Blog

CMairsCreate and Candyce Mairs blog about Adobe Dreamweaver, ColdFusion, Acrobat, Captivate, eLearning, Fireworks, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Livecycle Designer and all things web and mobile. Learn tips and tricks on a variety of web, PDF, and elearning in the posts below.

Simplify Your Life and Learn Acrobat XI

Announcing a New Acrobat XI Video Course by Candyce Mairs

Learning Acrobat XI has never been easier! Learn Acrobat XI in this new video course to simplify your life and get all your documents into digital format. Learn how to create and control PDF conversion to get your documents converted exactly as you want.

Learn Acrobat XI Video Course Recording Now

Learn to use the exiting new editing features within Acrobat XI to fully edit text and images within a PDF. Pull text and images into Microsoft Office documents directly from a PDF document into Word, Excel or Powerpoint.

This new video course on Acrobat XI by Candyce Mairs is recording now so watch for more information about the release date in this blog, at Facebook, Twitter or Google+.

 

Get Rid of Paper & Move to a PDF Workflow

Paper is a part of all of our lives whether we like it or not. Even if we try and avoid paper by switching to online bank statements, credit card bills, and all other online services, there is s till a point when we end up printing out these documents to store for ourselves. In this digital era, why can we not get rid of paper?

Part of the issue is that a completely digital workflow requires us to modify our workflow to accomodate this digital storage system. If you continue to maintain your present workflow, you will be printing many of your “online” accounts in order to store them for the future. Not only do you want to store them for taxes, but it is important to be able to easily locate and search those documents as needed in the future. That is where Adobe Acrobat and a PDF workflow can come in and completely simplify your life.

Moving to a PDF document storage workflow does require some thought in how you do things,  where you store documents, and how you organize that digital storage. Just in the last week I have had 3 different people complain about all the paper being used within their company. I hear this all the time from people in my classes as well. No where are we taught how to move to this great digital workflow, or learn how to incorporate it into our daily lives. If a transition is too difficult to do, it will not be done.

This has me thinking that a course on how to move to a digital workflow would be of great assistance to individuals and businesses. When you are close to a workflow process, it can be difficult to imagine doing it any other way than it has been done in the past. Sometimes it takes an outsider to be able to come in and make sense of it all for you. That is what this course would be designed to do.

As of now a PDF workflow course is just an idea kicking around in my head. If you have any thoughts or ideas for me, give me a shout at twitter using @cmairscreate or on facebook.

The Importance of IT Skills

IT skills are becoming highly valued and many jobs continue to be left open due to a lack of skilled workers. IT Technology, an IT related publication, just released a study listing the top 10 IT skills for 2014. The article stresses the importance of IT skills for the future, and the difficulty in filling these IT positions. Positions include skills such as programming, application development, project management, help desk and technical support, and networking.

Employment Opportunities in IT

There have been many articles written in the last year about the importance of programming skills. With the advent of mobile devices, these skills have become extremely important for any type of company. No business is immune to the need to create and work with data from mobile phones or tablets. Desktop computers are but one of a variety of methods for viewing and working with information, and the need for skilled workers to produce and maintain these desktop and mobile applications will continue to grow.

Programming and application development tops the list as the number one skill set for 2014. This comes as no surprised, but the number two skill is listed as help desk and technical support. This may be a surprise, but companies are beginning to bring their help systems in house instead of outsourcing this portion of the business. Getting skilled workers who can also remain patient and perform troubleshooting for non-technical users is a challenge for companies.

The third most valued IT skill for 2014 is networking. No company can survive without the capability to access data and communicate amongst workers and those in the field. Keeping networks running efficiently is a highly valued skill. Networking and system administrators show an unemployment rate as low as 1.1 percent. Building an efficient networking work force within a company is crucial to keeping the business running and performing at its peak.

Use the link below to view the entire article and the entire listing of the top 10 IT skills for 2014.

View the Top Ten IT Skills for 2014

Adobe Solutions for Creating PDF Forms

As more and more companies are converting to a digital workflow, PDF forms are becoming more popular. PDF workflow has been used within the printing industry for years, so I find it interesting that it has taken so long to move into the standard business document and web form arena.

PDF forms offer a very convenient way to gather data from a user without the need for web developers to create a back end script using ColdFusion, ASP, ASP.NET, PHP or JSP. HTML forms require some form of server-side script to process the data. which also means an IT person must create the script in order to get a simple form working on the web. PDF forms do not require this step.

