Participating Frequently

Answered

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

C

coco2810

Participant

Hello!

Just updated my Adobe Acrobat with this "simplified" format and I have a couple of suggestions I would love to see. Otherwise, I am tempted to use other software for editing my documents! I have wasted many hours trying to edit simple docs.

Some features I would love with updates:

- Being able to drag over multiple speech bubbles (grouping them together) so I can move multiple text boxes at once. Right now, I can select a text box and drag it half of the time. For some reason, I have to have something else selected so I can drag a text box, and haven't been able to figure out how to change a text box size or flip it to a different angle. It has been very hard to work with this new update, and text boxes should be the easiest to use!

- The "draw" feature is difficult, especially using the Line feature. When I draw a line, it has the last line I drew selected, so that one gets deleted while it is selected - not the second line I drew. Also, I was trying to plot some points and draw lines between them on a pdf for school, and you can't draw a line over a Dot, without selecting the dot. Very frustrating!

- Lastly, the slowness and page scrolling is so difficult. I see the loading symbol more than I would like, and it scrolls faster than I can select the section I want to edit. I feel like I have no control!

Please consider these possible edits. Although a simplified app has many benefits, we would love to not backtrack on the simple features we expect in this program. Thank you.

J

jdg1010

Participating Frequently

There is a way to get back to the previous version:

File -> Revert (then to previous version). Hope that helps -- it helped me.

At $26 per seat per month, it's painful to know how poorly they treat us.

J

jdg1010

Participating Frequently

Found File -> Revert (then to previous version). Hope that helps -- it helped me.

At $26 per seat per month, it's painful to know how poorly they treat us.

Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com

Legend

The best place to complain is at Acrobat.UserVoice. It's the forum where Adobe's engineers and program managers take our suggestions (and ignore them).

Gotta vote at UserVoice (not in this forum) to get Adobe's attention — and tell them what you don't like, too. Also has a short list of alternative PDF programs.

VOTE HERE: https://acrobat.uservoice.com/forums/590923-acrobat-for-windows-and-mac/suggestions/47082691-ditch-t...

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

A

Annie33602659tnqb

Participant

My employer has just updated to the new version, and it is truly awful!! I cannot even add a new signature without the whole thing freezing and crashing. There is absolutely zero improvement over the previous version, which begs the question - if it ain't broken, why try to fix it!!??

Please sort this out, Adobe. This 'update' is a complete and utter shambles!!

N

nandi3359620977ic

Participant

Agreed, the new system is horrible. They need to burn it down and start over, start with what they had before that ACTUALLY WORKED. I'm going to find a PDF alternative as this is ridiculous and I want to drop my license as this is completely useless. The organize pages tool has been destroyed, completely.

J

jdg1010

Participating Frequently

Also agreed -- please let us know what you find as an alternative, as many of us (me included) would like to follow you. At $26 per seat per month, this is not worth the headache.

I

Ismael33537780dfcy

Participant

I hate the new Adobe reader. Does anyone else have a better alternative I can use? this new one is Sh...t! the most difficult user unfriendly i have ever seen from them....

C

Capri Ella

Participant

Months later - still hate it.

A

angela5FC6

Participant

Completely agree with this. for a while I was able to avoid the changes and convert to the previous interface, but newest update doesnt let me do this.

It isnt only an interface design issue. Tools dont work properly, it lags, and it is simply completely horrible to use. For the first time in a couple of decades of using adobe I am researching alternative markup programs because this is a complete dud.

D

default22512526vb8hce

Participant

"...we hope that as you get familiar with the new interface, you are able to be more productive & get more out of Acrobat. " What? Are you kidding? IT IS ABSOLUTE USELESS GUI! You are so arrogant! Why do you ignore a lot of frustrations? Are you normal? What about your mental health?

D

default3u1246866aw2

Participant

I second Bianca29482777pvwb

1. I should not have to make time to relearn Adobe DC Pro, in order to Edit the text on a PDF document. And I should not have to take 3x longer to do it, last minute before a deadline.

2. The tool bar isn't even available to be on the same side, guys.

3. We, the corporate peons of the world, already have contempt for being held hostage to a subscription. Now you make it even more unsavory. May your karma take you out sooner than later with healthy competition that isn't supressed with another acquisition.

F

FCO JAVIER33381932dkwj

Participant

Totally agree. All the lawyers are talking about it. Our law firm is completely disgusted. We are looking for new options.