If you’re like most people, you probably use Outlook to manage your email and calendar. But if you’re like me, you also use Acrobat.com to create and view PDFs and other large files. If you’re not familiar with Acrobat.com, it’s a web-based application that lets you create, view, and print PDFs. You can even save them as files on your computer or on a USB drive. To email a large file from Outlook, follow these steps:

  1. Open Outlook and click the File menu (the three lines in the top left corner of the screen). This will take you to the File menu in the main window of Outlook.
  2. In the File menu, select Email this file (or any other name for this file). This will open an email message that looks like this: If you want to save this email as a PDF, select Save As… from the File menu and then click OK. If you want to print this email, select Print… from the File menu and then click OK.
  3. Type your message into the text area of the email message. The text area is at the bottom of the email message. You can also type using arrow keys or control keys to move around in the text area. The arrow keys move leftward while control keys move rightward. Type all of your messages into one text area so that they are all combined into one big document when you send it off!
  4. Click Send!

The Acrobat.com Beta was launched last year and is where you can store up to 5GB of data and share with others. You can access it from a browser, a desktop application, and now with the Outlook Add-in.

Installing the Acrobat.com Add-in

Installing the plug-in is fast and easy using the installation wizard.  You might have to update to the shared Add-in support for .Net Framework 2.0 (KB908002).

Just follow through the wizard, no special steps required…

Using the Acrobat.com Add-in

After the installation open Outlook to compose a new message and you will find the new plug-in under the new Acrobat.com tab.

To begin using it you will need to sign in with your Adobe ID or simply sign up for a new account.

Now choose the file or files you want to send to the email recipient for download.  Here you can also choose Open or Restricted Access where Open lets others access the file if the email is forwarded.  Also, to share a restricted document the recipient will need an Acrobat.com account as well.

After you have the files click the Attach button which will show a progress bar as the files upload to Acrobat.com.

After the files have been uploaded you will see Acrobat.com and the link for the recipient to download.

 

You can change different settings under preferences such as the size of the attachment you want to use Acrobat.com for.

When you click on the email link to get the file if Restricted you will be required to sign into your Acrobat.com account to see it.  If you share the files anyone who gets the link can preview and download it.

Another cool feature of the Add-in is being able to invite people to online web conferences with Adobe Connect Now. 

Keep in mind that Acrobat.com is still in Beta and you may experience connectivity problems or other glitches but overall this is a great way to send large files for free.

Download the Acrobat.com Outlook Plug-in