Hello, I’m reporting what looks like a Mac Acrobat Pro rendering bug affecting fillable PDF forms (IRS forms such as Form 5472 / 1120). Problem Previously filled form fields (text already entered days/months ago) suddenly started displaying incorrectly in Acrobat on Mac: broken/strange character spacing distorted text appearance inside form fields text looks scattered or stretched in some fields Important observations (why this looks like an Acrobat display/render bug) Mac Quick Look shows the same PDF correctly Print Preview shows the same PDF correctly Another PDF viewer app also shows the text correctly Only Acrobat on Mac displays the form field text incorrectly on screen This strongly suggests: PDF data is intact form data is intact print output is intact issue is Acrobat’s on-screen rendering of form field text Environment / Repro context Tested on 2 different MacBook Pros Tested with 2 different Adobe accounts Same issue on both machines/accounts Files are stored in iCloud (but Quick Look/Print Preview show correctly) Reinstalling Acrobat did not fix it What I already tried (no fix) Acrobat Preferences > Page Display: Use system setting (resolution) Smooth line art OFF Smooth images OFF Enhance thin lines OFF Use page cache OFF Tried different Smooth Text settings Quit/reopen Acrobat Tested different zoom levels (100/125/150/etc.) Signed out of Creative Cloud / signed back in Restarted Mac Uninstalled and reinstalled Acrobat completely Result Issue persists and appears to be a regression/bug in Acrobat for Mac rendering engine for fillable form field text. Request Please confirm whether this is a known issue and whether there is: a patch/fix planned a workaround a way to install a prior stable build on Mac (if available) I can provide screenshots if needed (Acrobat incorrect display vs Quick Look/Print Preview correct display). Thank you.

Hi @serkanidil,Thanks for reaching out, and sorry for the troubled experience.And appreciate you sharing all the detailed information about what you tried and tested to fix this issue; this helps a lot.While you have tried several troubleshooting steps. Let's try a few more suggestions more focused towards this problem.Try creating a PDF Form with a few text boxes and some check boxes. And then fill it and try opening after some time.While you try working that out, could you help us with the following:Could you share the file that you are having trouble with(if possible)? If you can’t share it publicly, upload the file to any Cloud Drive of your choice and share a downloadable link with us via Private message.To send a Private Message - Click on Profile Avatar and on the profile page, you will see a button “Send message.”Also, if possible, please share with us a video of the issue.~Tariq

serkanidil

Participant

Question

Acrobat renders text different, and PDFs render fine in Preview and other apps

Forum|Forum|6 months ago
February 24, 2026
22 replies
859 views

Hello, I’m reporting what looks like a Mac Acrobat Pro rendering bug affecting fillable PDF forms (IRS forms such as Form 5472 / 1120).

Problem

Previously filled form fields (text already entered days/months ago) suddenly started displaying incorrectly in Acrobat on Mac:

broken/strange character spacing
distorted text appearance inside form fields
text looks scattered or stretched in some fields

Important observations (why this looks like an Acrobat display/render bug)

Mac Quick Look shows the same PDF correctly
Print Preview shows the same PDF correctly
Another PDF viewer app also shows the text correctly
Only Acrobat on Mac displays the form field text incorrectly on screen

This strongly suggests:

PDF data is intact
form data is intact
print output is intact
issue is Acrobat’s on-screen rendering of form field text

Environment / Repro context

Tested on 2 different MacBook Pros
Tested with 2 different Adobe accounts
Same issue on both machines/accounts
Files are stored in iCloud (but Quick Look/Print Preview show correctly)
Reinstalling Acrobat did not fix it

What I already tried (no fix)

Acrobat Preferences > Page Display:
- Use system setting (resolution)
- Smooth line art OFF
- Smooth images OFF
- Enhance thin lines OFF
- Use page cache OFF
- Tried different Smooth Text settings
Quit/reopen Acrobat
Tested different zoom levels (100/125/150/etc.)
Signed out of Creative Cloud / signed back in
Restarted Mac
Uninstalled and reinstalled Acrobat completely

Result

Issue persists and appears to be a regression/bug in Acrobat for Mac rendering engine for fillable form field text.

Request

Please confirm whether this is a known issue and whether there is:

a patch/fix planned
a workaround
a way to install a prior stable build on Mac (if available)

I can provide screenshots if needed (Acrobat incorrect display vs Quick Look/Print Preview correct display).

Thank you.

Show previous replies

T

Tariq Dar

Legend

Hi @serkanidil ,

Thanks for reaching out, and sorry for the troubled experience.

And appreciate you sharing all the detailed information about what you tried and tested to fix this issue; this helps a lot.

While you have tried several troubleshooting steps. Let's try a few more suggestions more focused towards this problem.

Try creating a PDF Form with a few text boxes and some check boxes. And then fill it and try opening after some time.

While you try working that out, could you help us with the following:

Could you share the file that you are having trouble with(if possible)? If you can’t share it publicly, upload the file to any Cloud Drive of your choice and share a downloadable link with us via Private message.
- To send a Private Message - Click on Profile Avatar and on the profile page, you will see a button “Send message.”
Also, if possible, please share with us a video of the issue.

~Tariq

serkanidilAuthor

Participant

Hello Tariq, thanks for response, i am adding a video about the problem for you to understand better. As you can see when i open filed with Adobe Acrobat they look strange, but when i just preview they seem normal and with other pdf applications they seem just normal. I really dont understand how and why is this happening…

ps. i cant upload it here because of the size, so i uploaded it google drive, you can watch it through the link ;

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_UPcWtDTDPCGNVOTgDX-b2cdlfaJZUH4/view?usp=sharing

serkanidilAuthor

Participant

I am adding 2 photos also

Problem

Important observations (why this looks like an Acrobat display/render bug)

Environment / Repro context

What I already tried (no fix)

Result

Request

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