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Participating Frequently
April 25, 2023
Answered

How do i freehand with a highlighter?

  • April 25, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 9521 views

In microsoft edge, i can find a spot on the page without any text and highlight my document. 

 

In acrobat, it recognizes that as a pencil. The problem with the pencil tool is that the annotation is above the document, obscuring the text or object underneath. The highlight tool is able to perform this better by placing itself under the objects of the document.

 

How do i freehand over with the highlighter? the only option is to highlight text, and i cant override with a certain key.

Correct answer ClassicWarriorHC

Work Around. Use "Drawing Tool" > Set desired color "orange, yellow, green, etc." and in the same color pallet menu, move opacity to roughly 40% > then open the Line thickness menu and set it to roughly 6-8.

You could do the same teqnique with lines and shapes. 

2 replies

ClassicWarriorHCCorrect answer
Participant
July 22, 2024

Work Around. Use "Drawing Tool" > Set desired color "orange, yellow, green, etc." and in the same color pallet menu, move opacity to roughly 40% > then open the Line thickness menu and set it to roughly 6-8.

You could do the same teqnique with lines and shapes. 

Participant
December 16, 2024

This is so helpful! Thank you so much!!!

I am so annoyed with the change in the highlighting tool.

I wish it had a check box for free hand or text specific. 

try67
Community Expert
Community Expert
April 25, 2023

Not possible. The Highlight tool in Acrobat only works with text. You can hold down Ctrl while using it to highlight all the text in a certain rectangle that you can draw, but you can't use it for free-hand highlighting.

GemknightAuthor
Participating Frequently
April 25, 2023

big bummer! I prefer the legibility of the highlighter tool than the pencil tool. I would submit feedback for to adobe for freehand highlights to be enabled.

Participant
January 17, 2024

BlueBeam has this feature! I'm looking forward to Adobe catching up and offering the free-hand highlight tool.