Skip to main content
G
gpecu
Participating Frequently
January 5, 2024
Question

Acrobat removes underlines I've drawn in Illustrator when the text is edited

  • January 5, 2024
  • 1 reply
  • 671 views

I'm trying to export an editable PDF that non-designers in my organization can change on their own without my intervention.

 

This seems to be impossible right now, unfortunately, as Acrobat Pro appears to ... "analyze" the document, and then decide that the lines I drew in Illustrator are unnecessary. Instead, it removes those lines, then sets the text to underline in the edit panel, and uses that instead (see attached video). 

Turning off the underline option in the edit panel doesn't prevent the line I've drawn from being removed. 

How do I stop this from happening? Do I just have to save the background as a 300dpi raster, import that into Illustrator, and then drop the editable text on top of that? I'd love not to have a gigantic PDF to attach to an email.

This is obnoxious, and I can't imagine any good reason for it to be happening. Please tell me this isn't something that can only be disabled in Acrobat. If I have to tell anyone who wants to make changes to this document that they need to go into their Acrobat settings, that would defeat the purpose of me exporting the document as a PDF in the first place.

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    1 reply

    try67
    Community Expert
    try67Community Expert
    Community Expert
    January 5, 2024

    Acrobat is NOT an editor in the sense you're trying to use it, and PDF files were never meant to be edited in this way.

    If you want the users to be able to modify specific texts in the file (like name, date, etc.) then use form fields. Then would be able to fill them in even in the free Reader. They won't need Acrobat for that.

    Changes to the static contents of the file should be done in the original file format, which is Illustrator in this case, and then a new PDF file should be created.

    G
    gpecuAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    March 14, 2024

    I disagree that it's not an editor, and it shouldn't be modifying non-textual elements that i've drawn to make them textual.

    In a very specific sense, Acrobat should not be altering vector art, as the PDF format is widely accepted, and even preferred, by print shops everywhere. This is why one can export a PDF with all printers marks applied, why fonts can be embedded, and why a PDF can be optimized for high-quality print on export, with no downsampling of raster art.

    It's a format that has been designed explicitly to be printed. The embedding of fonts is a huge giveaway that yes, Acrobat is indeed intended to be used in the way that I'm attempting to use it, otherwise, what would be the point of embedding the font? Why even have text editing features at all?

    Form fields have a narrow and strictly online use.

    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices