Some notes about Combine Files

[dhs-pro-curare]

Some notes about Combine Files:

Setup:

• Acrobat is running.
• The MDI (multiple document interface) is closed (i.e. switching to Acrobat as the foremost application shows just the menubar).
• Cmd-tab switch to any application, then back to Acrobat, e.g. I am constantly switching between Acrobat and the Finder.

Combine Files:

• Go to Acrobat » File » Combine Files.
• MDI window appears with instructions to add files.
• Drag and drop some JPGs into the window.
• Thumbnails of the JPGs appear.

To the upper right, we have two buttons, Close and Combine (see attached picture).

• Close looks active but not selected.
• Combine is greyed out.
• Can't Combine, but also can't Close; neither button does anything.

Two ways out:

1. Close the "New document" tab. MDI remains. File » Combine Files and repeating the process now allows me to add the files again and actually combine them.
2. Close the whole MDI window via the close button in the title bar. File » Combine Files again. MDI opens and, lo, my JPGs are there and Combine button is highlighted and able to be pressed.
3. Or, quit and restart Acrobat allows it to work as it should always.

Also worth mentioning:

• No keybind for Combine Files, and no way to add one. 
• No way to rearrange the "Recommended tools for you" section of the MDI home window to include Combine Files so that accessing it is a one click instead of two (via menubar File » Combine Files, or, "See all tools » Combine files").
• Painful because I use this function a lot.

Chris

—

specs:
Adobe Acrobat Pro 2023.006.20360
macOS Ventura 13.6 on M2 Pro

[Amal. · Accepted solution]

Hi @dhs-pro-curare 

Hope you are doing well and thanks for reaching out.

As you already have the latest version of the Acrobat inplace, please try to reset the Acrobat preferences as described here https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-to-reset-acrobat-preference-settings-to-defau... and see if that helps.

Also, you can add the combine tool shortcut to the quicktool bar as shown in the screenshot below and see if that works for you.

Let us know if you experience any trouble and need more help.

~Amal

[dhs-pro-curare]

Amal,

Thank you for the troubleshooting steps.

I reset the preferences and it seems to have worked, though I do want to see how it fares as the day goes on and the context gets more muddled.

Also good to be able to add tools to the quicktool bar, which I did. The interface there is odd... in the age of drag and drop it's a select-and-press-buttons-to-move-things-around like Font/DA Mover out of System 6.

Chris

[Amal.]

Hi there

We are glad to hear that 😊. Feel free to reach out for any help required in the future.

You may also share your feedback with the engineering team using the link https://www.adobe.com/products/wishform.html

~Amal

[dhs-pro-curare]

Additional data point: This happened again, but I resized the window and suddenly the Combine button became clickable. So perhaps the application needs to reset something programmatically to enable the button properly.

[dhs-pro-curare]

Oops, spoke too soon: the Combine button looks clickable/enabled, but you cannot acutally use it. Close doesn't work either. 😞

[Amal.]

Hi there,

Would you mind sharing a small video recording of the steps you are doing for more clarity?

Also, collect the Adobe CC logs https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-log-collector.html  , Procmon logs (Win Only) https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Labs/acromonitor.html  and share them via any cloud storage. Just upload the log file to the cloud and generate the link and share that link with us for further investigation.

~Amal

[dhs-pro-curare]

Amal,

The attached movie shows the behavior I'm experiencing.

Chris

[Amal.]

Hi there

Thanks for sharing the recording.

Please try to reset the Acrobat preferences as described here https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-to-reset-acrobat-preference-settings-to-defau...

If it still doesn't work, please remove the application using the Acrobat cleaner tool https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Labs/cleaner.html  , reboot the computer once and reinstall the application using the direct link https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/acrobat-dc-downloads.html

Let us know how it goes.

~Amal