The longer comment tool bar in Acrobat DC disappeared. I can't find strikeout and replace

Report · Sep 17, 2020

I am commenting on a document in Acrobat DC. At first, the full/longer commenting toolbar displayed at the top of my screen (see attached screenshort), but then only a shorter commenting toolbar (another screenshot attached).

What's going on? How do get the full toolbar back? (I really need to use the strike-out and replace tool!)

Report · Sep 17, 2020

Did you happen to use Acobat's "Share for Review?" It's also may be called "Send for Commenting" and "Send for Shared Review" or "Share with Others."

When you use that function, the commeting tools are very limited. To get the full toolbar back, you'll need to share the file a different way. Like through Dropbox or One Drive... any kind of file sharing where the file is downloaded locally and then commented in Acrobat.

It's a mystery to me why the commenting tools in the desktop version of Acrobat are limited when the file is shared through Acrobat. But that's the way it is.

Report · Sep 17, 2020

Thanks. I never would have figured this out.

I don't remember activiting Share for Review or the similar features. How do I turn them off? Can I still use the @ feature in the comments to notify colleagues about a comment? That is, can I insert @name with the sharing off and then have the feature work when I turn the sharing function back on?

Report · Sep 17, 2020

How are you sharing this file with your colleagues? It looks like if you use the @ feautre with an email address, this automatically uploads the document to the cloud and sends an email to whoever's email address you typed in... without you even asking Acrobat to do that. Then the commenting features will be the reduced set, as you have experienced.

Because you didn't specifically ask Acrobat to share the file (but it did so anyway), i suspect that the only way to disable that sharing would be to either not use the @ feature, or disable your internet. But either way, your colleagues would not be notified. I don't think there is a way to disable sharing via document cloud. Users just need to be careful to not do anything which automatically uploads the document to Document Cloud.

If I need to direct specific comments to specific people, I change the color and author name (I wrote a script which simplifies this process). So the reviewers can sort comments by color or by author name and all their questions will be grouped together. But this method does not automatically notifiy anyone.

Report · Sep 17, 2020

Thanks again. This is helpful. Is this a place in Acrobat where I can turn off sharing? If so, will I also need to delete the @names I have already inserted?

Report · Sep 17, 2020

I don't know that there is a way to turn off sharing. Yes, I'd reccomend deleting the @ names. Then go into your Home screen and unshare the file. Sadly, that still won't bring back the full toolbar, so you'll need to locate the local copy of the file or do a Save As and save a new copy to your local drive. Then you'll have access to the full set of commenting tools.

Report · Sep 17, 2020

Hello,

You can disable Adobe Document Cloud based review. And your file will not be shared when you use @mention after that.

You can follow the steps:

-Quit Acrobat process if it is already running

-Create the dword: bToggleAdobeReview and set it to 1 under the path: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\FeatureLockDown\cServices]

(You can refer bToggleAdobeReview from the link: https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/PrefRef/Windows/FeatureLockdown.html )

-Now open Acrobat and mention someone using @emailid , your PDF should not be shared.

I hope it helps. Please let me know if you need any more info.

Regards,

Arvind

Report · Sep 17, 2020

I see this is for windows. Is there a similar process for Macs?

So the only way to turn of sharing is by using C++? I guess it's safe to say there is no way to do this using the actual UI of Acrobat.

Report · Sep 17, 2020

I used the instructions in the link that you provided:

If you're using Acrobat 2017 or Acrobat DC 2015 (Classic), skip to the next step. If you're using Acrobat DC, do the following before you initiate the review:

Go to Edit > Preferences. The Preferences dialog box is displayed.
In the left pane, click Reviewing. Under the Shared Review Options section, deselect the Share For Review Using The Adobe Document Cloud check box, and then click OK.

and I moved the PDF to my local hard drive. That did the trick. I haven't found out yet whether the @names function will work when I re-enable sharing.

Report · Sep 17, 2020

I just attempted to disable sharing using the Reviewing preferences. Then I went into the comments pane and used teh @ function. And the file still uploaded to Document Cloud.

So I wonder what disable that reviewing preference actually does... Becasue it didn't disable file upload and the file is still listed as Shared.

@arvindy Can you provide some insight on this?

Report · Sep 18, 2020

Hi Document_Geek ,

Yes you are right, it does not disable every entry point for initiating Adobe Document Cloud based review.

And so @ function will work as it used to work.

I am sure you are aware of an older way of initiating review in Acrobat i.e. internal server(Network folder/WebDav server folder/SharePoint subsite) based review. Which is a bit complex and involes may steps to initiate review. Let us call it legacy review for reference.

Now comes Adobe Document Cloud based review which is newer and simpler to use. You can have a look at the link if you want to know more about it: https://helpx.adobe.com/in/acrobat/how-to/send-share-pdf-file-review.html . Let us call it new review for reference.

Now coming back to your question. Here is my response:

1) If the pref "Share for review using Adobe Document Cloud" is enabled you will not be able to initiate legacy review. Every invocation point will lead you to the new review.

2). If the pref "Share for review using Adobe Document Cloud" is disabled, you will be able to initiate legacy review from two invocation points i.e. from 1). Tools>>Send for Comments 2). Send for Comments in RHP. Rest of the invocation points still lead to new review.

I hope it helps. Please let me know if you have any more queries.

Regards,

Arvind

Report · Sep 18, 2020

Yes, I amaware of the older way of initiating a review via a Netowork or webdav service. But I have never been able to get it to work. Reviews via a network folder won't work with a mac, and I even purchased a WebDev subscription to get it to work, and it still wouldn't work. Adobe support told me that it didn't work.

I have given up on that older review method, I don't use the new Send for Comments, and I have come up with my own method that mostly suits my needs.

That aside, the reason I was asking about the Cloud based review was that I wanted to know if there was a way to completely disable Document Cloud based review. Because if people can use the @ feature ans it automatically uploads the document to Adobe servers without asking people, then that can lead to huge security problems for people who work on sensitive documents.

What I'm getting at is that the setting in preferences for disabling Shared reviews via the cloud should disable every entry point. As a user, one would think that it would, (as there's no tooltip or notification in the UI that an entry point remains). Yet it doesn't disable all entry points. This is a problem that users should know about.