Drawboard PDF v. Adobe Acrobat

Drawboard PDF v. Adobe Acrobat

Drawboard PDF v. Adobe Acrobat

Drawboard PDF v. Adobe Acrobat

Drawboard PDF v. Adobe Acrobat

Drawboard PDF v. Adobe Acrobat

Drawboard PDF v. Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat reader is a software package that is almost synonymous with PDF itself. While this application is full of useful features, unfortunately, it has also developed a reputation for being a difficult application to learn and use. 

Adobe Acrobat reader is a software package that is almost synonymous with PDF itself. While this application is full of useful features, unfortunately it has also developed a reputation for being a difficult application to learn and use. 

Let's zoom into some of the differences between Adobe Acrobat and Drawboard PDF. 

Design approach

Adobe and Drawboard are both set up in a similar way when it comes to top level navigation. Both apps have the concept of a dashboard, a place to view all documents that have been recently worked on. The dashboard view then leads to a canvas workspace that allows users to work on a single document.

The Dashboard level is where operations are done at a document or inter-document level, like searching for a document, or exporting a document for example. The Canvas is where changes to the content within the individual documents are made.

The Adobe dashboard offers many options for where the user can go next. This may present a somewhat cluttered experience for users which could make the dashboard a more difficult space to learn. In contrast the Drawboard dashboard offers curated interactions which lead through to deeper functionality.  This is the key difference in design philosophy between drawboard PDF and Adobe Acrobat.

Drawboard PDF - mise en place
v.
Adobe Acrobat - many options, all at once


Room to work

The Adobe Acrobat canvas view prioritizes immediate access to the functions and tools Adobe Acrobat has to offer. This of course comes at the expense of clutter, screen space and workspace for the PDF itself 

Canvas space to screen size ratio: Drawboard  89%  v. Adobe 55% 

The advantages of less visual noise and a bigger workspace are clear - with Adobe Acrobat having less of both, which has been shown to lower productivity. 


Feature focused

When it comes to comparing features between Acrobat and Drawboard PDF the reader must first understand where the applications came from. 

Adobe Acrobat has been around for 30 years and for much of this time was the only option available for working with PDFs.

Adobe has been in a non-competitive environment with very little feedback from end users for a long time.

Drawboard PDF on the other hand was born in an Adobe-dominated world. 

To compete in an Adobe arena Drawboard PDF had to offer the best tools with the best UI and open communication between users and developers. Drawboard PDF also chose the ‘one-bite-at-a-time’ approach to compete by chipping off niches within the wide variety of PDF use cases. 

The first of which was the new emergent technology of Touch Screens. Drawboard delivered an ideal experience for touch screen users, particularly in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industries.The Drawboard PDF team understand this space, with founders and developers having stemmed from these industries.

The constrained UI and large touch-targets necessary for such use cases helped to elevate the UX design from the approach Adobe Acrobat was taking. Gaining a strong following with Touch and Non Touch users who were seeking market leading user experience and design, Drawboard enjoys strong product market fit in this area.


Compare Drawboard PDF v Adobe Acrobat

Visit our Drawboard v. Acrobat page. This is a deep dive into functionality offered and extends beyond what is generally shown on feature pages on Adobe.com

Note: This is the long tail of features not mentioned by either product because they are simply generally expected. E.g the ability to select and drag an annotation. 

There is a significant apples and oranges comparison problem here where each platform describes a solution to a problem which might be a different approach or done to a different degree. 

An example would be the feature Drawboard calls “Signatures Unlimited”. This feature offers the ability to build and store a bank of signatures which can be placed on a document for signing. Adobe offers only a single signature in Acrobat, with limited functionality in creating that single signature. 

Depending on how you work with PDFs, having a clear outline of features offered will give you the insight to choose the best solution for you.

If you’re a technical user, say an architect or construction manager, who needs to do a lot of markups then Drawboard PDF would be the clear winner. 

