Adobe Reader vs Adobe Acrobat: what’s the difference between them? In this post, MiniTool PDF Editor illustrates the difference between Adobe Acrobat and Reader, helping you choose a suitable program.
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An Overview of Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat
Adobe provides three basic Acrobat products, including Acrobat Reader DC, Acrobat Standard DC, and Acrobat Pro DC. As you see, there’s no product called Adobe Reader. Actually, Adobe Reader is the original name of Adobe’s PDF viewing software that has evolved over the years.
As for Acrobat Reader DC (Document Cloud), it is the latest version of Acrobat Reader, which contains additional features and improvements. It allows you to view and annotate PDF files. Besides, it can also complete forms, comment on documents, sign and certify forms, and make other changes to PDFs. To fully use the program, you must download and install it on your computer (Windows or Mac device).
Similarly, Adobe Acrobat also has a Document Cloud version called Adobe Acrobat DC. Integrated with Adobe’s cloud services, Adobe Acrobat DC offers advanced features like online document storage and sharing. In essence, Adobe Acrobat DC is a paid and full-featured PDF editor with cloud capabilities.
Now, you may have an overall understanding of Adobe Reader (DC) and Adobe Acrobat (DC). Adobe Acrobat Reader DC vs Adobe Acrobat DC: what’s the difference? The section below explains the details. Keep reading the post.
Adobe Reader vs Adobe Acrobat
What’s the difference between Adobe Acrobat and Reader? Adobe Reader comes with the most basic features for PDF documents, while Adobe Acrobat boasts an in-depth experience for users. The table below shows the difference between Adobe Acrobat and Reader in features.
Features | Adobe Reader DC | Adobe Acrobat DC |
View PDFs | Yes | Yes |
Print PDFs | Yes | Yes |
Sign PDFs | Yes | Yes |
Annotate PDFs | Yes | Yes |
Search PDFs | Yes | Yes |
Create PDFs | No | Yes |
Edit PDFs | No | Yes |
Convert PDFs with Word | No | Yes |
Combine PDFs | No | Yes |
Compare forms | No | Yes |
Protect PDFs | No | Yes |
Adobe Reader is a small component of the big Adobe family. It can be downloaded from Adobe’s official website without a fee. It can also be acquired from other sources only if they are compliant with Adobe licensing requirements.
Differently, Adobe Acrobat must have a paid license. In addition to all the features of Adobe Reader, it includes more features like creating and editing texts and images in PDFs. It comes in Standard and Pro versions, as well as a cloud version called Adobe Acrobat DC.
Differences between Adobe Acrobat Reader DC vs Adobe Acrobat DC have been explored with you. Now, it’s your turn to make a choice.
Adobe Reader vs Adobe Acrobat: Make a Decision
Adobe Acrobat DC vs Adobe Acrobat Reader DC: which to select? It depends on your needs. If you simply view, study, and print PDFs, you can select Adobe Reader. Standard Adobe Acrobat is a good choice for light editing features.
Common issues with Adobe Acrobat:
- A running instance of Acrobat caused an error
- An incorrect structure was found in the PDF
- A number is out of range PDF
- Adobe Reader DC opens to a black screen
Bottom Line
Adobe Reader vs Adobe Acrobat: what’s the difference between them? This post has shown you. According to your needs, choose a suitable program to manage your PDFs.