Acrobat - 2023 Changes Are Beyond Awful... Or Is It Just Me?

[davidk5418443]

Who thought it a good idea to change nearly everything at once?

Guess what - most of us are working for a living and don't have time for hours of tutorials and having to sift through support forums to find out how to use software that has been one of the back-bones of our work-flow.

As a designer working in the construction industry, along with being a skilled graphic designer, (you name the Adobe product, I have probably used it)  I have found Acrobat to be an excellent, can't live without tool over the years, but this new version has hidden every bit of functionalityy that I personally need.

Am I asking for help here? No. I simply don't have time to mess around while some hotshot new designer celebrates his/her/it's new internal slaps on the back for a job 'well done' at Adobe, and the team scrabble around to answer some of the complaints. 

To say I am dissapointed, is an understatement. 

Before anyone says it, there are always complaints when software interfaces are changed. But mostly these are rolled out as minor changes, that after a bit of grumbling, people learn and accept, and everyone understands why software must develop.  Not wholesale changes such as these..

I have been using Bluebeam Revu recently in tandem with Acrobat, and I am gutted to find myself having to turn to it rather than the Adobe that I have used and loved for decades.

So here are just a few gripes...

No longer can I automatically zoom in and out using a mouse wheel. Presumably there is a way of 'turning this on' hidden away in the depths of the many sub menus. Or does the sdesigner only use a tablet?

It's a basic function that makes it a useable tool, so why is it turned off. Now I have to look in opposite corners for the Pan tool and the Zoom functions. What was wrong with the hovering menu at the foot of the page with all the tools to hand? The select, zoom and pan tools are the three most useful tools to have readily available. It is almost as though the person / peeps who has/have re-designed it, doesn't use it personally. Except perhaps to read a copy of their latest comic.

I can't be bothered to continue and resent needing to.

The question is... do I stay or do I go?

Give me a really good reason to stay Adobe.. Please.

[dml0sc]

I am extremely disappointed with the latest Adobe Acrobat update. The constant crashing is unbearable, and the OCR functionality has deteriorated compared to previous versions. I am urgently seeking guidance on how to revert to an earlier version, as I've resorted to using Acrobat on an older machine due to the poor performance of the current version. The user interface is a major step backward – it's cumbersome and requires excessive clicks to accomplish simple tasks. The beauty of simplicity seems to have been completely overlooked. The updates seem to degrade the software rather than improve it, which is baffling. Another serious issue is with scanning; frequently, my scans vanish or pages go blank during OCR processing. This makes the software unreliable and a risk to use. I find myself having to backup every document before using OCR, as it's unpredictable what the outcome will be. Additionally, the 'enhance PDF' feature is malfunctioning, often duplicating the letters in words unexpectedly. I'm astonished that Adobe would release such a flawed update and hope these issues are addressed promptly. At least, allow us to go back to the previous version.

[davidk5418443]

Bevi Chagnon kindly gave this solution earlier in the chat:


You can revert to the previous interface:

* File menu (the new Hamburger menu in the upper left) or under the View menu on Apple.
* Disable New Acrobat.


Sent from Outlook for iOS<>

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

If you need OCR, try Abbyy Fine Reader. It does a much better job of recognizing printed text (such as in PDF files) and converting it more accurately to Word.docx.

Has basic PDF tools, similar to Acrobat's.

Note that it doesn't have tools/utilities for the printing & graphic arts industries nor for accessibility. Only the basic PDF tools that most people use everyday.

[Blazethe1st]

Yep it is truly awful to use. I have tried for last few months to give it a go and I absolutely hate it. It is not intuive to use whatsoever. Total fail and have cost me hours of lost prouctivity. Thanks Adobe.

[Julie343857356twu]

I have been so annoyed by the updates. I hate having to complete forms now and add text and that's a simple task.  I literally am so frustrated I had to google to see if I'm alone.  It's awful now.  Going back to the old Adobe. 

[Cathy27575598nqxs]

I too am having a LOT of trouble with Adobe Acrobat Pro.  I have been using it for years to combine multiple pdf files into 1 document, and it has always recognized its own bookmarks.  Now it leaves out at least 2 files every time I try combining multiple files into 1 document, it only recognizes the top level bookmark of the second document merged and leaves out all of the other bookmarks, and it is randomly inserting blank pages throughout my merged document.  I am currently looking for other programs, as I work 12 to 16 hour days, and I don't have time for all this mess.

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

Remember...

Let Adobe know:

You can voice your opinion about the new interface at UserVoice: https://acrobat.uservoice.com/forums/590923-acrobat-for-windows-and-mac/suggestions/47082691-ditch-t... 

Be sure to leave a comment about your experience with the new interface. They need to hear from us users.

FYI, UserVoice is Adobe's official website where it reads and takes into account suggestions and complaints from users of its various products.  On the other hand, this community forum is a user-to-user help forum and information posted here rarely reaches ears or eyes at Adobe.

[robert34614417r4w3]

I agree, our team works with Adobe all the time and our IT team globally cannot fix the issues. Our lag time sometimes exceeds a minute to even open an adobe file, the smoothness and ability to find anything in the taskbars has changed to such a degree that it is not comprehensible for typical users to relearn a complete system with no guidelines on how it works. 

Adobe, you should be ashamed thinking that this was well thought out and to do something where the cons out weight the benefits. 

I am sure most of the comments issued on here are from avid and professional users of your software. 

Please fix the issues, it is creating delays in productivity. 

Robert DeVries. 

