Issue adding text with existing text boxes

[Susan39032543a17i]

Hello!  I am trying to use the add text tool in Adobe Acrobat Pro Version 2024.003.20112.  When I hit the add text button, a lot of existing text boxes pop up - if I type within those boxes, the whole page messes up with large spaces and other weird formatting.  On my old Acrobat, I could insert new text anywhere, but on this on, I can only insert a new text box outside the existing ones.  Is there any way to turn this off?  It is extremely annoying.  

I already turned off the automatic OCR, but on clean PDFs, this text box problem persists.  Is there any way to turn off existing text boxes or turn on a way to insert a new text box wherever I need one?  

[try67]

You should be able to add text anywhere. What happens if you click outside one of these "text boxes" and start typing?

[Susan39032543a17i]

Hello!  It works as it normally did...clicking outside the text boxes creates a new text box and I can type without messing up the document.  That's what I have been doing, clicking somewhere else, typing, and then moving the text box where it needs to go, but I didn't have to do that on my old Acrobat (2017, really old).  I'd just like to skip the extra step, especially if I have to add a lot into a document.

[try67]

What's the extra step, then?

Anyway, I don't think you can do it. Adobe changes how things work from time to time.

[Susan39032543a17i]

The extra step is moving the text box, I used to be able to type where I needed to type, without any issue.  It's not a big deal if I it's one time, it gets annoying when I have to do it 50 times.

[Subrato Namata]

Thanks @Susan39032543a17i for reporting. I have a few queries,

1. Is the issue file specific? If not, can you please share one screen recording of the issue for us to investigate?

2. What happens when you do not use Add text box and directly click and start typing on the selected bounding boxes

3. There's gear icon on the top Left Edit panel and by unchecking the settings of "Show bounding boxes", does not show existing bounding boxes and on hover they appear.

Regards,

Subrato

[Susan39032543a17i]

Hello!  

1. Is the issue file specific? If not, can you please share one screen recording of the issue for us to investigate?  It is not file specific - it happens to pdfs, if I try to type within the bounding box, the other text moves, sometimes a lot, or weird formatting things happen.  I've tried to replicate, but of course it's not happening today.  😞

2. What happens when you do not use Add text box and directly click and start typing on the selected bounding boxes  The same weird formatting issues occur.  If i click add text and click inside a text box, it doesn't add another text box, it just puts the cursor in the existing text box and then messes up the existing text, which I'm trying to avoid.  

3. There's gear icon on the top Left Edit panel and by unchecking the settings of "Show bounding boxes", does not show existing bounding boxes and on hover they appear.  I did try this and the same thing happens, it still recognizes the text box and puts the cursor in there.

[Subrato Namata]

Thanks Susan, please do share us recording or, screenshot once the issue is observed again. As for us, we're are not able to clearly understand the issue, also have not encountered the issue earlier.

[Susan39032543a17i]

Good morning!  I have attached some screenshots.  So, when I select Edit and Add Text, pre-existing boxes pop up in the pdf (1st attachment).  Then, I have to type where it allows me to in the boxes, and it messes up everything - the text gets pushed around and messed up and it is quite a pain to clean that up, and sometimes, it's much worse than what's pictured here (2nd attachment).  In my previous 2017 version, I could choose to add text and add a text box anywhere without any problem - it was wonderful and easy.  In this version, I can only add a new text box outside the existing boxes (3rd attachment) and then move it where I want it to go (4th attachment), which is also a pain, an extra step.  And, no, turning off bounding boxes does not help.

[Joseph22662276tybg]

Same issues here.

When I try to add text either in existing or in new text box, weird text and formatting appear.

ADOBE_4 is from previous version of Adobe- text is clearly legible.

ADOBE_1 and ADOBE_2 are from this "improved" version. Martian language add-in in effect 🙂

Please advise

[jrae48]

many users are having this exact issue. is there an update? It is now incredible frustrating and time consuming to have to add a text box to a random location on the document, away from all existenting text, and then drag it to the line. on the old version, i could click anywhere in the document to add text. Now, it will edit the text already on the page. For example, instead of clicking on top of a line to input a name, it will now edit the line instead of just adding text on top of it. 

[motivated_Everglow6868]

I am having an identical problem. Is there a solution yet?

[Robert366940811s3x]

I have the same issue as OP and keep hoping to see an update/fix on this. Anything new?

[cara_3602]

I have the same issue and OMG it is SOOO annoying. Never had this problem before when I had the software on my computer - it's when I enrolled in the subscription (aka most recent) service that it started. Has anyone ever gotten an answer from them on what the fix is?

[Daniel_VDM]

We are experiencing this same issue and is causing us many headaches in attempting to complete our work. Users have to hunt to find a place to add text to the PDF. Where we can find a place to add text is usually well aways from where it should be and can cause issues like confusion, misunderstanding, miscommunication.  

[Daniel_VDM]

We figured out a work around. Well it use to be we could add the text using the "T" in the tool bar. There is another icon, I'm not sure if it's new or not. It is a box with a comment bubble. It allows you to add text anywhere regardless of the text boxes. We started using that icon and we no longer have issues. 

[Susan39032543a17i]

Hello!  This is the OP, I was excited to see your reply.  I just tested it.  It is called "Add Text Comment" and when I tried it at first, it had a red border and green text.  I changed the properties to remove the border and change the text to black and then clicked the option to make the current properties the default, so I don't have to do it every time.  I also tested to make sure it prints with that comment, and it does!  This is a great work around, much easier to move around and deal with.  There are two small drawbacks: 1.  when you have the text comment selected, the tool is very sensitive and every click of the mouse adds a new box and 2. the box writes over the existing text, so it might block out the line you're adding text to or block out surrounding text, so that might be an issue. 

It'd be nice if Adobe just fixed the Add Text field, but they dropped out of this discussion in September...I don't get the impression they are going to fix the issue.  But, this is a nice work around - thanks for finding this!