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Bobh123us
Participating Frequently
April 24, 2015
Answered

How to change height of highlight

  • April 24, 2015
  • 6 replies
  • 84928 views

I am highlighting some text in a document that I converted from a web page using the converter in Acrobat. The highlighting height is about 2 lines of text high, so as I highlight one line it also highlights half of the line above and half of the line below the line I am highlighting. This makes the highlighting very imprecise. It's like highlighting with a very wide, dull highlighter. This doesn't usually happen when I highlight documents, but is happening on this particular document. I can't find any means to modify the height of the highlighter. I am using Acrobat Professional X version 10.1.13.

Here's an example:

Thanks for a fix.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer try67

    The highlighter uses the underlying "box" that defines each word. You'll see it acts the same when you select it with the mouse.

    This could be the result of an imperfect OCR process, or a bad PDF engine used to create the file. Basically there's not much you can do about it.

    6 replies

    S
    Sandra27597258efkf
    Participant
    December 16, 2022

    After I read the comments below about Chrome messing up the document, I decided to try opening it in Microsoft Bing. I printed the document, saved it as a PDF, and wallah... It worked!  

     

    S
    Sara22253259a91v
    Participant
    December 14, 2021

    My redacting looked like a block, rather than redacting by line.  The highlighting was too large.

     

    I resaved the pdf document from Word.   File -> Export -> Create PDF/XPS Document 

     

    and it seems to work now.

    R
    rspor
    Participating Frequently
    December 19, 2021

    This is a bug in Adobe.  The highlighting was never an issue before.  It doesn't matter how the file is created -- printed, downloaded, etc. Adobe needs to fix this. 

      J
      jaimeesv
      Participant
      January 16, 2018

      I'm having the same issue - after a reinstall - of the highlighter (and selection) being a HUGE area - highlighter oval...

        J
        josephr88569519
        Participant
        September 20, 2019
        It is solvable. After highlighting some text go back and right click. This brings up properties. Within the properties you can modify "font" size and make it the default.
          M
          mer67
          Known Participant
          March 31, 2020

          This does not help. In the messed up file when you right click there is no option to reduce or enlarge the highlight. No reson adobe cant make this a priority!!!! 

           

          Please HELP.


          Just figured this out, and boy, is the solution DUMB.

          1. Highlight the desired text.

          2. Right-click on the highlighted area and select "Properties" from the pop-up menu

          3. Change the thickness to the desired amount. (I found 9 or 10 works for me)

          4. Click [OK]

          To make the change permanent, right-click on the adjusted highlight and this time, select "Make Current Properties Default". Your future highlights will be the new height.

           

          EDIT: You can also move the highlighted color bar. Left-click the highlight and slowly move your cursor over the bounding box until your pointer turns into the 4-pointed-arrowheaded shape. Left-click and drag until it's right. Repeat as needed for fine-tuning.

          EDIT 2: Sometimes, the highlight box can't be resized and you wind up drawing another highlight. If that happens, click elsewhere on the page to return focus to the document as a whole, then hit UNDO (ctrl-z) to remove the accidental highlight. It's been hit-and-miss for me on using the handles on the box to resize or move...

          EDIT 3: If you left-click on the highlighted section that you simply want to move, you can use arrow keys and it moves a little at a time. 

          EDIT 4: ALL THIS WAS DONE ON A PC... I have no Mac on which to conduct these tests.

           

          C'mon, Adobe! You guys make a lot of bucks on this product every month. Y'all need to make this easier on your users!

            A
            aprayzr
            Participant
            December 26, 2017

            Started having the same problem after the last update.  Happens with all pdf files, created with adobe on my computer, or one from another source.  It is as if it is selecting with a font that is 130 points.

              clalisan
              clalisan
              Participant
              December 28, 2017

              I tried uninstalling both Adobe Acrobat Pro and Reader and reinstalled it again but it's still the same issue for me. I found out it's actually the document/file since my other PDF documents does not have the same issue.

              What I did was printed the PDF with Adobe Printer again and that seems to have overwritten whatever settings it had that made that highlight toolbar that big in the first place.

              So far it's been working for me.

                P
                PopV
                Known Participant
                March 28, 2018

                @clalisan had the correct answer.

                When using Chrome browser if you choose to print a page to 'Adobe PDF', something borks and you end up with a huge cursor when trying to comment the file.

                All you need do is reprint to Adobe PDF.

                1. Open the PDF document you originally created in Chrome.

                2. Ctrl P (file>Print) and choose Adobe PDF as your printer.

                3. Rename the file to something slightly different (or whatever).

                4. Once the file has been 'printed' (regenerated), the cursor problem will be fixed.

                5. Delete the old file if you wish.

                6. Profit.

                  defrep
                  defrep
                  Participant
                  June 21, 2016

                  I had the same issue on my system, with Acrobat DC; The issue was having Microsoft convert to PDF; as they have a glitched issue. Don't know why, try using Foxit reader to convert and you can do your original highlights through acrobat as it should auto-open afterwords.

                  Hope this helps.

                    R
                    rupertd5765355
                    Participant
                    October 15, 2017

                    I have the same problem. When I create a PDF using Acrobat PDF printer, the document is screwed up. When I try and highlight, it highlights a huge section instead of a word or a line I want to highlight. This same behavior exists when I try and select a single word.

                    This obviously involves Adobe somehow and saying "there is nothing you can do about it" is NOT a good answer.

                      try67
                      Community Expert
                      try67Community ExpertCorrect answer
                      Community Expert
                      April 24, 2015

                      The highlighter uses the underlying "box" that defines each word. You'll see it acts the same when you select it with the mouse.

                      This could be the result of an imperfect OCR process, or a bad PDF engine used to create the file. Basically there's not much you can do about it.

                      msturner
                      msturner
                      Participating Frequently
                      July 27, 2021

                      Sorry, this should not be marked as the "Correct Answer".  Please see the response from clalisan below, with the great follow-up instructions from others.  While it is tedious, reprinting the PDF generated from a website using the Adobe PDF in your printer options absolutely solves the problem.  Cheers!

                        Z
                        zdvdla
                        Participating Frequently
                        June 18, 2022

                        this is really rediculous. Adobe is the King of graphics applications, and they cannot work this out!? 
                        Lord knows they charge an arm and a leg to "rent" their software, they sure should be able to figure out how to change the size of a simple, everyday. highlighter...

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