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charlesd64
charlesd64
Participant
July 6, 2018
Question

Hand Tool (Pan) Does Not Function

  • July 6, 2018
  • 10 replies
  • 14424 views

For just one particular .pdf document the Hand Tool doesn't function.  After clicking on the Hand Tool icon in the tool bar and moving my cursor into the document, the hand tool cursor appears very briefly and then quickly changes to the select cursor.  I cannot pan the document.  The document just turns blue, apparently selecting the whole document.  I have tried changing set up parameters through the Edit/Preferences menus (Accessibility and General) but nothing works.  These steps were discussed in other online forums. The odd thing is that this problem is only in one document out of many .pdf documents that I work with.  Anyone have experienced this or have suggestions.

      10 replies

      L
      Limjuco38172009vhzl
      Participant
      June 21, 2024

      I have the same issue, the cursor pan function for a while then after half a minute its gone.

      N
      neeraf77137541
      Participant
      December 1, 2021

      Just figured this out.  Go to Edit, select Preferences.  Under Basic tools, uncheck the box next to "Make Hand tool select text & images".  Check the box next to "Make Hand tool read articles"

        N
        neeraf77137541
        Participant
        December 1, 2021

        make sure you hit ok after you do this

        A
        Anonymous
        August 16, 2021

        I'm working in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC and I've had the same problem.  It turns out the fix for this is actually quite simply.  Keep your mouse moving.  If you let your mouse stay still (it only takes a fraction of a second) it will detect text and switch to a curser, then it will begin highlighting when you click, instead of panning.  Simply give the mouse a quick flick and it goes back to the Hand tool, at the same moment that you move the mouse, click and you'll never have to worry about getting the curser again! (at least until you leave you mouse still again).  Hope this helps!

         

        A
        Anonymous
        October 16, 2020

        This has been extremely frustrating, only became a problem for me after a recent computer upgrade. After reading the clue in your question, I found that the following worked for me.

        Edit > preferences > general, under basic tools uncheck "make hand tool select text & images". Thank you for leading me to this!  I'm running Adobe Acrobat Pro 2017.

         

        - Joe

          R
          Randall0D45
          Participant
          December 31, 2020

          This also worked for me. Using Pro DC. Funny/Frustrating that Adobe can't respond officially or input the answer into their help search.

            D
            DarrellT
            Participant
            September 16, 2020

            The work around of hitting the Alt key and then holding down mouse left button works, but why do we need to do this??  Please fix this problem Adobe!

              E
              Erik24393615pj45
              Participant
              June 6, 2023

              The ALT key shortcut is used in lieu of the spacebar when you are actively editing text in a text box.

              A
              Anonymous
              August 4, 2020

              Try holding ALT when trying to pan with the hand tool.  I stumbled across this and now ALT+left click mouse overrides the select cursor.

                J
                jamie smith annoyed
                Participant
                June 30, 2020

                PLEASE PLEASE sort this out. New PS pan and zoom not working. In teh middle of working on ID, just stopped. Ruined a natural workflow of 20 years, this is insane. SO many complaints and no solution from Adobe?!!

                  C
                  Chornsey
                  Participant
                  April 6, 2020

                  I have this same issue, has anyone found a resloution to it yet?

                    B
                    BLZbob666
                    Participant
                    April 29, 2020

                    I have the same issue but haven't yet seen if an answer/solution has been posted. 

                      K
                      Khoon Lew
                      Participant
                      December 4, 2019

                      I have the exact same issue. Have you got any solution yet? 

                        AnandSri
                        AnandSri
                        Legend
                        July 9, 2018

                        Hello Charlesd,

                        Sorry for the delayed response and inconvenience caused. As per the description above, the hand tool is not working in a specific PDF, Is that correct?

                        Is it a Scanned PDF or a PDF with text?  How was this PDF file created/produced? As you mentioned it is specific to one PDF, Is it possible to share the PDF file with us so that we can test it at our end? To share the file, please use Adobe Send feature, upload the file, share the link to files via private message only, How Do I Send Private Message

                        If hand tool is working fine with all other PDFs, then this could be a document-specific issue. Please navigate to PDF file properties from File>Properties>Description and post a screenshot of the Description tab and Security Tab. To share a screenshot, refer to https://forums.adobe.com/docs/DOC-7043#jive_content_id_How_do_I_attach_a_screenshot

                        What is the dot version of Adobe Reader installed? To identify refer to Identify the product and its version for Acrobat and Reader DC

                        Is it a Mac or Windows machine?

                        Navigate to Adobe Reader's Preferences from Edit>Preferences>General>uncheck 'Make Hand tool select text and images' and see if this brings any difference.

                        Let us know how it goes and share your observation.

                        Thanks,

                        Anand Sri.

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