Acrobat DC SO HORRIBLE it's making me want to cry.

Report · Apr 21, 2015

I can't find anywhere to file a complaint or submit feedback, so here it is.

Acrobat DC is horrible. I feel like it wasn't made for professionals at all and makes it much more difficult to navigate a simple document. My custom toolbar at the top? Gone. Replaced by ridiculous pre-school style buttons on the right. Want to re-organize page order? It opens up an entirely separate window for that, totally unnecessarily.

Thanks for giving me a day of trying to figure out how I can delete this worthless pile of kindergarten garbage and somehow get back to just Acrobat XI while still using my cloud sub.

Report · Apr 21, 2015

If you want to uninstall Acrobat DC and get back Acrobat XI, follow these instructions.

Acrobat DC uninstalled Acrobat XI | How to get Acrobat XI back

You can always reinstall DC later.

View solution in original post

Report · Oct 29, 2016

This is atrocious. Actually it's an insult to users as well as software interface design. How could this possibly get approval for release is beyond me, I tried it for 5 minutes and uninstalled it. Don't they have even semi-intelligent management? For a company that used to do great software, how low have they fallen.

Report · Nov 30, 2016

Totally agree. It's a joke. I've been trying to resize a basic four page document for the last 20 mins to send some very basic screen grabs via email. This ridiculous software keeps blowing my visuals up to 200%. I can't bill my client for time wasted over such basic functionality.

Report · Jan 24, 2017

Complete insanity! I'm so irate in regard to the waste of time I've spent fiddling around w/ this disarray of controls- what were they thinking? Don't fix what wasn't broken. I'm going to rid myself of the DC and see if I can't revert to using a former acrobat version. You've got to be kidding me!!

Report · Feb 01, 2017

Adobe, heres an idea go back to Adobe 8 and dump the last half dozen updates ive rolled back to 8 without updates from the original 8, oh my god i have seen the light

I have had to uninstall DC, it screws with outlook it stops it working, it, does spontaneous weird things with previous PDF documents its utterly stupid none functional.

I lost work due to this rubbish

Now I have got rid of creative cloud oh my god top messing about with thing that work, even bloody saving a document is a pain, why the folder suggestions and that stupid screen

I have now uninstalled PS and same again ive gone back to an old version that works....Adobe take note WORKS,

My advice uninstall DC dump it never use it go to the original adobe 8 do not do any updates and you will find it works fine with no conflicts with other programs.

the creative cloud again thats a pain it keep popping up and slowing my machine & interfering with everything else, i will be asking the company to cancel that one for a start

marks out of 10 -10

Report · Mar 31, 2017

Yes Acrobat DC is horrible I agree with most of the comments on this forum. I also wonder why Adobe has abandon 3D PDF. Both Internet Explorer and Google Chrome are defaulted to not open 3D PDF documents on-line with out the end user changing there browser settings. Way to cripple your own product Adobe.

Report · Apr 18, 2017

I agree with this comment. I used to love Adobe, version 7 I think. I could merge files, add text, photos, place signatures, and save the files with security. With version 10 I cannot even find the tools. Who hid the tools? Perhaps I start using BlueBeam.

Report · May 11, 2017

Really very bad form Adobe, this DC is a load of crap who in which department signed this off? Fire them they do not know what your customers need. Why change a professionally used application to something so foreign no one can navigate properly or use effectively.

Very disappointing that backward movements are being made at such a relied on name.

Report · Jun 12, 2017

I'm in tears now, too. The interface is so clumsy and there's no undo function I can find. So every error means starting over. So disappointed in Adobe DC!

Report · Jun 25, 2017

Edit > Undo

Report · Jul 19, 2017

I just want to also vent my spleen about Acrobat Pro DC being The Worst Piece of Software Ever Created. It does not behave like ANY other program out there. EVERYTHING is convoluted, unreliable and confusing. It bears no resemblance at all to any other Adobe product which are almost all fantastic, and if you can use one Adobe application, you can probably figure out how another one works fairly easily.

