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Zeedonk
Participant
May 30, 2016
Answered

Acrobat DC Highlighting- How to highlight in a straight line...?

  • May 30, 2016
  • 12 replies
  • 139313 views

Hi all-

Our office recently installed Acrobat DC and we are becoming more familiar with it as we go...

For me, I receive large scanned document files that I have to read, highlight, redact, sometimes edit and comment.

I am able to use the highlight tool fairly easily, but is there a way to highlight in a straight line, rather than to have the shake of a hand make my document look unprofessional?  The highlighter gives me a circle for a cursor and it does not hug the text line at all.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Frank

    Correct answer try67

    The highlighter tool only works on actual text, it's not a free-form tool. If it allows you to select non-text or moves around when you move the mouse then it's not the highlight tool that you're using, but something else.

    12 replies

    Show previous replies
    T
    Thwack Digit
    Participating Frequently
    June 19, 2016

    If you are using the "comment" tool and have permission to edit then change to the "edit" tool and try highlighting from there.

    try67
    Community Expert
    try67Community ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    May 30, 2016

    The highlighter tool only works on actual text, it's not a free-form tool. If it allows you to select non-text or moves around when you move the mouse then it's not the highlight tool that you're using, but something else.

    cricket1001-2
    cricket1001-2
    Known Participant
    February 12, 2020

    try67

    I don't believe answer is correct.  I have the same problem where when I select the highlight tool, and it is definitely the highlight tool, sometimes I get the circle instead of a cursor to select text.  This does act like a free-form tool.  It makes all highlights look very unprofessional looking.  What is strange is that sometimes, the same highlight tool that I got the circle instead of the cursor, the highlight tool does give me the cursor.  I just got done highlighting a document using the highlight tool on a document and I got the cursor to highlight which was great.  But 15 minutes later when I opened the same pdf in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, I clicked on the same highlighter tool and I got the circle instead of the cursor.  This is so very frustrating.  It seems like there is no ryhme or reason as to getting the circle or the cursor to highlight.  Within that 15 minutes, nothing was changed with the pdf or my Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.

      J
      JIPNET
      Inspiring
      March 30, 2022

      How condescending: "...then it's not the highlight tool that you're using, but something else." As if we wouldn't know what the hell we're doing!

       

      I can't tell you how many times I've encountered that blasted circle cursor and out of ignorance had to put up with or just give up on the messy freeform highlighting!!! I have come to find, from trial & error certainly NOT from any help on any Adobe help forum,  that when I run the enhnce scan with text regognition my problem with the circle cursor was resolved, so now I just do that first thing when opening a document in Acrobat Pro DC.


      See my correct answer above:

       

      This seems to be a new tool added to the latest release. Its default is orange-yellow (for me) but can be changed; it's a free-form tool; applies only to non-OCR pages/text. If you work on OCR-'d text you have to use the regular highlight tool. Useful in ways. If you have a circular cursor you are using this new tool; if not, it is square/rectangular. (If you pass the cursor over a page that is OCR'd, the circle appears on the non-OCR'd parts.)

       

      If you OCR your text you won't get the imprecise ("messy") highlighter tool.

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