: Should a Graphic Designer know Acrobat extensively? Just had to take 4 tests for a potential job offering. 1 on Illustrator, 1 on Photoshop, 1 on InDesign and 1 on Adobe Acrobat 7 Standard

@Caterina889

The question areas you list wouldn't fall into "extensive" knowledge in my opinion. They are basic Acrobat operations, especially if the position requires creating web-deliverable or interactive PDFs.

In today's "print dying" world, it has become more and more important to understand digital delivery. In most cases this entails use of Adobe Acrobat.

Whether knowing how to properly format a PDFX/1-a file for press or an interactive PDF for web/screen delivery, it's not unheard of for a company to expect a designer to understand the basics of these operations.

I use Acrobat daily. It may be to simply review changes to a print piece I'm working on or it may be delivery of an interactive PDF to be used as an "e-book" of sorts. On occasion I receive PDFs of old projects which I need to decompile and use elements from. Nonetheless Acrobat is an important production tool worth knowing.

Now, actually being tested and jumping through hoops to confirm you know the basics is another matter.

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@Rambettina927

Not standard, but not uncommon. It depends on the industry and organization.

Similarly, there are firms out there that specialize in preparing presentations for corporate and court room purposes. They'll want you to know a lot about PowerPoint, though the rest of the industry curses it.

I haven't had an intensive need for Acrobat for probably more than a decade. The old uses for the technology has largely been replaced by a combination of Google Docs, intranets, and websites.

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