Skip to main content
andyw50500034
Participant
October 16, 2020
Answered

In Acrobat DC when I click add signature the whole window turns grey

  • October 16, 2020
  • 9 replies
  • 36970 views

When I click on Add Signature, the whole screen goes grey. You have to hit esc to get it to go back. 

I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling. 

Acrobat DC version 20.0

Mac OS Mojave Version 10.14.5

Correct answer Bryan27211585ac31

I resolved this issue for one of my customers...  In short, a particular older .plist file needs to be removed.  The Acrobat installer would error when trying to convert this older file to .plist format.

 

DESCRIPTION OF ERROR

I found the following errors in the Acrobat installer log:

 

2023-12-04 17:53:36-06 Summus07 package_script_service[872]: ./postinstall: Error in converting the plist /Library/Preferences/com.adobe.PDFAdminSettings.plist to xml1 format
2023-12-04 17:53:36-06 Summus07 package_script_service[872]: ./postinstall: Could not install PDFAdminSettings

 

SOLUTION STEPS

 

1.  Uninstall Acrobat (using the Adobe Creative Cloud app).

2.  Remove the following file: /Library/Preferences/com.adobe.PDFAdminSettings.plist

3.  Installe Acrobat (using the Adobe Creative Cloud app).

9 replies

Bryan27211585ac31Correct answer
Participant
December 5, 2023

I resolved this issue for one of my customers...  In short, a particular older .plist file needs to be removed.  The Acrobat installer would error when trying to convert this older file to .plist format.

 

DESCRIPTION OF ERROR

I found the following errors in the Acrobat installer log:

 

2023-12-04 17:53:36-06 Summus07 package_script_service[872]: ./postinstall: Error in converting the plist /Library/Preferences/com.adobe.PDFAdminSettings.plist to xml1 format
2023-12-04 17:53:36-06 Summus07 package_script_service[872]: ./postinstall: Could not install PDFAdminSettings

 

SOLUTION STEPS

 

1.  Uninstall Acrobat (using the Adobe Creative Cloud app).

2.  Remove the following file: /Library/Preferences/com.adobe.PDFAdminSettings.plist

3.  Installe Acrobat (using the Adobe Creative Cloud app).

Participant
November 16, 2021

I managed to find a solution.

 

I had exactly the same symptoms.

I tried to uninstall my antivirus and magicallys everything was working again. (popups, add signature, save to cloud...)

 

In my case I think it was F-SECURE which was blocking something in the background.

 

Hope this helps.

Participant
November 2, 2021

Same issue. Can you please highlight the resolution?

Have checked for updates and repaired the install.

Amal.
Community Manager
Community Manager
November 3, 2021

Hi there

 

Hope you are doing well and sorry to hear that.

 

Please go to Edit (Win), Adobe Acrobat (Mac) > Preferences > Signatures > Creation and appearance , Click More > Uncheck 'Use modern user interface' > Click OK and reboot the computer and check.

 

Regards

Amal

Participant
October 12, 2021

Oh yes and I'm on a MacBook Pro, 2015, Mac OS Big Sur, 11.5.2

Anybody out there? I went to adobe chat or contact us and the link didn't even go anywhere....

Amal.
Community Manager
Community Manager
October 12, 2021

Hi there

 

We are sorry to hear that.  Would you mind sharing the video of  the issue for a better understanding of the steps you are doing to sign the PDF. 

 

Also, please try to create a new test user profile or enable the root account in Mac and try using the application there and check. you may also  go to Adobe Acrobat (Mac) > Preferences > General > Uncheck 'Show online storage when saving the file' and 'Show online storage when opening the file' > Click ok and reboot the computer and see if that makes any difference.

 

Regards

Amal

Participant
October 12, 2021

I'm having the same problem. thought this was supposed to be an esy program. I need to get this doc out, don't have a scanner. Please help, it's late... tired.... you ge the drift.

