The latest Adobe Acrobat reader is of course bloated, slow, and hard to
keep from calling home about this or that, and/or trying to sell you
things.
One feature I do like, though, is the booklet (half-size) printing
option it has. OK, my printer driver also has that option, but the Adobe
one is much simpler to use (and possibly more versatile), and I don't
run the risk of accidentally _leaving_ the printer set to that option
for other printing jobs.
Anyone know what is the _earliest_ version of Adobe Acrobat Reader that includes that option? (oldversion.com has a good selection.)
Over the last day or two I've been struggling - and eventually gave up - installing the version called something like "11.0.1 XI" on this W10-64 machine; not sure if that has the booklet option, but I remember it as
being stable and quick. But - despite hours of help from ChatGPT
(rebuilding .Net3.5, all sorts of other things) it just wouldn't
install. I eventually installed Foxit 5.0.1.0523, just so I _have_ a PDF reader, but that doesn't have the booklet option (I don't know if any
Foxit does, even the recent ones).
On 2025/8/27 23:57:49, Paul wrote:
[]
There is a download here. I unpacked the first one and
Thanks for this. I'm a bit dubious, as it says "Last updated:January 23, 2025", whereas I believe Acrobat XI is about 2012 or 2013, but that
could just be when it was last amended on techspot. Also, it says
"download Adobe Reader XI 11.0.00 (Adobe Reader XI 11.0.00 download
link) and then download the 11.0.21 Upgrade Patch (Patch to 11.0.21
download link)", but the patch it has is "Patch to 11.0.23", but we'll
give it a go!
ran the Setup.exe from the folder created. It seemed to run
Ah. I got the same error - at the third pass, when it was registering
things - as I kept getting when I tried (with 11.0.1 that I had, _and
had installed fine under W7_): "! Error 1935.An error occurred during
the installation of ‘assembly component {B708EB72-AA82-3EB7-8BB0-D845BA35C93D}. HRESULT: 0x80070003."
no problem. Using control.exe and "Programs and Features : WindowsFeatures",
there is no .NET 3.5 in my Win10 22H2 VM, just .NET 4.8 or so has tick box ticked.
Hmm. Mine has 3.5 ticked, 4.8 square (which means partially). I _did_
have 3.5 as square, but ChatGPT led me through installing it.
Interesting to know you _don't_ have 3.5. Maybe I'll try switching them
over! Well, just trying making sure 4.8 is ticked first. Hmm, needs a
reboot. Back in a mo ...>
I'm back. Still errored. I'll try removing .Net 3.5. Still errored. So putting 3.5 back. (Hmm, it's "Downloading required files"; I'd assumed
when I removed it before, it wouldn't actually delete anything, but it
must have.) Just on the offchance that that download fixed something,
trying the setup again ... no. Error 1935 again.
https://www.techspot.com/downloads/345-adobe-reader.html
Name: AdbeRdr11000_mui_Std.zip
Size: 141015434 bytes (134 MiB)
SHA256: ECB34BB1A10CF0DADD09103F0F8C378153E01620D4D5C2BA795C273633DC1880
Name: AdbeRdrUpd11023_MUI.msp
Size: 39866368 bytes (38 MiB)
SHA256: 1D226D0EF7C6346D5E0E5FE0BB0A6C2C30B5A5729E441E52C56C0260B676D1DE
This software is discontinued, and is the last to run on older OSes.
Which would be a good reason for it to run on .NET 3.5 or so I suppose.
I was hoping it would load/run on the Windows 10 I am forced to use.
(I'm pretty sure I had it running fine on my old 7 machine.)>
Anyway, the "printing" on my test vm, would be done by "Microsoft Print To PDF"
When Microsoft Print To PDF prints for Notepad, no options at all are offered.
When Microsoft Print to PDF prints for Acrobat Reader, the GUI changes on the
print dialog, to include "Booklet". And indeed, using the .cab from the installer
above and finding "Words.pdf" sample document, it printed in Booklet mode, >> where if folded A4 sheets accordion style, it would "make sense".
The more recent Acrobat has a booklet option when printing real PDFs to
an actual printer (so a four-side PDF would come out with pages 1 and 4
on one side of a sheet, 2 and 3 on the other, so it could be folded in
half - and correspondingly more complicated numbering for longer files).>
I'll glue a picture together later, and post it, of the bits and pieces.
But basically, even without using the .msp and bringing it up to date,
there is still a Booklet mode offered.
