The Evolution of Adobe Acrobat: How it Became A Market-Leading PDF Tool

It’s easy to view the PDF as another cog in the wheel that makes up the digital space. But did you know it was responsible for allowing offices to go virtually paperless? We’re a couple of decades clear of the document-covered desks that were once symbolic of an office, and that’s primarily thanks to Adobe Acrobat and its, groundbreaking for the time, invention of the PDF.

Before the PDF, can you imagine the only way you can view a coworker’s or client’s document was to physically print it out and carry it over to them? These days, we can share, virtually sign, merge, compress and edit documents seamlessly. So what was the journey to get there? Let’s take a look.

The Camelot Project to the online PDF editor

When paper went digital, the way people worked drastically changed. The online PDF editor has an origin story that dates back to 1993, when Adobe founder, Dr. John Warnock launched The Camelot Project. Like any good revolution, it started with a knowing that there has to be a better way to do things. The Camelot Project set out to switch printed information, documents, and communications to a digital format.

The project was successful in digitizing knowledge and the PDF was born. The manifestation of The Camelot Project, plus years and years of hard work, feedback, digital advancements and updates, is the convenience and seamless exchange of documents that makes efficient business possible today.

The prototype

Work on The Camelot Project began in 1990, with a detailed white-paper acting as the blueprint for developers and engineers to create a prototype. They were using physical documents to create the thing that was to destroy this format. With no ability to edit, zoom, share or merge their paper, you can imagine how motivated they were to get it done.

In the original prototype, they established intelligent zooming, UI concepts that could be transferred across platforms, and varying page sizes in the same document. Almost like the document was a circus performer. Or, an acrobat. Although Acrobat wasn’t the first name they chose, it was the most accurate for the team that produced a product with innovative features with rare skill and strength.

Adobe Acrobat 1.0 was broadcast live to the world over satellite links in 1993. If moon-landing level of exposure sounds over the top, perhaps that points to the necessity for transforming the way humans worked in the 90s. It included Acrobat Exchange for creating and viewing PDF documents, Adobe Reader for viewing, and Adobe Distiller for converting PostScript files to Adobe PDF.

Evolution of Adobe Acrobat

30 years have passed since Adobe Acrobat’s launch. Since then, its evolution has been ongoing and powerful. Here’s a timeline:

1994

Going digital meant sharing features could pose security threats. So, Adobe buckled down on security, improving the password encryption for increased security with device-dependent formatting, preventing foreign access to PDFs. A couple of years later, in 1996, Adobe Acrobat introduced fill-in forms.

2001

The beloved PDF editing was introduced in 2001. Transparency in page description languages enabled users to import one PDF into another, bringing Adobe into the new millennium with gusto.

2011

Adobe Sign is launched! In 2011, Adobe acquired Sign which has enabled them to introduce the Adobe Sign product, which has since transformed contractual obligations.

2015

Staying ahead of the times, Adobe Acrobat introduces features that allow integration with apps with the Document Cloud launch. This introduces the storage of PDF files in the cloud and the ability to access them remotely, too. Its cloud storage enables Adobe to partner with other leading software such as Excel – think converting big, data-filled content into concise and neat PDFs.

2017

Adobe Acrobat Pro entered the mix in 2017. The introduction of Acrobat Pro and Standard offerings meant that users could convert many different file formats into PDF and added groundbreaking flexibility including editing, merging, and compressing files.

2020

In the last few years, Adobe has worked hard to elevate user experience to a point where users can make use of the flexibility through their mobile phones. In 2020, Adobe launched Liquid Mode, which harnesses cutting-edge UX design to improve PDF readability on phones.

2024

When you now create an Adobe PDF, whether that's a contract, detailed document or image, the original data from the file is preserved. This means you can merge images, text, and spreadsheets into a PDF, while still manoeuvring through each element like it would present in their original documents. The integration of AI-generative features are set to come very soon, too.

Why is Adobe Acrobat still a market-leading PDF tool?

It wasn’t because Adobe Acrobat invented the PDF that they are a market-leading PDF tool, it was what followed. In the modern age of digital innovation, there are many platforms out there that you can find to do what you need to do. Software companies need to make themselves the best choice to earn our business. Adobe Acrobat has done well at advancing their tools along with the times to show us that they are considering what we need, and delivering it.