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Acrobat - 2023 Changes Are Beyond Awful... Or Is It Just Me?

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
July 24, 2023
58 replies
36160 views

Who thought it a good idea to change nearly everything at once?

Guess what - most of us are working for a living and don't have time for hours of tutorials and having to sift through support forums to find out how to use software that has been one of the back-bones of our work-flow.

As a designer working in the construction industry, along with being a skilled graphic designer, (you name the Adobe product, I have probably used it) I have found Acrobat to be an excellent, can't live without tool over the years, but this new version has hidden every bit of functionalityy that I personally need.

Am I asking for help here? No. I simply don't have time to mess around while some hotshot new designer celebrates his/her/it's new internal slaps on the back for a job 'well done' at Adobe, and the team scrabble around to answer some of the complaints.

To say I am dissapointed, is an understatement.

Before anyone says it, there are always complaints when software interfaces are changed. But mostly these are rolled out as minor changes, that after a bit of grumbling, people learn and accept, and everyone understands why software must develop. Not wholesale changes such as these..

I have been using Bluebeam Revu recently in tandem with Acrobat, and I am gutted to find myself having to turn to it rather than the Adobe that I have used and loved for decades.

So here are just a few gripes...

No longer can I automatically zoom in and out using a mouse wheel. Presumably there is a way of 'turning this on' hidden away in the depths of the many sub menus. Or does the sdesigner only use a tablet?

It's a basic function that makes it a useable tool, so why is it turned off. Now I have to look in opposite corners for the Pan tool and the Zoom functions. What was wrong with the hovering menu at the foot of the page with all the tools to hand? The select, zoom and pan tools are the three most useful tools to have readily available. It is almost as though the person / peeps who has/have re-designed it, doesn't use it personally. Except perhaps to read a copy of their latest comic.

I can't be bothered to continue and resent needing to.

The question is... do I stay or do I go?

Give me a really good reason to stay Adobe.. Please.

Modern Acrobat

Correct answer Patrick31582352vq9r

Just a post to concur.

Thank goodness they provided, and I finally found, the option to revert to "old adobe". I was struggling w/ the new markup tools which really slowed down my progress for a few weeks. I thought I could get used to it... but no, all my easy markup tasks are still much more cumbersome. Why can't "escape" button close out the tool you're using (text box...)? Nope, lets just keep adding text boxes everytime you click until you click on a new tool?

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M

Morello Communications

Participant

Yep - the new Acrobat SUCKS! I hate it with a passion - not only is my workflow screwed, but the number of bugs I'm encountering is just a joke (and it is so SLOW!). For example, a client sent me changes to a file that appeared to include the removal of several design elements. I duly made the changes, and they came back annoyed that those elements had been removed. Turns out Acrobat wasn't rendering the file properly - and it isn't the only one! I've had to switch to preview on more than one occasion to confirm what I'm seeing is actually correct. Considering how much we pay for a professional Creative Cloud license, this version is insulting.

K

Kimberly33065244wuw5

Participant

I find it runs so slow. It lags even when selecting simple tasks like changing font color, or selecting type text to start filling in the document. It has been giving me nothing but issues.

R

robertr69432093

Participant

The performance has gone into the dumpster. It's actually FASTER and more RELIABLE to open PDF's in Illustrator just to send them to a printer now. Not sure who transferred from the Photoshop Dept to the Acrobat Dept, but they brought the performance problems with them. Every year freeware/open source applications are looking more and more inviting.

AnandSri

Community Manager

Hi @robertr69432093

I hope you are doing well, and thanks for reaching out.

Would you mind sharing more details about the issue you are experiencing with the new Acrobat? I hope you are on the latest version of the Acrobat: 23.006.20360. Please install the most recent update from the help menu of Acrobat, restart the app and the machine if possible, and check the performance.

If you have a specific issue while using the app, please share more details, and we would love to work with you to address the issue.

~Anand Sri.

R

robertr69432093

Participant

To begin, yes I am using version 23.006.20360.

Every time I open a PDF, the artwork renders as expected; but as soon as I try to interact with the Acrobat window, I get the "Acrobat is not responding" popup. I have no other choice but to allow windows to terminate the application.

I cannot use Acrobat to print or review my PDF proofs anymore... but I have found a reliable work-around for the time-being... which is to open the PDFs in Illustrator in order to print and/or review them. - As you might imagine, this is much more time-consuming than it once was when Acrobat was working properly.

D

D. Klein

Participant

I couldn't agree more. I'm an Adobe user for 30+ years. This is the WORST redesign I've even been the victim of. The fact that I have spent an hour now trying to figure out how to prominetly show the PAGE NUMBER and faililng is not a reflection of my abilities. Why is it on the right hand side and doesn't even show total number of pages!? This is necessary for quality contol.

P

pckimber

Participant

Couln't agree more - it is awful - zoom functioone is terrible making most of our .pdf's un-useable - Adobe please can I have the old acrobat back??

L

lisag65291571

Participant

Somewhere in this string of messages, it tells you how to revert back to the old version. I did.

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P

pckimber

Participant

thanks - I have switched back.

J

joey3palms

Participant

Adobe lost me at not being able to scroll down thru pages and instead tap a down arrow. And consolidating pdf pages into a single doc is buried now. Thanks for the solution to revert to the previous version. Truly a disaster. I know that adobe is clay soil. I was born in San Jose. But don't let the Adobe brand become mud.

J

Jeff32645060hkl2

Participant

Terrible Software. I've used it for years to mark up construction drawings. I'm looking for an alternative. How can Adobe not see how bad this is?

VBN

Participant

I can't believe Adobe is paying its designers and developers to do this? There are so many things to improve in Acrobat and you concentrate on scrapping the interface only? Adobe, why do you think Acrobat plug-ins exist? Because your software has huge shortcomings, and plugins try to fill those gaps. Look at Pitstop for Prepress or CommonLook for Accessibility. Stop messing around and get Acrobat moving in the right direction.

C

Cat31952714vz6o

Participant

Yes, absolutely awful. Why would you completely change the way this app works. Where is edit???????

J

jlkilcrease

Participant

OMG, what a bloody shock this upgrade, you call it? This is such a clunky tool now. Crashing is commonplace, freezing up all the time. What a disappointment, a waste of my time. And for simple updates to documents, too. I am reverting to BlueBeam and a version of Acrobat that works solidly and straight forward like XI.

L

lisag65291571

Participant

I thought I reverted to a really old version. I DO NOT care for the new layout. I have a difficult time finding simple items there were so easy to access.

Can we go back a version if we do not like this one?

Thanks

AnandSri

Community Manager

Hi @lisag65291571

I hope you are doing well, and thanks for reaching out.

We acknowledge that the new Acrobat represents a notable change. However, we hope that as you get familiar with the new interface, you can be more productive & get more out of Acrobat.

You can access all the items under the All Tools section on the left or from the Menu (hamburger) icon on the top left corner of the app (View menu on MacOS).

If your critical workflows are getting impacted, you can switch to the old UI from the "Menu" on the top left corner of Windows OS and View Menu on MacOS.

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you continue to experience any issues or if you have any further questions related to the new Acrobat experience. We are here to assist you.

Thank you for your time.

Anand Sri.

E

Elke32523872rdnm

Participant

Glad to hear that I am not the only one that is totally annoyed with this new version of Adobe. Why take something that works great and make it impossible to use? This new version makes no sense. I agree whomever came up with these changes should be fired. Something that would take me five minutes took me over an hour to complete. We are on deadlines and to bring out this garbage is very dissappointing. I finally got so annoyed I found this forum. I am going to revert to the version that works.

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