Oh - good to know, that "XI" still had the booklet mode, even though
it's quite old.>
On occasion, I caught the software "bogging" and it took a visit
to Task Manager to kick it out of its funk. Is that normal for computers
in the year 2025 ? Apparently so... Grrr.
I hadn't got that far; it fell at the install stage. (The third "pass" I think, where the first pass was unpacking files, I forget what the
second was, and the third was "registering" things. From the length of
the progress bar, it was about a third through that stage when it fell
over with the error message I've given. To be fair, once I clicked OK on
the error message, it did seem to tidy up well - even showing progress
bars going backwards as it removed files and so on.)>
PaulJohn
Well, it added some light, but didn't solve the problem!
On 2025/8/28 12:1:25, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
[]
I'll stick with Foxit 5 for now, and maybe try an earlier or later
Acrobat. Just looking at oldversion.com, and it has Acrobat from
1.0forDOS to 11.0.1, with several entries under each major number -
including both ones with and without X and XI among the 10 and 11 ones.
Any recommended? It says 5.0.5 is Popular.
I tried it, and it installs fine, but doesn't have the booklet feature;
I tried one of the 10 X ones, which wouldn't install (similar error); I
tried the latest 9 - 9.5.0 - and that installed too, but doesn't have booklet. So I can now choose between Foxit 5, Acrobat 5, and Acrobat 9,
and use my printer driver's booklet if I need it.
I've been running Adobe Acrobat 6 (the writer) since the beginning of time. >> <https://i.postimg.cc/C5TdD4Vs/pdf07.jpg>
Mainly because it runs on as many PCs as install it on using the same
registration number (which I bought almost billion years ago).
But presumably isn't public domain!>
It works on almost all PDFs & those that it doesn't work on almost always
be downgraded with tricks to the version that Adobe Acrobat 6 works on.
In terms of "advanced features", I've never yet encountered a PDF which
I couldn't open with whatever PDF reader I had on the computer I was
using at the time.
I am vaguely aware that there are things like forms
that can be filled in, and those may need other than a _very_ old
reader, but I've never had to use such a form. (I'm not in the USA,
where I gather tax returns may involve such documents.)
Now, to see if it can print to PDF like FinePrint always did at a cost.
Acrobat6(writer):File > Print setup > Printer > Microsoft Print to PDF
Bummer. I don't see a booklet half-size printing format option.
But when I think of "booklet" I think of a far more complex printing.
Such as re-arranging odd/even pages at half size so you can fold it.
Once you fold it & staple the centerline - you now have a booklet.
Yes, that's what I meant by "booklet". (The difficulty being getting
hold of a deep-throated stapler!)
Four pages to a single 8.5x11 standard letter sheet.
Or A4 in Europe (including UK).
Folded in half and stapled - it becomes a half-sized book.
Yes.
If I needed to print a "booklet" (for some values of booklet), I'd use:
<https://fineprint.com/fpsupport-topic/how-do-i-fix-double-sided-and-booklet-printing-problems/>
Both my printer driver (I have a duplex printer), and later versions of
Adobe Acrobat Reader, have a booklet option (print pages in half size
and funny order so you can take the output stack, staple and fold it,
and you have a boooklet, as you describe). I prefer the Adobe one, as I
find it easier to use, and it doesn't risk leaving the printer in that
mode.
Does any Adobe free product print booklets? Dunno. This might help:
<https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/ways-print-pdfs.html>
Yes, that's the printing UI that's part of the Adobe free reader. I'm
not sure when it first appeared in the reader - hence my OP.
Apparently somepeople have tried:
<https://www.reddit.com/r/YearCompass/comments/acejtc/how_do_you_print_and_staple_the_a5_booklet/>
(A5 is just UK/EU for "half A4". The A series of sizes are very logical
like that! [They go from A0 down to at least A7.])
But what the OP calls a "booklet" may not be the same thing as above.
Can the OP describe what he means by "booklet"?
It could be just "half sized" (which isn't a booklet at all, to me).
Or it could be something that is folded and read like a book would be.
No, I meant what you do - not only half size, but with pages scrambled
so the output stack can be folded and read like a book.
I just wanted to install an earlier version of Adobe Acrobat Reader -
because the current one is bloated (and therefore) slow, flaky, and you
never know what it's 'phoning home' about, or trying to sell you. But I
was hoping to still get one with booklet printing. If I understood Paul,
the one with "XI" in its title still does, and I'd be delighted to use
that one as I've found in the past it to be stable, but that won't
install on this 10-64 machine for some reason.
