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Adobe Acrobat Shared Reviews - Permissions and Commenting

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Hi -

In a previous post, I indicated that I found a pretty clean workflow for Adobe PDF shared reviews using the Commenting tool to approve or review a document in place of the legacy stamp feature.

I am sending the Shared Reviews via the Share > Linked feature (giving reviewers the ability to comment). They can then click the PDF in their email and open it in a web browser.

However, I have three reviewers who are experiencing issues. These reviewers have always been in my review cycles and have never had an issue until we moved to this new workflow.

Reviewer #1 can open the shared PDF but cannot use the Commenting tool to post any comments or respond to my comments. And, for some of my comments, all he sees is the generic Typed a Note message:

Reviewer #1 has Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Reviewer #2 can’t even open the document from his email:

It was my understanding that if I invite reviewers via Shared Review, they would be able to access and comment on that PDF without having a paid license or and Adobe ID. Can someone clarify what is the criteria please?

If the reviewers do need an Adobe ID, is it free? And if so, I can they assigned an ID?

And finally, another reviewer is seeing this message:

This reviewer clicked Cancel, closed the document, and and then they were able to open the document and make comments without issue.

On my end, however, I am seeing a copy of some of my documents in Shared by You folder--I’m wondering if this is related to the above Create a copy to modify issue?

Thank you.

CORCTON34033231Correct answer

Community Expert

Hi Mary — yes, there are two other conditions that trigger that message:

1. Trying to edit instead of comment. A shared review gives reviewers comment access, not editing access to the original file — editing the document itself stays with you as the owner. So if your IT manager opened the file and tried to modify the document (for example with the Edit tools), Acrobat offers “Create a copy to modify” even though he is signed in correctly. If he only needs to review, the Comment tool should work without that message appearing.

2. Signed in with a different address than the invited one. With “Invited people only”, access is tied to the exact email address the invitation was sent to. If he signed in with another Adobe ID (for example a personal account, or any account whose email differs from the invited address), the share treats him as view-only, which also produces the copy message.

A quick way to tell the two apart: if he can add comments but gets the message only when he tries to edit, it is #1 and everything is working as designed. If he cannot comment either, it is #2 — compare the email address shown for his sign-in (top right) with the address the review was sent to.

Hope that helps!

CORCTON34033231

Correct answer

Community Expert

Hi Mary — yes, there are two other conditions that trigger that message:

1. Trying to edit instead of comment. A shared review gives reviewers comment access, not editing access to the original file — editing the document itself stays with you as the owner. So if your IT manager opened the file and tried to modify the document (for example with the Edit tools), Acrobat offers “Create a copy to modify” even though he is signed in correctly. If he only needs to review, the Comment tool should work without that message appearing.

2. Signed in with a different address than the invited one. With “Invited people only”, access is tied to the exact email address the invitation was sent to. If he signed in with another Adobe ID (for example a personal account, or any account whose email differs from the invited address), the share treats him as view-only, which also produces the copy message.

A quick way to tell the two apart: if he can add comments but gets the message only when he tries to edit, it is #1 and everything is working as designed. If he cannot comment either, it is #2 — compare the email address shown for his sign-in (top right) with the address the review was sent to.

Hope that helps!

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mary_n_fingerlakesAuthor

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Thanks so much!

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CORCTON34033231

Community Expert

Hi Mary — yes, your understanding is correct. With "Invited people only", each reviewer needs to open the file while signed in with the exact email address the invitation was sent to. A free Adobe ID is enough for that — no paid Acrobat license is needed to comment in the browser.

And yes, that should also address the "Create a copy to modify" message: it appears when someone opens the file without comment access under their current sign-in. Once a reviewer is signed in as the invited person, they can comment on the shared file itself instead of a copy.

Thanks for summarizing it so clearly!

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mary_n_fingerlakesAuthor

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Thank you @CORCTON34033231 - it’s so beneficial to have this confirmation.

Note: Even this should fix the issues in our workflow, our IT department needs to do some investigating to ensure it works in our environment.

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mary_n_fingerlakesAuthor

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Hi @CORCTON34033231 - our IT manager said that he signed into his Adobe account and still got the "Create a copy to modify" message. Is there any other condition that would trigger this message? Thank you.

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CORCTON34033231

Community Expert

Hi Mary, thanks for the screenshots — that clarifies it. Your account only offers those two options, so there is no “Anyone on the internet” public link in your case (that option appears to be unavailable for your organization). It depends on who the reviewers are: If the reviewers are people in the same organization shown in that “People in … with the link” option, selecting it can help — anyone in the organization who has the link can access and comment without a personal invitation, though they still need to sign in with their organization account. If a reviewer is outside that organization, that option will not grant them access. For them, please keep “Invited people only”, make sure their exact email address is invited, and ask them to sign in with that same email address. They do not need a paid Acrobat license to comment in the browser, but they do need to sign in as the invited person — opening the link while signed in under a different account (or not signed in) is a common reason a reviewer cannot open the file. So I would not switch away from “Invited people only” as a general fix; it is the right setting for your named reviewers. The organization option is only a workaround for reviewers who are members of that same organization. Hope that helps!

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mary_n_fingerlakesAuthor

Inspiring

@CORCTON34033231 - this totally clarifies things. Thank you!

Although all of my reviewers are internal (same organization), I will continue to use the Invited People Only option since it sends the review automatically--rather than selecting the People in option, copying the link to an email, and adding my reviewers.

Based on these details, I think my reviewers would follow this process:

Click Open document in the Adobe Acrobat Shared Review email:

If the reviewer does not have an account, they will see this dialog box:

At that point, they will have to create an Adobe account (using the email address where I sent the Shared Review) and sign in that way to view and comment on the document. Correct?

If they already have an Adobe account, they will have to:

Click Sign Out and sign in using their credentials: username = email address used for Shared Review and password = password associated with their account)

Is my understanding correct?

If it is, I “think” this will solve the Create a Copy to Modify message, right?

Thank you again!

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mary_n_fingerlakesAuthor

Inspiring

Hi @CORCTON34033231 - thank you for the response.

I reviewed the official doc and it looks like my options are a bit different than what is presented.

When I click Share, I see the following:

When I click Link Setting, I see the following:

I was selecting Invited People Only but should I be selecting People in (the default option)?

Thanks!

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CORCTON34033231

Community Expert

Hi Mary,

The criteria depend on the link setting chosen under Share > Link settings:

• "Anyone on the internet with the link": no paid license and no Adobe ID needed. Adobe's help doc states that recipients receive a link and can view and comment on the document in a browser without signing in.

• "Invited people only" (or "Anyone in your organization with the link"): access is restricted to those people, and they must sign in — that fits a reviewer who can't open the document from the email at all. An Adobe ID itself is free: each reviewer can create their own at adobe.com; IDs aren't assigned by the sender.

Two settings worth double-checking on the problem shares:

1. The link setting above — if easy browser access is the goal, use "Anyone on the internet with the link".

2. The "People can comment on this file" toggle — if it's off, the share is view-only, which fits a reviewer who can open the file but cannot post comments.

Official doc: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/desktop/share-and-review-documents/share-documents/share-pdfs.html

Hope that clarifies it!

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