Our advice to customers appraising the Drawboard PDF and Adobe Acrobat products would be to take the following approach:

  1. Evaluate the total feature set your company requires
  2. Produce a difference list, by taking the Drawboard PDF feature set and the Abobe Acrobat feature set and comparing them to what is required. When a feature is required that only one platform offers, add this to the “difference list” 
  3. For features on the difference list, determine how many users require that feature, and the degree of their need. 


Drawboard PDF v Acrobat Acrobat use cases

Now, consider that user experience matters (of course it always does). In cases where both Adobe Acrobat and Drawboard PDF commonly offer the same feature, compare the user experience of these features. 

  • Can I find this feature efficiently, and is its accessibility proportional to the degree of use? I.e. if it's a feature 1 person in your team of 100 will use once a month, and is parked on permanent screen space then this is costing your 99 other users visual noise and confusion. 
  • Are the steps in this feature flow necessary and sufficient? Are the defaults and suggestions sensible?
  • How many clicks and decisions would a user need to make in each feature flow? 
  • How would this experience be different on a mobile or tablet device? 


Future value

We’ve covered features, then user experience, last but not least,  one must consider the direction the platform is going. While PDF has been around a long time, innovation in this space continues to accelerate.

Here are some examples of technologies that are changing the game: 

  • Touch screens
  • Mobile devices
  • Cloud technology
  • AI and machine learning
  • Cross platform usage
  • Encryption
  • Integrations and microservice architecture

Each of the above subjects are catalyzing more and more innovation and functionality. 

Here’s how PDF solutions are generally handling this: 

Group A) Not innovating quickly. This is generally an incumbent with large market share. 

Group B) Some innovation but new functionality is stacked on old and UX suffers

Group C) Fast innovation with improving UX. 

Obviously group C is a rarity here, however Drawboard sits proudly in this group. Where is your current solution in these options? 

Adobe Acrobat reader is a software package that is almost synonymous with PDF itself. While this application is full of useful features, unfortunately it has also developed a reputation for being a difficult application to learn and use. 

Let's zoom into some of the differences between Adobe Acrobat and Drawboard PDF. 

Design approach

Adobe and Drawboard are both set up in a similar way when it comes to top level navigation. Both apps have the concept of a dashboard, a place to view all documents that have been recently worked on. The dashboard view then leads to a canvas workspace that allows users to work on a single document.

The Dashboard level is where operations are done at a document or inter-document level, like searching for a document, or exporting a document for example. The Canvas is where changes to the content within the individual documents are made.

The Adobe dashboard offers many options for where the user can go next. This may present a somewhat cluttered experience for users which could make the dashboard a more difficult space to learn. In contrast the Drawboard dashboard offers curated interactions which lead through to deeper functionality.  This is the key difference in design philosophy between drawboard PDF and Adobe Acrobat.

Drawboard PDF - mise en place
v.
Adobe Acrobat - many options, all at once


Room to work

The Adobe Acrobat canvas view prioritizes immediate access to the functions and tools Adobe Acrobat has to offer. This of course comes at the expense of clutter, screen space and workspace for the PDF itself 

Canvas space to screen size ratio: Drawboard  89%  v. Adobe 55% 

The advantages of less visual noise and a bigger workspace are clear - with Adobe Acrobat having less of both, which has been shown to lower productivity. 


Feature focused

When it comes to comparing features between Acrobat and Drawboard PDF the reader must first understand where the applications came from. 

Adobe Acrobat has been around for 30 years and for much of this time was the only option available for working with PDFs.

Adobe has been in a non-competitive environment with very little feedback from end users for a long time.

Drawboard PDF on the other hand was born in an Adobe-dominated world. 

To compete in an Adobe arena Drawboard PDF had to offer the best tools with the best UI and open communication between users and developers. Drawboard PDF also chose the ‘one-bite-at-a-time’ approach to compete by chipping off niches within the wide variety of PDF use cases. 

The first of which was the new emergent technology of Touch Screens. Drawboard delivered an ideal experience for touch screen users, particularly in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industries.The Drawboard PDF team understand this space, with founders and developers having stemmed from these industries.

