Drawing objects in Acrobat DC

[Toepper]

In the version of Acrobat previous to DC, I could draw lines, circles and other shapes on PDF. I used this capability frequently to cross out sections of forms I would send customers so they'd not waste time. In DC, however, I can't seem to find how to draw a line. Any ideas?

[Sara_Forsberg · Accepted solution]

Hi Toepper,

You can find those options in the Commenting tools (click Tools, then click Open under the Comment icon). The Commenting tools will appear at the top of the window; you can access the shape tools by clicking the rightmost icon.

Please let us know if you have additional questions.

Best,

Sara

[bend66536548]

Hi Sara,

Can you please advise if you can create blocks in DC? i.e. a cross-hair symbol or similar composed of translucent circles, lines and shaded shapes in which all elements of the symbol can be grouped and moved around the page at will, copied and transferred to other PDFs?

Thanks,

Ben

[try67]

You might be able to use a stamp for that purpose, but it really goes beyond the capabilities of the application.

[wallacef7887514]

Thanks, Sara. 

I was stumped til I came across your tip. 

I recently subscribed to DC Pro, but it really should be DC Slow.

It it Soooooo Slooooow........mine refreshes the page with every keystroke. Seems to be going up and down to the cloud and it is driving me nuts!!!

I wish I could get Acrobat XI but it looks like we are forced onto The Cloud whether we want it or not.

[JMJ3rd]

Thank you, Sara!

[matthew f.p89558497]

Why would you not have a redundant option to draw shapes in the main Edit PDF tool areas? This took me much too long because the categorization scheme you use at Adobe for grouping "tools" is not always obvious. Of course you would expect a shape-drawing tool to be one of the default tools in Edit mode. I'm pretty sure it's not a crippling onus to the code to simply add a shape tool; redundancy is often a feature, not a bug, a confusion I witnessed far too often over my years in ECE before moving to cognitive science where this is a recognized property of information processing systems (e.g., the human brain).

[tomt65000820]

I agree, Matthew. It took a while to figure out that what I wanted (drawing tools) was in Comments and not Edit. In fact, I had to look through the community dialogue here to find out. When I am editing a manuscript for mark-up, I am not making comments which I reserve for suggesting revisions on a manuscript before it is marked-up for the printer. Having drawing tools available in Edit mode would be a useful addition.

[defaulthps6yagriekc]

I agree, after using Acrobat X Pro for years now, editing construction prints with lines, arrows, text boxes, drawing objects, .... for these draw tools to now be hidden away and grayed out during Edit PDF session is absolutely STUPID and really FRUSTRATING.  This user interface sucks when you can see the tools you want to use on the screen, but you can't use them. Why does Adobe continually make their project harder and harder to use!!?   And then they want you to spend more money on an increasingly frustrating software product. 

Angry User, costing me a lot of time. 

[karlyk]

I'm importing a pdf into InDesign, and the shapes that were made with the Tools in the Comments section, are not importing in with the rest of the file. Previously, shapes that were made, would. Is there a way to get around this? I tried flattening the file, in Preflight, but the colored boxes that were made, were transparent, and are no longer transparent after flattening. Please help.

[keelym53916271]

Nothing happens when I press the tool arrow.  So I can't get the comment icon (couldn't think of a better place to hide it!).  Please advise.

[Pug_lover]

Yes we can draw simple Comment Boxes but Comment Boxes aren't Objects and as such cant be rotated or manipulated as Object Rectangles can. 

Can someone advise me as to what I missing and how to Draw Objects and Lines in in DC Pro, the Object Toolbar remains gray and inactive in Edit PDF mode?

[Bernd Alheit]

To draw objects and lines use the comment tools. Then flatten the annotations and you and edit it in Edit PDF mode.

[brigitteh12155652]

Under Comments a box appears that says No Comments Yet. There are not options to draw a shape.

[rachellel74145528]

Thank you, Sara.

[fyillc]

WHY EXACTY WAS IT CHANGED. A PERFECT  FUNCITON AND YOU FOULED IT UP. IN THE COMMENTS SECTION? WHY? I DONT WANT TO COMMENT. I WANT TO DRAW A RED LINE. NOT COMMENT. I WANT TO DRAW ONE DUMB RECTANGLE NOT COMMENT. WOW. MADE IT SOOOOOOO MUCH HARDER TO JUST DRAW ONE BOX. AND FORGET ABOUT TEXT. NOT EVEN GOING THERE. CANT ADD TEXT LIKE YOU USED TO  AGAIN, THE COMMENTS SECTION (WAAAAA?). THAT NO VIRTUALLY NO ONE USES FOR COMMENTS BTW. BIG WASTE OF TIME. TOO CUMBERSOME. CHANGE IT BACK. DONT ANY OF YOU PEOPLE ACTUALLY USE THE SOFTWARE YOU WRITE TO SEE HOW RIDICULOUS THIS IS. SIT DOWN WITH IT FOR ONE DAY ON TEN DEADINES. THEN YOU'LL CHANGE IT BACK. 

[Kathy5FFD]

I AM WITH YOU.

This just took me a year to figure out. SO DUMB. SHOULD BE IN THE EDIT TAB. I MISS BLUEBEAM.

[Bernd Alheit]

Adobe Acrobat is not a graphic editor.

[tomt65000820]

No one here is trying to use it as a graphic editor. They are using trying to use drawing tools for mark-up (like me). If these tools are in the program, then they are meant to be used. Question: Why does my Drawing Tools icon in the tool bar appear sometimes and other times not when I am in Edit Document mode?

[Erich5E3A]

I use Acrobat to teach industrial print reading, One exercise involes tracing the energy paths of a fluid system which in previous versions was a simple a s drawing a line on a line. But now, every line I draw remains in an "edit box" and the properties bar stays grayed out until I draw another line. I have yet to figure out how to turn off the box so I can change colors and line-weights on the run.

[default13i7q02414v9]

The fact that I can't draw a simple box in the edit PDF functionality OR change the properties of my text box to add a background color is ridiculous. 

[R. Fergus]

Why the drawing tool is buried in the comment tools in a mystery to me. It took me at least a 1/2 hour of searching to find this out. Very frustrating to say the least. If drawing tools was a separate item it would be much easier to find. Come on Adobe, you can do better than this!

[Bernd Alheit]

The drawing tools are comments.

Adobe Acrobat is not a graphic editor.

[default13i7q02414v9]

Which is not intutitve. Having to flatten the PDF to incorporate a drawing because drawings are comments is weird. When is a circle or box a comment?

[Bernd Alheit]

With circle or box you can mark e.g. errors in a document.