[JR Boulay]

[Teagen34687753drbo]

It is not just you. They are absolutely AWFUL. I have no clue why these companies think they need to change their "look". No one cares that you think it looks better. It needs to work and it needs to work consistently. I do not have the time to relearn a software system I've been using for years. Absolutely ridiculous.

[brandonr29683291]

Amen. These changes are garbage, and will be losing me as a customer as a result. 

[benjamin34905669srlo]

I am used to software companies moving items around, but this is crazy!

When something works, it doesn't need an overhaul, you don't see Snap-On redesigning wrenches to a point where they are unuseable and unrecognisable.

This is a tool that requires skill and experience to use and this sort of design puts everyone close to ground zero.

This is like coming home to find that the keyhole on your front door has changed positions and is now unrecognisable (without a training package being completed).

Worldwide, I wonder how many lost working hours this has cost....either through having to search 'how to use new Acrobat', the slow factor of using something new, or the 'water cooler' bee-atching about it.

[bretn20855285]

Car manufacturers don't sneak into my sedan in the middle of the night and move the gas pedal to a different place, then tell me they did me a favor.

I like the product I bought from Adobe, that's why I bought it. Don't change the thing I bought without asking me, please.

The new interface makes the features I use most harder to use. More clicks. More sweeps of the mouse. I edit and share projects all the time, please don't tell me this is better. Don't tell me I need to learn how to use this, I already learned how to use it. Don't mess with the thing I paid for. 

[chrisc80624865]

I am totally with you on this. It seems Adobe uses Acrobat as an experiment on everyone to test new thoughts on how to use products. Acrobat has had so many annoying design changes over the years it drives me insane.

We do actually use this product for work and pay for it. I have a number of automations I have setup that are now greyed out and I need to work out why this is. Maybe recreate them again which also means getting an entire team of people to do the same.

How about giving us 6 months free access to creative suite. That may cover the time spent getting everything functioning again.

[JR Boulay]

Consider the "new Acrobat" as a beta version, many features are still missing or half-implemented.

[brandonr29683291]

The feedback from the "beta version" is a clear indication that it hasn't met expectations and could be considered complete and utter garbage. It's fortunate, in a sense, that not all features were fully implemented—it may mean less effort has gone into a project that might be best abandoned, if the developers take the desires of their customer base seriously that is. 

[Holly35108215loz5]

Adobe, why can't you just add new functions while leaving existing functions and UI alone?  Did users send you messages that they thought the UIs needed to be completely redesigned?  I doubt it.

[Amber F.]

Ditto, to all you've said. I use Bluebeam 99% of the time, as Adobe is just awful. 

The 1% use albeit an expensive and time consuming one, my firm has a subscription with Adobe, is for the 3D pdf generated by another program. Once Bluebeam has this capability, bye bye Adobe,  former user for over 3 decades.

Adobe software has certainly declined over the years.

[Calvin34670094qty6]

The new version of adobe has the hardest time openning pdfs. I have no idea why they needed to change anything at all. Its a pdf viewer/editor....not complicated. I have 3 computers running adobe and all of them have the same problem where adobe takes forever to open the file or just crashes altogether. 

[bobb8905931]

Why does Adobe (mostly acrobat) suck so hard now‽

And it is so expensive now. 

How does that work?

[Rob Hanson]

Ok, like everyone else after a week of lost productibity trying to give it a chance I have switched back to the better old, usable version as it's obvious that these are NOT changes that will be ok once you get used to them. They are major changes to the negative in the functionality and usability of the product. Once you find where things are hidden it is still multiple steps to get to often used functions with no way to make it better. And in some cases a few things seem to be completely gone. Howevr, even after reverting I am finding that examining the metadata of a document dispays way, way less information than the same document examined by someone who was smart enough to have the upgrade blocked and never installed it at all. This is unacceptable.

[RC Ducantlin]

Awful changes coupled with horrendous memory management. To: Adobe Development Team > Never forget, less is more, simple is better, and lack of testing to push out a minimally viable product is a certain failure. 

[Patrick31582352vq9r · Accepted solution]

Just a post to concur. 

Thank goodness they provided, and I finally found, the option to revert to "old adobe".   I was struggling w/ the new markup tools which really slowed down my progress for a few weeks.  I thought I could get used to it... but no, all my easy markup tasks are still much more cumbersome.   Why can't "escape" button close out the tool you're using (text box...)?  Nope, lets just keep adding text boxes everytime you click until you click on a new tool? 

[bobb8905931]

This update is over the top gross! It ranks right up there with the Fitbit update another Super destructive "update". I guess the driving force is to appease money grubbing investors. What happened to the days of meaningful updates‽

[defaultj215hhycrr4j]

I wish I thought to visit this forum sooner!

So far, there is nothing I like about the new interface. We are a small business.  We do not have a need to utilize 70% of the tools offered by Acrobat. Unfortunately, the 30% we do you use has been ruthlessly disfigured to a point where I can't recognize anything.  I want to add text to a .pdf. I used to be able to hit "add comments", then the "text" button and I can add text where I needed to.  I found the comment button, but that's not text. I even found the different types of adding text but none that actually add text...just text.  The one button that seems like it would  do this, just hovers. When I press a key, nothing happens. Is it me?  Half of the documents I send out for signatures are either unable to be signed or passed over. I set them up the same way everytime.  I have no idea what the problem is.

Sadly, I will be returning to the old way of doing things.  Too bad, too,  because I love getting something new, change of scenery, once in awhile! It's disheartening when sofftware creators are so far off the mark from their audience. 

Please Try again!