All I want to do is to slightly change the size of a text box that I added to a PDF so the text can fit in. Can I use the pointer tool and click on the text box? No. That just selects the text. OK...I'll select the text box tool, and click...no, that adds another text box. OK...I'll select the text box tool again, and right-click the text box...YES! I can choose "Properties" and change stuff, like width and height, by typing in values! Oh...it's STRETCHING the text. WTF? In what universe would that EVER be useful? OK....undo....basically there is NO WAY to grab those tantalising handles to resize the box....unless you're using Acrobat XI Pro (not that DC thing).

And forget trying to "just Google it". There are so many versions of Acrobat that any instructions you find will bear no relation to the version you happen to be using. This is supposed to be helpful, but it might as well be talking about the Apollo 11 guidance computer - the instructions bear no resemblance to any menus or icons in Acrobat DC.

I've been using various versions of Acrobat for years, and this abomination is...well, I cannot type the kind of words that are appropriate to describe this in a public forum. So, I've just uninstalled Acrobat Pro DC, downloaded Acrobat XI Pro, which is marginally less bad, and have successfully, largely through luck rather than judgement, managed to edit the size of the text box.

I know that Adobe can produce some absolutely brilliant software (After Effects and Photoshop being the obvious champions), so how on earth can they put their name to this thing?

Report · Sep 06, 2017

The lack of basic human centred design capability displayed by Adobe's Acrobat DC interface is shocking. I will never "upgrade" from Pro XI to DC — and would actually like a way to PERMANENTLY TURN OFF the constant nagging box that keeps popping up claiming that DC is an upgrade. It is NOT an 'upgrade' in the true sense of the term, but a downgrade to an abstract, infantile and dysfunctional version of the Acrobat product. Acrobat DC is NOT for professionals, despite all Adobe's efforts to maintain this charade.

While software developers may yearn to completely overhaul the interface with every point release, they need to understand that this is precisely the WRONG thing to do in terms of supporting their users' productivity (and sanity!). The apparent empathy deficit in the Adobe team simply reinforces stereotypes of software developers as being heroically out of touch with human users and ignorant to their needs and preferences.

Report · Nov 30, 2017

It's been 2 years since the first post in this thread, and it seems to me that Adobe has done nothing to try and convert this gigantic (literally) turd (figuratively) of an application into something usable. I really don't mind the interface, now that I've figured out where everything is (a huge cost in time), but I do mind that it takes a couple of days to load up, crashes constantly, is painfully slow to use and generally does everything in it's power to make my life miserable. I don't know if DC was a ground-up rewrite of the Acrobat X or if it's just plastic surgery (interface overhaul), but it's time to throw out the baby and the bathwater and get a fresh set of coders to re-write this thing from the ground up. Plenty of other companies can make software that'll pop up in an instant and display a PDF, let me edit it, let me print it (on the same day) and so on. Unfortunately there isn't much out there for peeps who want to work on the pre-press aspects of PDF prep and I'm stuck with adobe for some of those "professional features". How many freakin' years do I have to wait for someone to say "hey, we've really f**ked up on this one, we'd better fix it....".

Report · Aug 06, 2017

I had to purchase Adobe Acrobat DC for a writing project for my employer. It is definitely the most painful piece of crap I have ever had to work on in my life. What's up with the randomness of everything?? Sometimes you can edit a text box, sometimes it tells you to piss off and crashes. I am actually mostly deleting and rewriting the document since trying to click in a text box is akin to walking through a minefield. I am definitely getting reimbursed from my employer for this software and will never, ever, use it on my own accord. It is an embarrassingly bad product. If a competitor hits the market with anything that works, you guys are toast.

Oh, by the way, why have a forum when you just have some hired lackeys puke out canned answers when people who have paid quite a bit of money have legitimate questions??

Report · Aug 10, 2017

After a year, I gave it a new try to Acrobat DC (Damaged Code) in my Macbook, still HORRIBLE and USELESS to work. I will still avoiding it for my desktop computer, even when everyday the Creative Cloud App in my desktop remember me that there is a pending update to DC.

