AI Assistant automatically goes into OCR Mode

Question

Hello!  First time poster here...
I'm not a heavy user of Acrobat, but I DO use it to create Pitch Decks.  Normally I create all the slides in After Effects, export as images, and import the images into Acrobat, adding the requisite hot links there.  I realize this seems a bit Byzantine to many users, but I can more easily make nuanced fonts with depth and effects there than in acrobat, and it suits my working requirements... UNTIL RECENTLY!
 
Specifically, when I go into "edit" mode to add hot links, the AI assistant AUTOMATICALLY GOES INTO OCR MODE AND CHANGES ALL MY BURNED IN TEXT TO FONT ON EVERY PAGE OF THE FILE.  THERE IS NO WAY TO DEACTIVATE THIS OR TELL AI TO IGNORE THE TEXT!!! (Either that or there is no updated instructions on  how to access this - and yes I asked LLMs) And what's worse... I CAN NO LONGER DOWNLOAD THE OLDER VERSIONS OF ACROBAT TO REMEDY THIS!!!!    This completely kneecaps a workflow I have established.    I am at a loss.  HELP!!!Desperately,JB4

AnandSri · Answer

Hello @AlphaJB4

I hope you are doing well. Thanks for reaching out. We're sorry for the trouble you had with the app.

When you enter Edit mode, Acrobat assumes you want to modify the text and converts image-based text into editable layers. Acrobat’s AI Assistant is designed to enhance document editing by automatically recognizing text in scanned or image-based PDFs.

Turn Off OCR in Acrobat Preferences

Open your PDF in Acrobat.
Go to All Tools > Edit PDF.
In the right-hand pane, uncheck “Recognize text”.
- This disables automatic OCR for future edits. See this article for more details: https://adobe.ly/3JCfHwX

Use the “Add Link” tool without editing the PDF

Instead of going into Edit PDF, go to All Tools > Edit > Link > Add/Edit Web or Document Link.
This lets you add hotspots and links without triggering OCR.

The workaround is to add links using the Link tool instead of full Edit mode, or build the file with links in InDesign/Illustrator before exporting.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,

Anand Sri | Acrobat Community Team
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Turn Off OCR in Acrobat Preferences

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