J. P. Gilliver wrote:
On 2025/8/28 12:1:25, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
[]
I'll stick with Foxit 5 for now, and maybe try an earlier or later
Acrobat. Just looking at oldversion.com, and it has Acrobat from
1.0forDOS to 11.0.1, with several entries under each major number -
including both ones with and without X and XI among the 10 and 11 ones.
Any recommended? It says 5.0.5 is Popular.
I tried it, and it installs fine, but doesn't have the booklet feature;
I tried one of the 10 X ones, which wouldn't install (similar error); I
tried the latest 9 - 9.5.0 - and that installed too, but doesn't have
booklet. So I can now choose between Foxit 5, Acrobat 5, and Acrobat 9,
and use my printer driver's booklet if I need it.
Acrobat Reader DC 2020 Classic Track provides the 'Booklet' print feature(in the Print Dialog box)
Page Sizing & Handling => Size, Poster, Multiple, Booklet
Window 10 Pro(this system) has Acrobat Reader DC 2020 Classic Track installed(and fully updated to latest June 2025 msp patch)
ÿInstaller file - AcroRdr20202000130002_MUI.exe
ÿLatest patch - AcroRdr2020Upd2000530774_MUI.msp
Both of the above(exe and msp) can be downloaded
<https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/ReleaseNotesDC/index.html#classic-track>
I'm still curious about what "Classic" _is_, though
On 2025/8/28 23:15:49, Marion wrote:
[]
I bought that Adobe Acrobat 6 (writer) to do work at home (so the company
paid for it) before I retired and I've being using it ever since. The
registered name & serial number is still that of the company, but it works >> on any PC I have installed it on (namely mine and that of my wife & kids).
Presumably that was before the common "print" to PDF "printers" came
along (I, and the guy who writes the genealogy software I use, use
pdf995, but I think they're all similar). [Or does it do more than just _create_ PDFs?]>
The company also bought Acrobat 7 (writer) for me, but that requires the
Internet to run so I don't bother installing it since it's the same anyway.
Presumably does _something_ 6 doesn't, to justify presumably a higher
price and later support calendar, but something so obscure you never use whatever it is.[]
As far as I bother to delve into "forms", I seem to run into two types.
Not a matter of bothering: I gather from what I've read on newsgroups
that the US tax office uses some that you have no choice about using.
But what I do is save the non-fillable PDF form to an editable image format >> and then edit in Paint.NET using the text editor which is almost perfect.
I've done that (well, I use IrfanView for almost anything involving
images). Or, where I've felt particularly irritated by "their" use of
such a format, put it into an form Word can edit (I think Word may even
be able to open PDFs, at least after a certain version of Word [I use
2003]). (Your "b." and "c."; don't think I've ever come across a "d.")
Works perfectly. I use FinePrint for that for years, but I just checked the >> comp.text.pdf chart which is shown below which shows other tools can do it.
I remember coming across something that would independently produce
booklets (not sure what from - might have been PDFs), but the free
version either had a fairly small page-number limit, or added something
to each page, or both. That might have been FinePrint - the name sounds familiar.
[x] Print booklet format (pdfbook, pdfbooklet, enbooken, acrobat reader)Part way through that, I gave up...
I used to do it a lot with FinePrint, so when you find the Adobe Acrobat
version that does it (as mine doesn't seem to do it), let us all know.
(Printing booklets that is.) Well, what I've discovered over the last
few days: The current free one from Adobe does it (it's just big/bloated/unstable IMO, whih was the reason for my starting this
thread: I was going to uninstall the bloatware [which I have], and
install the earliest that had that facility). Versions 5 and 9 don't. I couldn't get versions X or XI to install on this machine, but according
to at least one person here (Paul I think it was), XI does have that
ability. And version "Classic 2020" does too.
Digging deeper, I found there's an older version of "pdfbooklet" which is
on SourceForge which runs on Windows/Linux/macOS which we should maybe try. >> <https://pdfbooklet.sourceforge.io/wordpress/>
I think I'll just use Adobe.
Of course, there's the Adobe Acrobat Reader mechanism too.See other subthread - someone suggested this "Classic 2020" version of Acrobat, which _did_ install OK on this machine. I'm awaiting the answer
<https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/print-booklets-acrobat-reader.html>
to "what exactly is it", since it actually comes from the Adobe site,
unlike other "Classic" softwares I've come across.
