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Graphics software maker Adobe Systems Inc. has moved further into “the cloud” with a new version of its Acrobat software and a suite of collaborative services called Acrobat.com.

Called “the cloud” because collaborating users work on projects using online tools available within an Internet browser, Adobe's new services bring multimedia to portable document format (PDF) files, and allow people in different locations to work simultaneously on the same projects.

Adobe says its new version of Acrobat, version 9, is one of the most significant upgrades to its secure-document software in several years. Users will be able to embed Flash movies in a document, along with video, audio and even 3D graphics into one file.

Users will be able to work together on a document using Acrobat.com, an online suite of hosted services that work within a Web browser. Among the tools are file sharing and storage, a PDF converter, an online word processor and Web conferencing.

Adobe says it is aiming the software at business users to work with their clients in a more collaborative way. As an example, Adobe suggests a company can negotiate a contract with a client in real time, making changes as necessary, over the Internet.

The word processor, called Buzzword, has been in beta (test) form for several months, and is being joined with ConnectNow, Adobe's Web-conferencing service, which includes desktop sharing, video and voice conferencing and integrated chat.

Products created by the new version of Acrobat will be viewable with the news version of Acrobat Reader, which is available free from Adobe's website.

Although Adobe announced the new services this morning, Acrobat and Acrobat.com are expected to hit the store shelves in July.

Acrobat 9 will come in three variations for Microsoft Windows platforms: Acrobat 9 Pro Extended ($699 U.S.), Acrobat 9 Pro ($449), and Acrobat 9 Standard ($299). The extended version includes a feature called Presenter, which will be able top turn Microsoft PowerPoint presentations into multimedia files that can also be published as PDF files.

Acrobat 9 Pro will be available for Mac OSX users.