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"New Acrobat" - Bookmarks, Thumbnails now forced to right side - Why?

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
September 9, 2022
14 replies
15829 views

Hey All,

Any idea why the designers felt the need to swap the sides where tools appear in the "New Acrobat"? I find it very annoying to be working on a large document and having the bookmarks and thumbnails on the right-hand side and there seems to be no way to get it back to the left.

Why is it that companies like Adobe and Microsoft, etc. feel it is a clever idea to force changes on people for no apparent reason. All this does is make the product feel awkward to use and annoy customers. We have been using Acrobat with bookmarks and thumbnails on the left for a long time and it feels unnatural and weird.

I know if we use it long enough, we will get used to it, but why should we have to? I would understand if there were massive productivity gains for sticking with it, but there isn't, it's a forced change for nothing other than some designer thought it looks good.

At least give us an option about what side we want tools on.

I hope someone at Adobe reads this and passes on the feedback.

Mick

[moderator corrected a typo as of OP's request]

Correct answer JR Boulay

Tiger_words

Inspiring

It certainly is annoying when designers force unwanted changes on us. Keep in mind, if the designers stopped working they'd be out of a job so they kind of have to redo things. It's an annoying and counterproductive dynamic.

R

Ronda28972878zsaq

Participating Frequently

It's an annoying and counterproductive dynamic.

By @Tiger_words

They could make it cleaner without needing to move things to opposite sides. The New Acrobat would work and look the same way with the tools and bookmarks where they were.

W

w_3566

Participant

Probably the same type of people who said you HAVE to get a mRNA shot in your arm to keep working and take the contaminated with bacterial DNA into your body. Just believe us, it's for your own good.

mikeyjames1967Author

Participating Frequently

Hi All,

Anyone not happy with the change should go to user voice and add their vote and add a comment if you like.

User Voice - Fixed Position of Bookmarks

Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com

Legend

Also visit this UserVoice page and be sure to click the VOTE button.

https://acrobat.uservoice.com/forums/590923-acrobat-for-windows-and-mac/suggestions/47082691-ditch-the-2023-user-interface-in-acrobat

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer, Trainer, & Technologist for Accessible Documents ||    PubCom |    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |

D

Dusanima

Participant

Hi, I have spent a lot of time searching how we can get the thumbnails back to the left side of the screen and have simply not found it. This is extremely annoying as I'm used to focuss on the right side of the screen, because that's how it works in all my other programmes. I have no clue why this has changed and even less why we don't get the chance to adjust this.
My work goes a lot slower now. Disappointed by this change.
Heidi

Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com

Legend

Hi @Dusanima,

You can disable the new Acrobat interface and get the toolbars back to where they were in the classic interface.

On Windows:

File (or the 3-horizontal bars called a hamburger menu)
Disable New Acrobat

On Mac:

View menu
Disable New Acrobat

That should give you what you need.

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer, Trainer, & Technologist for Accessible Documents ||    PubCom |    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |

D

Dusanima

Participant

Dear Bevi Chagnon, you are a lifesaver!
Thank you so much! 🙂

JR Boulay

Correct answer

Community Expert

Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe

S

Shridhar29252301vh6w

Participating Frequently

It's a failure in UX design that the only response to a common complaint is, "disable our new design." Most modern software allows some degree of customization, and a layout that has been popular for over a decade across all PDF readers is not one that should be altered without the option for customization.

Abambo

Community Expert

It's a failure in UX design that the only response to a common complaint is, "disable our new design." Most modern software allows some degree of customization, and a layout that has been popular for over a decade across all PDF readers is not one that should be altered without the option for customization.

By @Shridhar29252301vh6w

Go to Uservoice and let your voice heard. https://acrobat.uservoice.com/

ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer

S

Shridhar29252301vh6w

Participating Frequently

Thanks, didn't know there was a place for that but good to know

A

Ajith32608624jq7z

Participant

You can switch to previous version.

Navigate to Menu and Restore previous version

L

Leslie32441616690b

Participant

my company force-updated my software and this has been driving me up the wall! why would i want to look to the right for bookmarks? makes no sense for me - of all things, that is one thing one should be able to "flip" from right to left or vice versa depending on comfort/the language they are reading in. I'd prefer my "tools" on the right, too.

JR Boulay

Community Expert

Yes I've never seen any reader software (PDF, eBook, ePub, etc.) with the bookmarks panel on the right.
It's so anti-ergonomic that it should seem obvious, even to Acrobat developers.

Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe

Abambo

Community Expert

Yes I've never seen any reader software (PDF, eBook, ePub, etc.) with the bookmarks panel on the right.
It's so anti-ergonomic that it should seem obvious, even to Acrobat developers.

By @JR Boulay

Some ten years ago, I was involved in a website design (as a “consultant”). The probably very expensive user interface experts had found out that having the website menus to the right was more ergonomic. Don't argue with experts.

ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer

M

Mohamed3240363638gc

Participant

Figured out how to revert Adobe view to previous version. There was an option under the menu in the top left corner that says Disable new Acrobat.

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