For those of you needing a few tools to add to your list of online apps, Acrobat.com, Adobe’s online document sharing and processing service, is offering both presentation and spreadsheet applications.
The services, as of this writing, are still in Adobe Labs, so some features and functionalities are still limited. But they can still get the job done when in a tight situation.
Here’s a rundown of what you can find.
Acrobat.com Presentations
While you can expect the essential functionalities you can find in PowerPoint, the main focus for Acrobat.com Presentations is on collaboration.
For instance, the application makes it easy to see who has access to the presentation, who is viewing, who is editing and which slide each person is editing. A number of users can work together on a presentation as co-author, meaning that everyone gets the ability to add text and graphics or change the layouts and themes.
Acrobat.com’s Presentation’s simultaneous editing capabilities also means that no one is locked out because others are making changes. The neat part is that content and layout editing can be done separately, letting one co-author can add content, for example, while another works on the presentation’s appearance.
As to graphical and interactive elements, you can accomplish everything you need for a polished presentation. The application offers tools with which you can add, resize, and place JPGS, PNGs and GIFs.
You can also add a few special effects like slide transitions, illustrations and lighting effects, and even embed FLV video file formats to your presentations which anyone with the Adobe Flash Player installed can view. And once your presentation is done, it can be exported to the PDF format.
Acrobat.com Tables
With Acrobat.com Tables, you can find the same essential features you’d find in a spreadsheet application. But, like Presentations, its collaboration features are in the spotlight.
You can share your tables with people bearing different access control levels from basic read-only access to co-author editing capabilities to change, edit and add the contents in a table. When you collaborate on a table you can see each person’s location to see what they’re working on. You can see changes in real time, and see who is working on the table and on which cell.
It also has something called Private View. This feature lets you perform functions without affecting everyone else’s view of the spreadsheet. It can show you only the items for which you are responsible. And because the data is always syncing, everyone gets consistently updated.
Features include a number of the same functionalities you get in regular spreadsheet applications with a few added conveniences. For example, the app auto formats the cells in an entire column according to the style in which you edit the first cell. To make things easier, Acrobat.com Tables lets you adjust cell sizes and move columns by simply clicking and dragging.
The web app also comes with tools that can help you organize, calculate, find or sort your data. You can create and edit your own filter on the fly, use drop down menus when entering a formula, and reference specific columns. Adobe is looking to add more functionality to Tables such as PDF output, printing, charting, and more.
If you want to give both of these free web apps a try, you’ll need an Acrobat.com account.
