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Participant
May 27, 2019
Answered

Why does editing tend to scramble up my text ?

  • May 27, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 7257 views

When editing Pictures and texts, it often happens, that I find parts of my texts messed up.

Letters missing and whitespace added randomly.
This is most annoying esp. when going unnoticed, as I sell ebooks.
When I reedit to correct the mixing up, I can never be certain, it does not mix up somewhere else.

Good advice would be appreciated.

Thank you

Correct answer try67

My advice is: Don't edit your PDF files.

They were not meant to be edited directly, and doing so is dangerous and tricky.

Go back to the original file format used to create the PDFs (Word, InDesign, FrameMaker, whatever), edit it there and then create a new PDF file from it.

2 replies

conklinjohn
Participant
February 10, 2020

Double check how you receive your PDF files. I had a major issue most likely due to the PDFs I am trying to combine and I know some of them originate from international sources (our business partners) who haven't purchased the OS and the software apps they are using. I had to use the suggestion found here to help me get back on track:  Topic is: "Scrambled Text when viewing PDF documents in Acrobat Standard XI"
URL is:

 https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat/scrambled-text-when-viewing-pdf-documents-in-acrobat-standard-xi/td-p/9521671?page=4

 

try67
Community Expert
try67Community ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
May 27, 2019

My advice is: Don't edit your PDF files.

They were not meant to be edited directly, and doing so is dangerous and tricky.

Go back to the original file format used to create the PDFs (Word, InDesign, FrameMaker, whatever), edit it there and then create a new PDF file from it.

james1017
Participating Frequently
March 3, 2025

What do you mean that's the whole reason I have Adobe so I can edit files. I use it to write remodeling proposals so I will piggyback off existing files and change a few things around like measurements Etc it's mandatory I'm able to edit it. It worked for 15 years now all the sudden it doesn't work. I don't think it has to do with the recent adobe update because the update happened a day or two before the incident started. I know it's Adobe on my desk top (the origin) because the scrambling is happening on my cell phone and my IPad when in Adobe. 

AnandSri
Legend
May 13, 2025

Hi. Thanx for your kind message. So....what happened is is what usually happens > over time it gets fixed. I've noticed with that Adobe. I'll have a problem and it just corrects itself over time and no it has nothing to do with turning the computer on and off again (i.e. rebooting). This problem was by far the worst one and it took 2-3 weeks to "fix itself". It's working normal again (on my tablet). The problem was not on my desktop only cell phone and tablet which was how I knew it was not my tablet as the problem was also on my cell phone. 

 


Hi James,

 

An issue was reported with Acrobat where the fonts were not displaying correctly, and a fix was implemented with a new update. The background updates and auto sync resolve the issues over time without any action needed on your end. If it happens again, feel free to reach out here, and in the meantime, keeping the apps updated across all devices gives you the latest features and updates.

 

Thanks,

Anand Sri.