 

Participant
March 5, 2021

Based on my experience, it may be an issue with loading the new signature module.  Go to Preferences --> Signatures --> Creation & Appearance (click on [More...]) --> Uncheck the box for "[] Use modern user interface for signing and Digital ID configuration"

 

Please let me know if this helps you too!

March 22, 2021

I'm experiencing this as well, and unchecking "Use moden user interface for signing and Digital ID configuration" did not help.

 

 

March 23, 2021

Also uninstalling / reinstalling does not help.

Participant
November 19, 2020

I'm also having this problem with Adobe Acrobat Reader 2020.012.20048. I click "Add signature" and the whole screen turns 50% opaqueness gray as if an interstitial pop up is supposed to appear, but none does. This is on Mac OSX 10.15.7

I tried the workaround, but the signature page on https://documentcloud.adobe.com/ won't allow me to upload a jpg.

Adobe Employee
November 6, 2020

Hi,

 

Thanks for reporting the issue and we are sorry for the inconvenience caused. Can you provide some more details : 

 

1. Complete version of Acrobat. Go to Acrobat pro DC > About Acrobat Pro DC. Share the complete version number.

2. To ensure that you are on the latest version, try Help > Check for updates.

3. Are you able to access the Save As Dialog. Open a PDF > Go to File > Save As.

 

As a quick workaround you can login to https://documentcloud.adobe.com/ and go to Fill and Sign and create new Signature/Initial. Once done, come back to Acrobat and launch Fill and Sign app on a PDF and wait for some time. The newly created signature/initial should get synced to your application.

 

Please provide the above information so that we can debug this issue. Let me know in case of any queries.

 

Regards,

Sandeep

andyw50500034
Participant
November 6, 2020

Version 2020.013.20064

Yes, I can access the Save As. Dialog.

Adobe Employee
November 11, 2020

Can you please try signing out and then again signing in to Acrobat? Also are you able to access the options present under the Next button in Fill and sign?

 

-sandeep

Participant
October 16, 2020

I have opened a PDF file that has been sent to me for my signature.

 

I click on Fill & Sign, scroll down to the correct page, click on 'Sign' and then click on 'Add New Signature' - and the screen goes dark.

 

I can't go back, I can't close Acrobat and I end up having to Force Quit.

 

It is the same result on any PDF that I open.

 

Does anyone have any ideas?

Amal.
Community Manager
Community Manager
October 16, 2020

Hi Peterm

 

We are sorry for the trouble. As described you are unable to add the signature to the PDF file as the screen goes dark.

 

Would you mind sharing the screen recording or a screeshot of the issue for a better understanding?

 

Have you got the PDF file via Adobe Sign? If yes, please try to clear the cache of the web browser and try again. Also, you may try with a different web browser and check.

 

If you have got the PDF as an email attachment, try to download the PDF to your computer locally and then try to sign the PDF using fill and sign tool . Also, make sure you have the latest version 20.12.20048 installed. Go to Help > Check for Updates.

 

If it still doesn't work, please try to repair the installation (Windows Only) and reboot the application and check. Go to Help > Repair Installation.

 

If it still doesn't work, please try  to turn off the protected mode for testing (Windows Only). Go to Edit > Preferences > Enhanced Security > Uncheck 'Enable protected mode at startup' Turn off the protected mode and uncheck enhanced security > Click OK and reboot the computer.
Note: Turning off the ptotected mod may possess security risks, please turn on the security after testing.

 

If it still doesn't work, please try to reset the preferences to default as described here https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat/how-to-reset-acrobat-preference-settings-to-default/td-p/4792082?page=1

 

 

Let us know how it goes

 

Regards

Amal

 

 

Participant
November 18, 2020

I have the same problem exactly. The recommendation to remove preferences and restart the application does not work. None of the recommended remedies works. To reproduce on Catalina or Big Sur, open Acrobat Pro DC, create a fresh document. Select the signature tool. Select Add Signature. The entire document goes dark grey, and you can't do anything with the document. There is no option presented to add a signature or initial at that point. There is only one way out, which is to select Esc on your keyboard. Please offer a solution, or log this as a bug in engineering and notify me when there is a new version that fixes the problem.