I'm awaiting with interest to see if Winston answers your and my enquiry
as to what "Classic" actually is!
On 2025/8/29 3:19:0, Paul wrote:
On Thu, 8/28/2025 8:02 PM, J. P. Gilliver wrote:Well, I've just looked at where the shortcut "Classic 2020" had put in
I'm still curious about what "Classic" _is_, though
Maybe it is a win32 application, while the other one is a Metro.App ?
my Start menu, and it's to an executable in "(x86)", so presumably is a 32-bit ... oh, hang on, "a win32 application" doesn't mean that, does
it! I can't say where the default one was, as I'd uninstalled it.
I'm just curious how they will fit their "rent-seeking" behavior
into that version :-) It was the rent-seeking behavior in the
other one, that made me remove it from the machine... and not put
it back.
I haven't noticed any such behaviour in Classic 2020 yet, but I've
hardly used it so far.>
PaulI'm awaiting with interest to see if Winston answers your and my enquiry
as to what "Classic" actually is!
One feature I do like, though, is the booklet (half-size)
printing option it has. OK, my printer driver also has that
option, but the Adobe one is much simpler to use (and possibly
more versatile), and I don't run the risk of accidentally
_leaving_ the printer set to that option for other printing
jobs.
I'm awaiting with interest to see if Winston answers your and my enquiry
as to what "Classic" actually is!
Adober Reader DC Classic 2020 is the perpetual, non-subscription
desktop only version of the Acrobat Reader DC product line with security updates but without feature and platform updates.
Your instincts seem right as in the "olden days", it was hard to "create"
or "modify" PDFs, especially when we often started, in those days, with PS. >>
This is well before "Adobe Acrobat" meant also the reader.
I don't even recall if the reader existed in those days - probably not.
Also, the Adobe Acrobat (writer) always came with the PS-to-PDF Distiller.
Ah yes - the distiller. The pdf995 "printer" driver requires that to be fetched separately, for what I think are (or maybe were?) licencing
reasons; at least one other of the PDF "printers" is the same.
On 2025/8/28 2:12:24, Marion wrote:
On Wed, 27 Aug 2025 16:49:16 +0100, J. P. Gilliver wrote :
[]
I've been running Adobe Acrobat 6 (the writer) since the beginning of time. >> <https://i.postimg.cc/C5TdD4Vs/pdf07.jpg>
Mainly because it runs on as many PCs as install it on using the same
registration number (which I bought almost billion years ago).
But presumably isn't public domain!>
It works on almost all PDFs & those that it doesn't work on almost always
be downgraded with tricks to the version that Adobe Acrobat 6 works on.
In terms of "advanced features", I've never yet encountered a PDF which
I couldn't open with whatever PDF reader I had on the computer I was
using at the time. I am vaguely aware that there are things like forms
that can be filled in, and those may need other than a _very_ old
reader, but I've never had to use such a form. (I'm not in the USA,
where I gather tax returns may involve such documents.)
On 2025/8/28 23:15:49, Marion wrote:
[]
(A5 is just UK/EU for "half A4". The A series of sizes are very logical
like that! [They go from A0 down to at least A7.])
Many things are done differently across the Pond. :)
We in UK used to have our own set of paper sizes, with names like
foolscap, quarto, and so on - they may or may not have been the same as
what US uses. But we switched to the A series quite a long time ago;
they scale by root 2, meaning if you put two (say) A4 sheets side by
side, you have A3, and so on. I think the top - A1 or A0 - is either a
metre on one side, or a square metre - let me look: Hmm, "A0 (841 x 1189
mm), A1 (594 x 841 mm), A4 (210 x 297 mm), and A5 (148 x 210 mm),", so
no 1m side, but 841 by 1189 comes out at 999949, so that's a square
metre within cutting tolerances. (I've heard of smaller sizes too -
certainly A5, and I think A6 and A7 too, for things like index cards.)
Out of interest, there's also C (cover) sizes for envelopes: a C4
envelope will hold A4 pages without folding, for example. (The commonest business size envelope is - or used to be - the one that holds A4 sheets folded into 3 in a Z, though lately seems to be more C5, i. e. holds A4 sheets folded in half.)
On 2025/8/29 14:24:37, ...winston wrote:
[]
Adober Reader DC Classic 2020 is the perpetual, non-subscription
desktop only version of the Acrobat Reader DC product line with security
updates but without feature and platform updates. No access to Adobe
Document Cloud(ADC) service(no e-sign, no mobile editing, no web-based
PFD tools
so in some respects like the Mozilla two streams for Thunderbird and
Firefox, but with the added advantage (as far as I'm concerned) that the stable one also doesn't call home, or try to sell, as much as the
default one ...
