Surface Pro 4 plus Surface pen plus Acrobat Pro DC Version 2018.011.20055 on Windows 10

Report · Aug 13, 2018

Hello,

I've searched the forums and Google and I can't find an answer to my problem.

I've been using Acrobat perfectly well for a number of years and marking up all manner of pdf's from designers and lawyers in that time. Open the file and simply start marking up. No issues.

I had my Surface replaced recently due to a hardware fault and on re-installing Acrobat I cannot for the life of me work out how to auto-detect the pen again. I'm now stuck with having to choose the pen mark-up icon and 'pin' it to keep it in use.

Now doesn't recognise the eraser end of my surface pen and pressure etc no longer detected. I know it works because it's been my saviour for ages but I cannot work out what I'm doing wrong or how I managed to set it up before.

Can anybody help?

Report · Aug 14, 2018

Hi,

As per the issue description mentioned above, you are facing issue with surface pen in Acrobat DC, is that correct?

Is your Surface Pen Driver updated to the latest available version? (You can find that Under Device Manager -> Human Device Interface -> Right Click and select 'Update Device Software...' )

Are you able to use that pen with other apps on your surface pro 4 ?

You may also refer to the following forum thread discussing the similar issue:

Surface 4 Pen not working correctly with Adobe Elements 15 after recent windows 10 update

Let us know if you need any help.

Shivam

Report · Aug 14, 2018

Thanks for the reply Shivam.

The issue seems to only apply to using my surface pen and acrobat Pro DC. My pen is working fine with everything else on my Surface pro 4 (acrobat is the only CC app I have installed).

I updated the device driver as you suggested. Was told the driver was up to date already. I've uninstalled and reinstalled acrobat to no avail.

All I'm able to do is use the pen to automatically scroll the page with the hand tool or I have to physically select the pen tool which then uses my pen tip, the eraser and my hand/ finger to mark-up the document.

It's pretty useless. I've tried going through all of the preferences and have selected/ deselected 'auto-detect pen hardware to enable mark-up' restarting each time. Nothing changes.

Is anybody else having the same issue? Is everybody else able to open a pdf and automatically start writing/ erasing etc with the pen with hand/ finger rejection all working fine? As I said on the original post it was working perfectly until I replaced the device due to a hardware fault. Now I'm stuck and if the only app I'm using no longer works my subscription is pointless.

Glenn

Report · Aug 14, 2018

PS: I had a read through the suggested forum thread but nothing there applies/ assists. Thanks for the reference though.

Report · Nov 13, 2020

Same problem, see <https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat/adobe-acrobat-pro-2017-surface-pen-autodect/td-p/11571347?pag...>...

Report · Aug 20, 2018

Hi,

Try repairing Acrobat using "Repair installation" option under Help menu, reboot the machine after repair and check.

If that doesn't work, try uninstalling Acrobat DC using creative cloud desktop app , restart the computer and then reinstall Acrobat using the steps given here: Learn how to download your Adobe Creative Cloud apps

Let us know if you need any help.

Shivam

Report · Oct 03, 2018

I simply cannot get it to work the way it used to. Have uninstalled/ reinstalled numerous times through the cloud desktop app, restarting each time. Whenever the surface pen goes anywhere near the screen the only thing to happen is the little hand icon comes up. I've tried selecting and deselecting auto-detect pen in preferences and have been through all of the options trying to find something that may be the issue. I can't find anything. The only way I can mark-up a document now is by selecting the pen tool & pinning it. Even that doesn't work very well as the pin drops away after the first line is drawn and will only stay 'pinned' after the second or third attempt at selecting. The eraser end doesn't work at all. For that I have to go in and select the eraser tool which is only useable with the surface pen tip!! My whole pdf workflow is now clunky and pretty unusable as it is. I've now taken to using drawboard to mark up my documents but that is a travesty considering I pay for a full creative cloud subscription. I am disappointed and frustrated to say the least. Has no-one else had this issue? I see various people have marked the last comment as helpful. Did it solve this issue for them? It hasn't for me. If anybody could tell me how they solved it I'd be eternally grateful...

