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Combining text boxes (Acrobat Pro DC 2018, PC)

Explorer ,
Nov 23, 2017 Nov 23, 2017

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Hi

I've been given a pdf with a footer I need to edit. My problem is that the text seems to be in several different boxes so it's very awkward to edit. It appears like this:

footer1.png

When I edit the text it ends up becoming a jumbled mess. When I select I can move parts of it, so it looks like this:

footer2.png

So I can see that the text is different parts. The top box all seems to be one section with spaces, each bit in the text below is a different box, so it's a mess.

Is there any way I can combine this all into one text box that flows nicely and is easy to edit?

Thanks!

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Edit and convert PDFs

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Explorer , Feb 15, 2018 Feb 15, 2018

Thanks for reply.

I've found it easiest to copy the text before going into edit mode (as this treats it as one block), then paste it in a new box and edit from there. I'm still not clear how the original problem with weird diagonally-divided text comes about, but I can now work with it.

Cheers

Ash

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Adobe Employee ,
Dec 25, 2017 Dec 25, 2017

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Hi  Ashleyw,

Sorry for the delay in response.

Acrobat is not an editing application primarily, but it allows users to do minor text edits. That being said I am not saying it should do what you are experiencing. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused. I would suggest converting the file to Microsoft Word format and then make required changes and convert the file back to Acrobat if that eases your workflow.

Also, I would suggest filing this experience with our product team Acrobat for Windows and Mac: New (1132 ideas) – Share your feedback on Acrobat DC  and help us with your comments.

-Tariq Dar

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Explorer ,
Feb 15, 2018 Feb 15, 2018

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Thanks for reply.

I've found it easiest to copy the text before going into edit mode (as this treats it as one block), then paste it in a new box and edit from there. I'm still not clear how the original problem with weird diagonally-divided text comes about, but I can now work with it.

Cheers

Ash

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Adobe Employee ,
Feb 15, 2018 Feb 15, 2018

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Hi Ash,

Thank you for sharing the workaround here on Adobe forums with us. I am glad you are able to get your work done.

Please feel free to share your editing experience with Acrobat using the link I provided in previous response.

-Tariq Dar

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New Here ,
Oct 07, 2019 Oct 07, 2019

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I tried copying and pasting as you mentioned, but it still breaks up the text into many smaller boxes.

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New Here ,
Oct 07, 2019 Oct 07, 2019

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I don't understand why Acrobat breaks up text boxes. I really need the text to be in one box and not several. Is there ANY WAY I can accomplish this?

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Community Expert ,
Oct 07, 2019 Oct 07, 2019

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Yes. Return to the source document and its application, and create the original document correctly. Acrobat is not designed to do editing and design/layout.
|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer & Technologist for Accessible Documents |
|    PubCom |    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |

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Explorer ,
Apr 07, 2020 Apr 07, 2020

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This is such a garbage answer. "Adobe isn't designed to do editing". Acrobat Pro software application is CHANGING existing formatted text without the user's consent and then you have no REAL answer on how to fix it. It does this automatically whenever saving a document.

 

Your not providing a solution because it does this even when the document was CREATED through Acrobat. For example, if I create a text box with the letter A. Alvarez (A being the initial for the first name and Alvarez being the last name), Adobe Acrobat PRO decides to separate these into different text boxes despite being formatted originally as ONE text box. It's beyond frustrating and your excuses are not acceptable. This is lazy customer service and lazy software design.

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New Here ,
Jan 12, 2021 Jan 12, 2021

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I could not have said it better pvanstrom.  I'm about ready to lose my mind with this nonsense!

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New Here ,
Mar 26, 2021 Mar 26, 2021

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What possible reason could there be for the application to create such a mess for the user?  Beyond frustrating.  Try making the application intuitive and functional.  If you are providing the functionality to create and fill text boxes....and place them in the file.......then yes, the application IS designed to do layout......because that is what such functions are called

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New Here ,
Mar 26, 2021 Mar 26, 2021

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i have no "source document".  I am creating text boxes and filling them with text to annotate an image background that i guess, in your terms, is the "source document".  Why in the world would you develop the application to be so frustrating to use in this regard?

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New Here ,
Aug 03, 2021 Aug 03, 2021

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I am beyond frustrated with a similar text box problem in Abobe Acrobat Reader DC.  A document created in Publisher is sent to me as a pdf. All the content in text boxes on the page is thrown off. Most of the text in each text box appears missing in the pdf. This seems to be only on my machine. If I make the pdf on my machine from the Publisher file, my copy is fine.

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Explorer ,
Aug 04, 2021 Aug 04, 2021

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It's really too bad that Adobe doesn't care about their customers, nor do they care about fixing a problem that they caused when they created the program. They simply state that it's not meant to be used that way (even though that's what 90% of their paying users are using it for)

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New Here ,
Jan 10, 2023 Jan 10, 2023

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What? What an absurd answer. It is created properly in the original document. That is in fact the point. 

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New Here ,
Jan 11, 2023 Jan 11, 2023

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Agreed. *One helpful if not totally obvious tip: if you hold shift after clicking a text box you can select multiple text boxes and move the group together. It comes in handy when Adobe inexplicably seperates a bunch of stuff. But yea, when using MS Word is the purported "solution" to anything, it's a dark day indeed. 

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Community Beginner ,
Aug 14, 2022 Aug 14, 2022

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What????
It is exactly the first feature mentioned on the Acrobat Pro page on why you should buy this product:

----

Powerful features.

Get it all with Acrobat Pro, including the tools you need like edit, convert, review and sign.

-----

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Community Beginner ,
Aug 14, 2022 Aug 14, 2022

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So we need to buy MS Publisher, the product of the competitioner, to be able to edit documents in *your* document format properly????

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New Here ,
Apr 25, 2023 Apr 25, 2023

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abode is garbage.! use infix pdf pro.! it can do lot of great things.! adobe is not even close to doing those. Sure it is slow and crashes sometimes, but it gets things done!

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