Dropbox and Adobe team up to make ‘working with PDFs simple’

Dropbox and Adobe announced a new partnership today that they say is just the first phase of “even deeper mobile integrations” expected to be rolled out in the coming months (iOS this year, Android in 2016).

This first step will allow users to add their Dropbox account to Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader desktop apps (PC and Mac), enabling them for the first time to open PDFs stored in Dropbox from directly inside Adobe.

“We want you to be able to collaborate with PDF files on Dropbox in as few steps, clicks, or swipes as possible,” Dropbox said in a statement. “Ultimately, we want you to be able to work with any kind of file easily, from viewing to editing to sharing. Our collaboration with Adobe, the inventor of the PDF, is the next step in this process.”

The iOS app integration will let users annotate and comment on PDFs stored in Dropbox, using Acrobat Reader mobile. The key focus of the integrations, according to the company, will be on ease of editing while on the move (as well as automatic cloud backups), the ability to share PDFs easily with others working on the same project/PDF via a Dropbox account, and quick access from any device (desktop, mobile, or tablet), with seamless switching.

Earlier this month, Adobe unveiled new mobile apps Fix and Capture, UX prototyping tool Comet, and updates to Photoshop. In June, Dropbox passed 400 million users.