Editing in Acrobat moves or deletes text - functionality problems

[Sarah5782]

I have to edit a pdf sent to me. When I click on the Edit pdf button in Adobe Acrobat Pro (64-bit) Version 2023.008.20533 and go to the text field and try to decrease the text or move the field, it will either drop down to the bottom of the page or disappear all together. The font is some bizarre Z@R2AE4.tmp. If I change the font of the field the entry will also disappear.  Further, there is no way to change the entire document font or align the columns at once. I would have the tedious job of selecting each entry to change the font and align it properly. I must export it to Word and edit it there. I would think there should be some way of making edits in Acrobat simiarly to Word as CTRL + A, but it doesn't appear to be the case.

I also find that Adobe will freeze, and not allow me to highlight, move pages or use in the page view the black square that magnifies a portion of the current view. I must exit out of all Adobe pages and once I reopen Adobe all functionality is restored. I had this problem in my old computer and the same problems exist in my new computer.

[moderator deleted fake e-mail link created due to the font's name structure.]

[try67]

It's important to understand that (despite what Adobe's marketing will have you believe) Acrobat is NOT an editor in the same way that Word or InDesign are, and that PDF files were never meant to be edited in such a way. Doing so will always be tricky, difficult and often very frustrating or just not possible. If the author of the file did not embed the fonts in it fully, then you'll have a very hard time editing the text in it, for example. And when you edit one "paragraph" the rest of the page (not to mention the other pages) will not re-flow automatically to accommodate the empty space, and so on and so on.

If at all possible, all changes must be made to the original file, and then a new PDF needs to be created for it.

If that's not possible, try exporting the PDF to an editable format and then work on it there.

Acrobat should only be used as a last-resort for editing purposes.

[Sarah5782]

I do understand that Acrobat is not an editor but since they do have the option to Edit PDF they should have that option in a workable manner so that trying to decrease the size of the font in one text box does not make the text therein disappear or move. I do need to make some adjustments to the pdf so that when I convert it to Word for further alterations that the text aligns properly.

[Abambo]

I do understand that Acrobat is not an editor but since they do have the option to Edit PDF they should have that option in a workable manner so that trying to decrease the size of the font in one text box does not make the text therein disappear or move. I do need to make some adjustments to the pdf so that when I convert it to Word for further alterations that the text aligns properly.

By Sarah5782

They can do that, but not on the precise document that you have there. Not all PDF files are created equally, and even that we can do now many things and those things work nicely, contrary to how they worked out 10 years ago. The easiest way to modify a PDF file is still to do so by going to the source, changing what needs to be changed, and recreate the PDF document. You need to export to Word (again, a little wonder that this works so good) and change what you have to change in Word. Word is a word processor, Acrobat isn't.

The font name indicates that some strange things happened to this file during the creation process.

[Vincent 8532]

All the responses to this problem ignore the fact that Acrobat's editing feature used to actually work, and now it doesn't! When you selected a block of text in the past, even though it may have had 30 different little text blocks inside it, all were selected at once and all moved together. Now, you have to wait for every single little block to be selected, and then you have to wait for them to reappear where you copy or move it. Also, as soon as you select a block of text, individual blocks start smashing into each other, stacking some letters on top of others and deleting others entirely. And once that happens, it can't be undone by hitting the "Undo" command. IT DID NOT USED TO BE THIS WAY! Adobe has completely destroyed Acrobat's editing feature (while raising the subscription price), and now they're pretending like it never really existed and no one should ever have expected anything from it, even if they used it with no problem for years. (And please stop telling people to "go back to the source and edit the document there." WE DON'T ALWAYS HAVE THE SOURCE TO GO BACK TO! And exporting to Microsoft Word is a joke.)