe Acrobat Distiller Server
• Adobe Acrobat Elements Server
• Adobe Central Pro Output Server
• Adobe Document Server
• Adobe Output Designer