Report · Oct 18, 2018

So in the absence of being able to fix this issue I have just spent an hour chatting online with an Adobe Customer Service representative. Utterly pointless. I'm told (after an hour) that Adobe have decided to cancel all compatibility with the surface pen in recent updates... What? I have a suspicion that my customer service person had no idea what they were talking about. Can ANYBODY help?

Report · Mar 09, 2019

did you find any success? while going through my preferences settings i found that Adobe Acrobat (Non pro) does not even have that check box to " Enable pen hardware detection automatically". Can any body confirm if this is a bug on it's by design, that free version is not supposed to have pen support?

Report · Mar 13, 2019

Unchecking this box solved my problem. Your problem might be fixed by checking this box.

Report · Feb 05, 2019

If you get this figured out, let me know. I just re-upped my CC account and and having the same issue. It used to automatically switch to pen/pencil when writing on the screen and eraser when flipped around. Now when I use the pencil tool it's basically worthless.

Report · Feb 17, 2019

Anyone find a solution yet?

Report · Mar 28, 2019

I had the same problem. I switched to Drawboard PDF pro. There you can use the pen for the tools and move the page, zoom, flip pages,... with your fingers. Works very naturally as you would with pen and paper.

Report · Oct 25, 2019

No help here, but I got since this week (23-10-19) the same issue, only in acrobat DC. Re-installing (or other suggestions as given in this forum) have been tried but doesn't solve the issue.

Makes acrobat DC rather useless for us as this is a prime function we use and if it is not solvable we will need to switch to something else

Report · Feb 05, 2020

Hi,

It may be worth trying a few things first:

Update Windows 10 to version 1909. The update that was announced back in November 2019 is still free to get. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3159635/windows-10-update-assistant
Update all drivers and to the latest firmware for your Surface using the Configuration Manager: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4098906/manage-surface-driver-updates-in-configuration-mana... and see here too: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4023482/surface-download-drivers-and-firmware Also refer to supported operating systems: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2858199/surface-supported-operating-systems
If you decide to uninstall and reinstall Acrobat use the following link : https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/appcenter/ or https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/acrobat-dc-downloads.html
For Adobe Acrobat Reader DC use this link: https://get.adobe.com/reader/otherversions/
After installing Acribat/Reader compare if the problem reoccur after applying the latest update.
If after applying latest update the issue remains the same roll back to the previous update
OR, uninstall Acrobat/Reader and reinstall using the Windows 10 Program Comoatibility Troubleshooter and choose an older version of Wi dows to host the Acrobat application. Let the wizard detect, download, install necessary dependencies. The wizard will perform a test letting you know if the older version of windows that will be used to hos Acrobat/Reader works or not.

Report · Jun 18, 2020

I don't have a solution, but as a surface user I have the horrible situation where with Acrobat Pro 2017 on one surface pro 6 the "Auto detect pen hardware to enable markup" checkbox in Commenting is simply not there. On another surface pro 6 with Acrobat DC (CC edition) the checkbox is there. And on a Lenovo Miix (like a surface) the checkbox is there. Is there anybody with information on how this could be the case?

Report · Dec 23, 2020

Any solution yet? I have the same problem for a while already.

Report · Dec 24, 2020

Probably be best to move the conversation to the www.Acrobat.UserVoice.com forum.

This is strictly a user-to-user help forum and rarely does an Adobe employee or engineer check these posts.

But the UserVoice forums are monitored by Adobe's staff and engineers.

So re-post at UserVoice. It doesn't seem like any of us users have an answer. Log it as a bug, not a feature request.

Report · Mar 31, 2021

Having the same problem, anyone figure this out yet?

Report · Mar 31, 2021

Since this problem cannot be addressed via the Acrobat software preferences, have you been able to test by uninstalling and reinstalling the pen drivers?

Report · Aug 17, 2023

Activate TOOLS - COMMENTS

Switch on the pen.

Seen this video https://youtu.be/E_3N1foNosg

Report · Aug 24, 2023

@robertv11172784 ,

Thank you for updating this thread.