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74makoLKN
74makoLKN
Participant
January 6, 2015
Question

Highlight tool not working - all other tools work

  • January 6, 2015
  • 9 replies
  • 51028 views

When using any "text" .pdf that is downloaded and fillable my highlight tool does not work. When I highlight text with the cursor then select the highlight tool the comments box indicates that the "highlight tool" has been used, but no color is added to the text. This occurs no matter what color highlighter I use, nor the opacity setting. All other tools (e.g. - underline tool, add text) are working perfectly. Does anyone have a solution to this problem? I am using a Lenovo Windows 8.1 machine and running AcrobatReader 11.0. Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions. 

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9 replies

H
hsl21142590
Participant
October 30, 2017

I had the same problem after updating my computer to Windows 10. After several months' troubles using Adobe (both reader and acrobat pro), I just realized that this happens with those pdfs made by the MS Pdf program. I made the same document into a pdf using a different pdf program and all the comment tools were working. I guess this is a compatability issue btw MS and Adobe softwares.

B
br34892473
Participant
January 2, 2017

After none of the suggestions in this post worked I stumbled across the solution.

Specs:

Date: 01/02/2017

Using Windows 10

Adobe Acrobat XI v-11.0.18

Issue:

-Not sure what changed since I hadn't changed my preferences but all of a sudden the highlight text tool stopped working. 

-Editing an actual PDF (not a scanned document)

-All other annotation/editing tools worked

-Attempting to highlight text would have an outlined box around it when cursor was over it but would not appear highlighted

-Opacity and background colors were checked and were not the issue.

Here is what I did to fix it:

Edit < Preferences < Accessibility and then Unchecked box for ---> Replace Document Colors.

Click OK.

Now my highlighting works.  Hope this helps

    arbey48
    arbey48
    Participant
    January 31, 2017

    Actually, I think the answer lies with an earlier respondent scross321. He suggested that if a pdf is a scanned document it is a single image and cannot be amended.

    I had a similar problem this morning with a pdf I copied from another source that I wanted to highlight. The highlight function would not allow this. So, I downloaded the Acrobat Cleaner tool suggested by sangrover and reinstalled DC Reader. Still no joy with the highlighter tool. I then opened a pdf that I had made from a printed document and the highlighter tool worked perfectly.

    Therefore, I deduce that scanned documents downloaded as pdfs need to be printed then converted back as pdfs in order for the Adobe Tools to be able to work. Tedious, I know but at least I have a solution; and I don't feel as though the magic arts of programming have defeated me again!

    B
    br34892473
    Participant
    February 2, 2017

    @ arbey48 - That was not my issue. 

    In my OP you'll notice that I mention I was working with a PDF document not a scanned document and my posted solution fixes that issue. 

    The issue you are referring to with tools not working on a scanned document can be resolved using the >Text Recognition > Recognize Text in This File (*check the box to ignore future errors if a pop-up appears saying Acrobat could not perform recognition(OCR)...) tool in the downloadable toolset from Adobe titled AGI All.

      S
      scross321
      Participant
      August 22, 2016

      My guess is that you are viewing a scanned document- so text doesn't show up, it's just one large image. The workaround is to use the line function and change the opacity of the color you choose.

      Alistony
      Alistony
      Participant
      June 4, 2016

      I agree, I have the same problem. This was an expensive program and I am really upset. I used the highlighter a lot and then it just stopped working. I know how to use it and I know its an Adobe problem. Will anyone address this? There is no help for this? Makes me not want to use any of their products.

      L
      lonniemoore
      Participant
      March 19, 2015

      For what it is worth, the highlighter tool no longer works properly for me on Acrobat XI on one computer, but continues to work normally on the other computer. Based on a suggestion here, I tried changing the color of the highlight from the standard yellow and found that most, but not all, colors will work (lighter blues and greens also fail). I changed it to a pinkish color and made that the default until Adobe finally acknowledges and fixes the problem. Interestingly (if you care), if I highlight in standard yellow and save the file, the highlights appear if I open it on the same computer in Adobe Reader or on a different computer in Acrobat XI. In other words, it does really highlight the text, but will not display the yellow (and some other colors) and will not print them. If text is highlighted in yellow in a Word file and then converted to pdf, my Acrobat XI will not display the yellow highlight in the converted file, indicating to me it is a display and printing problem in Acrobat XI.

      maryn31472249
      maryn31472249
      Participant
      March 7, 2015

      I was having the same problem and was able to highlight by using Ctrl M on the keyboard.  That worked for me.

        S
        Adobe Employee
        sangrover
        Adobe Employee
        February 12, 2015

        Hi,

        It appears that this was a bug that was introduced in the latest update. Others have been able to resolve this issue by using the Acrobat Cleaner tool to uninstall and then reinstall Acrobat. You might try this if you have a few spare moments.

        And can you please share the problem PDF  which was working correctly in the earlier version.


        Thank you

        A
        Anonymous
        January 6, 2015

        Hello

        I am having the same problem and I have tried every suggestion (repairing, re-booting, editing settings)

        Regards

        Anthony

          pwillener
          pwillener
          Legend
          January 6, 2015

          First suggestion is to update your Reader version to 11.0.10, then try again.

          74makoLKN
          74makoLKNAuthor
          Participant
          January 6, 2015

          Thank you for the suggestion. I did the update, restarted the machine, and tried "highlight tool" in a couple .pdf files. no change. "highlight tool" still not working. I can select the text, click on the highlight tool, a comment appears in the comments box indicating that a "highlight" edit has been made, but no color appears on the text of the .pdf.

            pwillener
            pwillener
            Legend
            January 6, 2015

            And the highlighting color is set to something different than your actual document background?

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