- last released base version was in 2020
... and is significantly further behind the default (latest) version
than the Mozilla ESR versions are.
Adober Reader DC Continuous is the subscription and current desktop
*and* cloud version of the Acrobat Reader DC product line with
routine(ongoing) feature, security and platform updates via the Adobe
cloud document web based service/server. Full access to ADC
services(e-sign, web-based PDF tools, mobile editing)
Everything I _don't_ want. (-:
- latest released base version is in 2025
Not to be confused with Classic 2024 the perpetual no subscription,
login version of Adobe Acrobat which also includes Adobe Reader(i.e. an
Acrobat and Reader bundle).
Ah, I _was_ wondering. So that one (a) costs something, (b) needs to self-validate before it will work.
- unlike Reader DC Classic 2020 which is basically read-only mode,So can be turned into a 2020 clone! (?)>
2024 requires a regedit to make 2024 always function in read-only mode.
The regedit makes the program default to read-only state and also
disables the login requirement. Optionally, the Classic 2024 Acrobat
perpetual version can temporarily be(within the program) toggled(on/off)
to operate in Read-only mode.
On 2025/8/30 5:59:55, ...winston wrote:
Oh, I didn't mean it was the _same_ sort of thing - just it sounded as
if it had some commonality: one version constantly updated and thus
somewhat more prone to flakiness (but gets new features and bugfixes
sooner), one version updated less frequently, and even when it is it's a little behind the bleeding-edge one, so updates have had time to bed in.
It sounded to me like "Classic 2020" was a _bit_ like the Mozilla ESR versions - more stable and with less features, than - presumably -
whatever you'd get if you went straight to the Adobe site and downloaded
the first reader you find (or what comes with a lot of new machines).
So a _bit_ like the non-ESR versions of the Mozilla softwares, with
Classic 2020 being a _bit_ like the ESR versions - just a bigger gap.
[]
Adobe Acrobat Classic 2024 is a perpetual version, one-time upfront
cost, non-renewable 3 yr license requiring activation(Adobe account and
internet access) with basic cloud online services.
So a bit like what someone was calling Writer, as opposed to Reader.
(Is it "perpetual" or "non-renewable 3 yr"? It can't be both!)
On 2025/8/30 14:57:0, ...winston wrote:
I understand that Adobe Classic 2020 only gets bugfix and security, no feature updates. (Presumably thaat's why it's called 2020.)>> []
So someone at Adobe has decided that 3 years is forever? I think many
Adobe Acrobat Classic 2024 is a perpetual version, one-time upfront
cost, non-renewable 3 yr license requiring activation(Adobe account and >>>> internet access) with basic cloud online services.
So a bit like what someone was calling Writer, as opposed to Reader.
(Is it "perpetual" or "non-renewable 3 yr"? It can't be both!)
It's both.
would disagree!>
On 2025/9/2 22:23:41, ...winston wrote:
J. P. Gilliver wrote:
On 2025/8/30 14:57:0, ...winston wrote:
I understand that Adobe Classic 2020 only gets bugfix and security, no
feature updates. (Presumably thaat's why it's called 2020.)>> []
So someone at Adobe has decided that 3 years is forever? I think many
Adobe Acrobat Classic 2024 is a perpetual version, one-time upfront >>>>>> cost, non-renewable 3 yr license requiring activation(Adobe account and >>>>>> internet access) with basic cloud online services.
So a bit like what someone was calling Writer, as opposed to Reader. >>>>>
(Is it "perpetual" or "non-renewable 3 yr"? It can't be both!)
It's both.
would disagree!>
Not necessarily an accurate assumption or hypothesis.
More than likely
The Classic 2024 perpetual will be deprecated
- no longer available as a subscription model
- no longer functional or activated via the necessary Adobe Account login >> - functional with limited features(remember the product is the Acrobat
program, not the included Reader)
- replaced by a later Classic 202x subscription version.
i.e. it was never or ever intended to be a 'forever' product, the 3 yrs
is clear indication it is(always was) 'term limited'.
So "Adobe Acrobat Classic 2024 is a perpetual version" was just
marketing hype - or, in fact, a lie. (I'm not accusing the person who
quoted it here of lying, assuming it was a direct quote from Adobe.)
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