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Participant
July 21, 2017
Answered

Do I need both Acrobat Reader DC & Acrobat Pro DC installed?

  • July 21, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 25599 views

Hi,

Do I need both of these installed or does Acrobat Pro DC do everything Reader does?

thanks!

Jan

Correct answer kglad

acrobat does everything reader does and much much more.

do not install reader.

3 replies

JR Boulay
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 24, 2022
Known Participant
February 21, 2018

Um...per Protected View — Acrobat Application Security Guide  Acrobat does not have Protected Mode...

kglad
Community Expert
kgladCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
July 21, 2017

acrobat does everything reader does and much much more.

do not install reader.

Jan VanHAuthor
Participant
July 21, 2017

Thanks so much! I thought so, but then I was reading that since they are two different products, reader does a few things Acrobat doesn't do well.  I'm sticking with your answer! thanks again. J

Dov Isaacs
Legend
July 21, 2017

In theory, one can have simultaneous installations of both Reader and Acrobat. However, it does raise complications as to which of the applications actually opens PDF files when double-clicking (although there is a Preferences control for that).

Acrobat has a proper superset of Reader features. Thus for normal users, there is no good reason to have Reader installed if you have Acrobat installed. And you certainly don't and shouldn't mix and match Acrobat versions. That is really looking for trouble.

The only good excuse I heard over the years was that of some authors using Acrobat that they were concerned that they really didn't know how well their PDF files would work in an environment restricted to Reader-only, especially when using forms and/or sophisticated JavaScript. However, for such testing, generally you would want a dedicated system with minimally-installed fonts and other services. Typically, a dedicated dumb system VM (virtual machine) with Reader installed would be a much better vehicle for such testing.

          - Dov

- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)