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Inspiring
August 18, 2017
Answered

When using the keyboard to move an object in Acrobat Pro DC, is there a way to change the increment used or specify a location using X-Y coordinates?

  • August 18, 2017
  • 4 replies
  • 16000 views

I have added a horizontal line to a pdf form as an underline to some text fields that span the page. The traditional underline text function will not do what I need.

The weight of the line is too thick, and when I try dragging the selection handles, it becomes either thicker or too thin. Is there a way to specify numerically how thick the line should be, as there is in InDesign?

A secondary but equally important question is, can an object (text box, line, etc.) be moved by increments instead of just Up-Arrow, Down-Arrow, Shift-Up-Arrow, etc.? In the example of the line above (or the text boxes directly above it), a single up-arrow increment moves them too close together, and leaving them where they are is too far apart. I have tried moving them with the mouse instead of the keyboard, but even with "snap-to-grid" off, the objects seem to be locked into a grid spacing, anyway; i.e., there is no "in-between" place so I can get the spacing between the text boxes and the line how I want it.

In InDesign, you can hold Shift-Command (on a Mac) to move by one-tenth of a single up-arrow increment, and that's the functionality I need in Acrobat Pro DC. The only modifier I have found is the Shift key, which multiplies the increment (seemingly by a factor of 10), but I haven't found a key-combination that allows smaller increments of movement instead of larger.

Alternatively (and even better, I think), in InDesign, you can numerically specify with X and Y coordinates where you want an object placed. THAT would be IDEAL!

Thank you very much for any help you can give!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer try67

I didn't mention the script because I had understood from your earlier posts that you're aware of it already... Anyway, if someone else is interested it can be found here: Custom-made Adobe Scripts: Acrobat -- Move Field Precisely (FREE)

I'm glad to hear you found it useful!

4 replies

abdennis13
Participating Frequently
September 7, 2018

Daniel, this has been marked as Solved but I discovered the the nudging of the form elements is tied to the document grid. By editing the grid increments down in the Preferences of Acrobat (Units and Guides) I was able to control more precisely where the fields snapped to. Hope this helps someone!

Participant
February 13, 2021

The last reply is the best! works great! zoom in to 800% for precision and in units and grid, change width and height to .028

Inspiring
January 11, 2018

Hello again, all!

I am excited to inform you that we may be close to having an actual fix implemented in Acrobat!

If you haven't already, please vote for this idea at the following Feature Request page:

http://tinyurl.com/PrecisePlacementOfObjects.

The more votes, the more likely Adobe is to spend the time and money necessary on this.

Something I think a lot of users don't realize is that Acrobat is a *huge, complex* program, and making ANY change is a *mammoth* undertaking. It's not like you can just change a few lines of code and say "Voila!"

We, as users, must really make the case, through our votes and our comments—at this feature request page, in addition to all the other forum threads—for the need for these features, or they will NOT be implemented.

So please, cast your vote, and direct all interested parties to this page via this link:

http://tinyurl.com/PrecisePlacementOfObjects

Thanks so much!

HALinNY
Participant
August 19, 2017

If I am understanding you correctly, you can be very precise by using the POSITION tab in the field properties box.  It can be a little tricky for landscape forms because all the dimensions are based on portrait orientation, but after a few minutes of playing with it, you will get the hang of it.  I hope this helps.

Inspiring
August 21, 2017

Thanks, HALinNY,

Unfortunately, the Position tab is nowhere near precise enough.

To see what I mean, try this: create two objects, and manually offset them by just a hair. Select either or both, and set an X or a Y coordinate—whichever way they are offset. If the objects were close to begin with, they will not move! From another post in this forum, I guess the resolution is evidently set to 2 pts., and there's no way to move by pixels, which is what I would need.

Thank you very much for spending your time trying to help!

Ken

try67
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 18, 2017

It's not clear exactly what kind of "objects" you're referring to, but unless they are annotations or form fields, the answer is no, you can't move them by exact amounts. Static PDF contents were never really meant to be edited in such a precise way (or at all, for that matter), so doing so is always a bit tricky.

I agree it will be nice to be able to set the offset, though... You can submit a feature request here: Feature Request/Bug Report Form

Inspiring
August 21, 2017

Thanks very much, try67,

Your explanation at least helps me to understand the problem.

I'm surprised you didn't mention your MoveFieldPrecisely javascript that I found linked to on another post. I thank you very much for that, because it has been the best solution I have found. I know you admit it isn't perfect (only one object at a time, etc.), but it got me over the hurdle for a project I was under the gun on.

If you would like to reply and link to it here, I will mark that as the correct answer to this post, for what that's worth.

Otherwise, thanks for the link to the feature request!

Ken

try67
Community Expert
try67Community ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
August 21, 2017

I didn't mention the script because I had understood from your earlier posts that you're aware of it already... Anyway, if someone else is interested it can be found here: Custom-made Adobe Scripts: Acrobat -- Move Field Precisely (FREE)

I'm glad to hear you found it useful!