What about form creation? How can I create PDF forms? Adobe offers 2 solutions to this question. Adobe Acrobat used to provide 2 programs that installed automatically on your system when you installed Acrobat for PDF form creation. During the Acrobat installation process, a second program called LiveCycle Designer was also installed onto the system. Most people were not aware of this. LiveCycle Designer is a much more powerful program for PDF form creation, but the learning curve is much higher to learn the program.

Both Acrobat and LiveCycle Designer programs offer the ability to create PDF forms. The capabilities of the PDF forms that are created differ substantially however. Acrobat creates static PDF forms, while LiveCycle Designer can offer the ability to create truly dynamic forms. A static form cannot change the layout of the form once it is created. A dynamic form can completely change the layout of the form based on user actions. PDF forms created in Acrobat can take you to a certain point with your PDF forms, but LiveCycle Designer can really show the power of a PDF form.

Let’s say you presently have 5 different paper forms that request the same information from the user such as the name, address, phone, and email. It is possible to combine those forms into a single LiveCycle PDF form that allows the user to check a box to choose the specific form they want to fill out.

The PDF form is able to not only create the PDF form that shows only the fields for that form, but can rearrange the form field layout to provide an optimum layout for that specific form. Adobe Acrobat PDF forms do not provide that capability. They can show or hide fields, but not completely rearrange the entire form layout.

LiveCycle Designer offers the ability to create dynamic forms that can change the layout of the entire form even while the user is filling out the form. Adobe Acrobat forms only offer a static PDF form option. The fields are not able to rearrange themselves based on user actions. They can be shown or hidden but the PDF form layout itself is limited to the initial form layout.

Adobe Acrobat PDF forms store data as bit data behind the scenes, whereas LiveCycle Designer stores the PDF form data as XML data. XML data provides more flexibility both in form creation and PDF form workflow.

As of Acrobat XI, LiveCycle Designer is no longer included with the Adobe Acrobat purchase as they are completely separate product lines. LiveCycle Designer is designed to be used as the starting point for moving into a LiveCycle Designer Document Process using the Adobe LiveCycle line of products. Large organizations such as the IRS, Social Security and other organizations can completely control their document workflow using LiveCycle modules that can be purchased independently based on the needs of the organization.

LiveCycle Designer provides much more flexibility when using PDF forms, but it is now a separate product and installation from Acrobat. Both products create PDF forms, but the product to choose is based on the PDF form workflow you wish to use and provide within your organization. For assistance with PDF forms, contact Candyce Mairs at CMairsCreate.

Learn to work with Adobe Acrobat PDF forms

PDF Forms Video Training Course Just Released!

Adobe Certified Instructor Candyce Mairs released her new video training course on Adobe Acrobat XI PDF forms at Train Simple. This online video course teaches how to customize the Acrobat XI interface for workflow efficiency, create proper form designs, and build usable and accessible PDF forms. Discover how easy it is to work with PDF forms within Adobe Acrobat XI.

Candyce Mairs will take you through the steps needed to build an accessible PDF form efficiently. Learn the workflow for creating PDF forms as you work through the exercises and become familiar with the features for form creation within Acrobat XI.

Train Simple offers a subscription based library of courses on a variety of subjects including other Adobe products such as Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, InDesign and others that are included with the monthly plan.

Adobe Acrobat XI PDF Forms Course outline

Florida Adobe Training in Cocoa Beach & Orlando!

Get Florida Adobe training in Cocoa Beach or Orlando!

Candyce Mairs now offers Florida Adobe training on Dreamweaver, Acrobat & ColdFusion in Cocoa Beach and Orlando. These new training facilities allow you to enjoy Florida while learning Dreamweaver or ColdFusion. Candyce Mairs also provides training classes on Adobe products in Minnesota or other locations to suit your needs,

Candyce is an Adobe Certified Instructor for Dreamweaver, Acrobat and ColdFusion. She can arrange custom training on Adobe software and other web-related topics. Get training customized to meet your needs in Florida and work in a quick vacation at the same time.Train during the day and take in Disney or Universal Studios in the same day!

Candyce offers training locations in Minneapolis & St Paul Minnesota, and Orlando & Cocoa Beach Florida, Candyce Mairs can now provide Adobe training that allows you to take in the Mall of America or DisneyWorld while you learn Dreamweaver, ColdFusion or Acrobat.