The constrained UI and large touch-targets necessary for such use cases helped to elevate the UX design from the approach Adobe Acrobat was taking. Gaining a strong following with Touch and Non Touch users who were seeking market leading user experience and design, Drawboard enjoys strong product market fit in this area.


Compare Drawboard PDF v Adobe Acrobat

Visit our Drawboard v. Acrobat page. This is a deep dive into functionality offered and extends beyond what is generally shown on feature pages on Adobe.com

Note: This is the long tail of features not mentioned by either product because they are simply generally expected. E.g the ability to select and drag an annotation. 

There is a significant apples and oranges comparison problem here where each platform describes a solution to a problem which might be a different approach or done to a different degree. 

An example would be the feature Drawboard calls “Signatures Unlimited”. This feature offers the ability to build and store a bank of signatures which can be placed on a document for signing. Adobe offers only a single signature in Acrobat, with limited functionality in creating that single signature. 

Depending on how you work with PDFs, having a clear outline of features offered will give you the insight to choose the best solution for you.

If you’re a technical user, say an architect or construction manager, who needs to do a lot of markups then Drawboard PDF would be the clear winner. 

Our advice to customers appraising the Drawboard PDF and Adobe Acrobat products would be to take the following approach:

  1. Evaluate the total feature set your company requires
  2. Produce a difference list, by taking the Drawboard PDF feature set and the Abobe Acrobat feature set and comparing them to what is required. When a feature is required that only one platform offers, add this to the “difference list” 
  3. For features on the difference list, determine how many users require that feature, and the degree of their need. 


Drawboard PDF v Acrobat Acrobat use cases

Now, consider that user experience matters (of course it always does). In cases where both Adobe Acrobat and Drawboard PDF commonly offer the same feature, compare the user experience of these features. 

  • Can I find this feature efficiently, and is its accessibility proportional to the degree of use? I.e. if it's a feature 1 person in your team of 100 will use once a month, and is parked on permanent screen space then this is costing your 99 other users visual noise and confusion. 
  • Are the steps in this feature flow necessary and sufficient? Are the defaults and suggestions sensible?
  • How many clicks and decisions would a user need to make in each feature flow? 
  • How would this experience be different on a mobile or tablet device? 


Future value

We’ve covered features, then user experience, last but not least,  one must consider the direction the platform is going. While PDF has been around a long time, innovation in this space continues to accelerate.

Here are some examples of technologies that are changing the game: 

  • Touch screens
  • Mobile devices
  • Cloud technology
  • AI and machine learning
  • Cross platform usage
  • Encryption
  • Integrations and microservice architecture

Each of the above subjects are catalyzing more and more innovation and functionality. 

Here’s how PDF solutions are generally handling this: 

Group A) Not innovating quickly. This is generally an incumbent with large market share. 

Group B) Some innovation but new functionality is stacked on old and UX suffers

Group C) Fast innovation with improving UX. 

Obviously group C is a rarity here, however Drawboard sits proudly in this group. Where is your current solution in these options? 

Drawboard logo icon
Drawboard logo icon

About Drawboard

We are a PDF and collaboration company. We believe that creating more effective connections between people reduces waste.

Our best work has been overtaken by busywork. That’s why we’ve created ways to help people get back to working wonders without any paper in sight.

Drawboard PDF lets you mark up and share with ease, and Drawboard Projects brings collaborative design review to architecture and engineering teams.

At Drawboard, we work our magic so our customers can get back to working theirs.

About Drawboard

We are a PDF and collaboration company. We believe that creating more effective connections between people reduces waste.

Our best work has been overtaken by busywork. That’s why we’ve created ways to help people get back to working wonders without any paper in sight.

Drawboard PDF lets you mark up and share with ease, and Drawboard Projects brings collaborative design review to architecture and engineering teams.

At Drawboard, we work our magic so our customers can get back to working theirs.

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