My concern is support for XI is going to finish at Oct 2017. So we're lost until Adobe decide to release Adobe Acrobat XII for PRO's. Isn't it? I'm with you everyone!

Report · Aug 11, 2017

rubenarthe Ah - DC is "Damaged Code"? I always thought it was "Disastrous Crap"!

Report · Aug 30, 2017

I can't believe it has come to this but I will be saying goodbye to Adobe when Acrobat XI hits it's end of life cycle in October 2017. We have been loyal customers since the inception of our company 17 years ago. Acrobat DC is a joke, it is a sad departure from previous versions and is useless to our organization. We have always paid a premium for previous versions with a complaint because the product was good. Acrobat DC isn't worth anything to our business. What a joke and a sad ending to a great product and solid business relationship.

Adobe owned the PDF marketplace for so long I think they forgot what got them there. All of that is gone now with Acrobat DC because it is so bad people (including myself) are replacing Acrobat with non-Adobe solutions.

Farewell my old friend.

-ESH

Report · Sep 06, 2017

Can I ask what non-Adobe PDF product you are moving to, please? As we may be doing likewise.

Thanks.

Report · Nov 07, 2017

I'm using PDF Element Pro 6 now now - around $100 for one user.

[OFFICIAL] Wondershare PDFelement - Smart PDF Editor

Report · Oct 05, 2017

Thank you for this post. I can't tell you how emotional and angry I am getting when I have to work with this piece of crap software. I can't even find the most basic tools anymore. My workflow goes to sh..s when I open it. I seriously cannot believe that Adobe has become so out of touch with what their power user base needs. Newest problem: When I click on edit to add text, the whole layout is destroyed because it performs unwanted OCR. Or try getting the buttons you need on the task bar. ITS IMPOSSIBLE. When you click their awkward zoom button, you cannot un-highlight it. Cannot find the hand tool AND AND AND AND AND.

I have decided to deinstall Acrobat DC today and will start working with Acrobat IX. Only question that remains is why I am paying 600 Euros subscritpion fees per year to work with old software, all because Adobe is hanging on to a terribly flawed Acrobat UI concept.

Hey Adobe: Stop trying to turn desktop software into smartphone apps. IT DOESN'T WORK!!!!

Cheers!

Report · Nov 01, 2017

Yep, going back to Acrobat XI Pro for the occasional special use (and PDF-XChange Editor Pro for blazing fast daily PDF work) is the way to go.

Acrobat/Reader DC remains the Most Ridiculous and Horrendous Software Ever.

Report · Oct 25, 2017

Absolutely rubbish version. Highly non-intuitive - what were these developers smoking?

Why do we need 20 clicks to do the most basic thiings - cant we have a feature rich toolbar to save our valuable time?

Work around the OCR to text with boxes: Save the converted Text file with a new name and open it in Foxit - free pdf software - no frames to bother with. Then select all text with CTRL+A, copy and paste.

Report · Nov 30, 2017

Adobe Acrobat DC is a really poor product. All these years I've been willing to pay a premium for your well designed product because it was so much better than all the other software of it's kind. This is no longer true. I am now free to go! Yay!

One day enough of us will leave to make you stand up and notice. Until then, this is my scream into the void. I really don't know who's idea it was to make it so bad, but you've done it!

Report · Jan 10, 2018

Please Adobe, explain to me why it takes 30 seconds to load an 8-page PDF on a modern machine (i7 processor, 16GB RAM) in 2017?

I seem to remember it not taking this long to load a PDF back around 20 years ago.

Report · Jan 16, 2018

Does anyone have any recommendations to replace Adobe Acrobat (for Mac)? Affinity Photo and Designer are doing a damn good job of replacing PS, ID and Illustrator. I cannot believe the time it takes to just open Adobe programs and files. Ridiculous.

Report · Feb 13, 2018

Acrobat DC is garbage. Every single user I've upgraded to it has reverted back to the older versions. Our users despise it, simple as that.

The fact that a stand alone license to it is $450 each is laughable. We're looking into alternatives now that they're not patching the older Acrobat versions anymore.