Contact Candyce Mairs for more information about Adobe training.

Dreamweaver CC Video Course

Interested in learning Dreamweaver CC now that you have the Creative Cloud? Check out these free YouTube videos from the 22 hour Dreamweaver CC course at Educator.com.

Begin building websites using HTML5 & CSS3 using Dreamweaver CC. This course covers all you need to know to get started including design, copyright and accessibility on the web, working with the new CSS Designer within Dreamweaver CC and more.

Learn Dreamweaver in the most comprehensive course available. Let Adobe Certified Instructor Candyce Mairs guide you through the process of building a website from start to finish. Learn industry tips and tricks as you use web standards to create web pages.

View Free Dreamweaver CC Course Videos

CES 2014

Just returned from CES 2014 which is always quite the event. This year was no exception, with plenty of tech toys for all ages. The show was 25% larger this year despite Microsoft no longer attending the event.

I saw many new toys that really piqued my interest this year. The Samsung curved displays were amazing, including the bendable display that can be either flat (how boring!) or curved depending upon what you want. The curve of the TV is controlled using a remote control which was amazing no matter how long I stood there watching it. Curved monitors were also on display. I never thought I would be so interested in this feature until I was exposed to it, especially using multiple monitors. The curved experience really brings you into whatever you are looking at, and makes it a much more personal experience. It also eliminates a lot of glare that occurs on flat panels, so I found it much easier on the eyes.

BMW had their i3 electric car available for test drives, so we took them up on the offer. There is a lot of legroom in a car without an engine, and it is amazingly quiet. The car was incredibly comfortable, and really had a lot of very quiet power. I also like the multiple sunroof feature over both the driver and passenger. I’ve already decided to learn more here about different insurance rates so when this car is officially released, I may trade in my current car for this one.

I also found my new desktop computer. Qualcomm has a new 4″ square computer that I could carry with me as needed. There were other companies with this same type of computer that had even more ports attached to it. The computer world is certainly getting smaller.

CES 2014 was a great event, and Vegas is always an exciting place to visit. Dinner on the patio at Olives watching the Bellagio fountains is a must do while down there. Now I can spend the year dreaming about these new products while I wait for them to emerge in the marketplace.

Need Adobe Acrobat References?

Are you looking for Acrobat references? The Adobe Acrobat Engineering team has created a web page that contains links to every Acrobat PDF reference that Adobe has created in the past. No more hunting down reference information for Acrobat, you have them all listed per version on this single page. Associated errata and addenda to the references is also provided. Here is the link:

Adobe Acrobat references – Adobe Engineering Team

This web page will be added to my Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader reference page located at CMairsCreate Adobe Acrobat Resources so you can access it from that location moving forward. Until then, use the link above and access everything that the Adobe has listed as references for Acrobat to date.

New Year’s Resolutions

I do not believe in New Years resolutions. I think it is crazy to evaluate yourself only once a year, resolve to do something, and then as January moves forward you forget about it.

I believe in making daily resolutions. It is important to try and improve yourself on a daily basis. That way, if you do not meet your daily resolution you have 364 other days to meet your resolution.

It is important to continue to improve yourself everyday. Only by making minor daily improvements can we look back at ourselves in 2 months and realize how much we have progressed.

For example, this year I want to dedicate more time to my health and fitness. I want to eat a better diet, go to the gym more often, and find new ways to get in my daily exercise.

In the past, I have let aches and pains stop me from working out to my full potential. However, a friend of mine has told me that I should try using some products containing CBD. Apparently, there is a lot of research to suggest that CBD has anti-inflammatory properties that can be beneficial for soothing sore muscles.

My friend has even kindly sent me a Joy organics coupon code to get me started. What do you think? Have you ever used any CBD products? Let me know if so as I would love to hear your thoughts.

I suppose what I am trying to say is that you should make it your DAILY resolution to continue to learn and improve yourself. So, if you want to eat more healthily, or get in shape, there is no time like the present to get started.

One way to do that is to use the advantage of the internet to take video courses. There are plenty of healthy eating and fitness resources online. Additionally, if you want to expand your knowledge of technology, you can learn about new software using all the video course options available at cmairscreate.com.

Spend New Years looking back and admiring how much you have progressed in the previous year instead of trying to figure out how you can possibly accomplish your upcoming yearly resolution. This way you can be proud of your accomplishments and have a positive attitude which will reinforce the daily resolution philosophy for the next year.