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Understanding and customizing the current Acrobat interface

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
April 19, 2023
335 replies
127320 views

Hi,

I am trying to write a complaint email but of course, no contact details in this regard, so here I am:

what on earth is going on with this new update of Adobe Acrobat Pro that normally it's supposed to be more user friendly - news flash, it's not - and appart from this, there is this new awful feature that blocks the app whenever I try to handle documents, the app blocks, I can't close, I can't do anything, it just freezes. The only thing that gets me out of there is task manager, and then starting over again.

I did this 3 times, making me losing around 10 minutes for an edit that normally, before this horrible update, it was taking me few seconds... Come on guys WAKE UP!

Correct answer BaniVerma

Hi all,

How do I switch between the current and previous Acrobat interface?

Acrobat includes both the current and previous (classic) interfaces for supported versions where the option is available, so you can choose whichever fits your workflow.

Switch to the previous (classic) interface:

Windows: Menu > Disable new Acrobat
macOS: View > Disable new Acrobat

When prompted, select Restart to relaunch Acrobat with the previous interface. To return to the current interface, select View > Enable new Acrobat and restart Acrobat.

Reference

https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/desktop/get-started/preferences-and-settings/switch-new-acrobat.html

What's different about the current Acrobat interface?

Previous (Classic) Interface	Current Acrobat Interface
Traditional menu and toolbar layout	Reorganized menus, toolbars, and panels
Frequently used tools available through the classic interface	Workflow-based tool organization
Standard toolbar layout	Customizable toolbar with frequently used tools

The current Acrobat experience organizes common PDF tasks by workflow and provides a more consistent experience across desktop, web, and mobile.

References

Can I customize the Acrobat interface?

Yes. To customize your toolbar:

From the Quick action toolbar, select Add, remove, or reorder tools, then choose Customize toolbar.
Select a tool category, then click the plus icon to add a tool to your toolbar.
Use the arrows to reorder tools, or the trash icon to remove them.
Select Save.

For the latest interface improvements and feature updates, see the current What's New documentation and Acrobat Release Notes.

References

Thanks,

^BS

Show previous replies

A

Abraham35442128wv1z

Participant

Adobe is costing me money. I am going with Docu-sign. I cant sent contracts and this is very very frustrating

!!!!

R

Robin35987731x8vp

Participant

Yes, it is almost unusable now. It no longer makes any sense. Sadly, I have to use it regularly. Clearly, they've tried to optimize it for a phone, but have done so in a way that renders it impossible to use on either a phone or a computer. I am beyond frustrated.

R

rk805

Participant

I am also baffled by what has happened to Acrobat Pro, I reverted back to the previous version after updated as it was essentially unusable. It seems Acrobat is becoming a bloated, overloaded app with alot of unnecessary tools and CPU overhead (kind of like MS Word). Slow to open and respond; too many tips & comments; not intuitive even to an experienced user.

Mac Pro (2017), 3.5 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5 CPU and 64gb RAM

michaelw23747592

Participant

A well thought UI design wouldn't need those tips and comments, they are more of a distraction then anything.

C

CPH_Ed

Participant

I've had to "use" this software entirely too long...it progressively sinks into the category of "UNUSABLE" software...!!!

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

Believe it or not, I'm getting used to the new interface. I just figured that 90% if it was swapping the panels/tools on the left/right sides.

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com

Legend

Unfortunately, it's missing a lot of the old functionality and utilities. They're just plain broken and preventing people from completing their tasks.

If it was just swapping left/right toolbars, I doubt that so many people would have taken the time to log in and complain. See 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 |

V

vickye52402401

Participant

I see this issue has been going on for almost a year now...ADBOBE....PLEASE FIX THE PROBLEM!!!

it is now almost march 2024 and my work flow has slowed down to a disruptive pace because of Adobe acrotbat issues. I have constand freeze ups & crashes requireing frequent reboots just to get PDF artwork proofs off to my customers.....next job up, the nightmare starts all over again.

Am currently researching how to replace ALL ADOBE PRODUCTS since they took the pantone books and now cant offer a reliable PDF app....why do we keep paying our monthly subscription premiums when we are not able to use the products we are paying for???

Would love any tips re: other software bundles graphic artists who work in the print industry are using

1

Park Street Printers

Known Participant

I work at a design and print shop that requires Pantone color matching for press runs. Now Adobe has dropped Pantone support. Great. I also have to do lots of edits of customer files that are sent to us as pdfs, and the new Acrobat is an unmitigated disaster. Great. How much longer will we be able to revert to the old system, which now has new flaws regardless?

M

Michele35582068l60a

Participant

I agree! So happy I found this page and realized there was a way to disable the new update.

Using comments have been nearly impossible. It is really difficult to get out of comment mode to select it or move it. Then the damn thing disappears - or I can't get to the font/size options. I use text boxes all of the time - seems to be gone (well, I had it for a while after searching for an hour, but not it is gone again).

If they force the update, I'll have to find another pdf editor. This is just too much to deal with when I use it almost daily.

L

Lola34555713dkf1

Participant

I can't comment like I used to. My cursor keeps grabbing other elements on the page. I can't just highlight text or mvoe comments around. This is an utter disaster. It is taking me a load of time to mark up a document.

[abuse removed by moderator]

K

kathy53

Participant

I totally agree. I am having SO many issues trying to do my normal work that was a breeze before this latest update. So many of my documents that I want to edit become a mess when it does a recognize text. So I try to stop this so I can just add some text in a few places. Then it makes the default font a goofy Z@R434C.tmp. This is ridiculous! I can't underline anything. Total disaster! Please get this fixed. I can live with the relocation of all the tools which has been frustrating as well, but I can adjust. However, the functionality is awful! Something is not right. Please fix soon.

J

jdg1010

Participating Frequently

AND ... the Text system is now quadrupally awful: instead of merely not lining up, it can be off by as much as a half inch (and no, it's not the font size choices).

M

Margaret313564015xjv

Participant

Editing is extremely restrictive!!!

No more right click menu for adding and formatting text.

Can no longer copy and paste to other documents.

What was Adobe thinking??

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