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Lindquist
Lindquist
Participating Frequently
November 17, 2018
Answered

Fill & Sign: Can I disable the new form field "guessing" feature in acrobat reader?

  • November 17, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 3682 views

A recent update to Acrobat Reader DC introduced a new feature to Fill & Sign that I am finding more frustrating than useful.

I frequently fill out documents that are not actual PDF forms. A lot of them are small town government application forms that were probably made in Microsoft Word and exported as a PDF. I use Fill & Sign to type in all the details and save myself hours of handwriting the same information repeatedly.

I used to be able to pick whatever area I want to type, adjust the font size to look decent on the document, and then keep going. Acrobat would remember I font choice. This system has worked brilliantly for the last couple of years (since I started using it).

A recent update introduce a new feature that tries to guess where form fields are located. That's a fine feature; it doesn't always guess right, but I can still choose a different spot if I want to. My problem is that is doesn't honor any font choices. Every field is assigned a different font size that Acrobat has decided is suitable, and it looks extremely unprofessional.

Even worse, it resets my font size choice for custom areas if I even accidentally click into one of the "guessed" field areas.

Can this feature be disabled?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Adorobat

I found more information about this feature by researching the new features added to Adobe Acrobat recently. It is a new feature introduced in October 2018 that uses Adobe Sensei to automatically detect the form fields and use the appropriate tool.

Unfortunately, I have to assume it cannot be turned off since the help documents do not mention this.

As previously mentioned, the text size it selects is based on each field and not the document as a whole. This leads to inconsistent looking documents. Trying to manually resize every text field individually to match is really frustrating.

I am sure this feature is useful to someone, but it has done nothing but slow down my entire work flow. Filling out these forms takes considerably longer for me now than I did in September.


Hi Lindquist,

You may visit  the following link to share your feedback to the team: Feature Request/Bug Report Form

Thanks,

Shivam

1 reply

Adorobat
Community Manager
AdorobatCommunity Manager
Community Manager
December 10, 2018

Hi Lindquist,

As per the issue description mentioned above, you are facing issue when using fill & sign option in reader, is that correct?

Would it be possible to share the screenshot of the issue with us for better understanding of the issue? To share the screenshot here in the forums, refer to the steps given in this link: https://forums.adobe.com/docs/DOC-7043#jive_content_id_How_do_I_attach_a_screenshot

Also, let us know dot version of reaer and the operating system installed on the machine? You may refer to the steps given in this link on how to check the version in reader: Identify the product and its version for Acrobat and Reader DC

Let us know if you need any help.

Shivam

Lindquist
LindquistAuthor
Participating Frequently
December 12, 2018

The screenshot above was taken while using Fill & Sign in Acrobat Reader DC. The blue area is highlighted when the cursor hovers over that spot. The software is guessing which areas are form fields.

I can still click outside the area to type the way I want to, but then I have to manually move every piece of text into place after typing it instead of just clicking where I want it to be. Clicking inside the blue box erases the size formatting that I have set for the document and sets it to whatever the software decides is best for that form field without any consideration for the text size on the rest of the document. This leads to documents with several different font sizes that look very unprofessional.

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Version 2019.008.20081

Windows 10

    Adorobat
    Community Manager
    AdorobatCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    December 13, 2018

    Hi Lindquist,

    Thanks for the info. Would it be possible to share the pdf file you are working with to replicate the issue at our end? To share the file here in the forums, refer to the steps given in this link: How to share a file using Adobe Document Cloud

    You may also share the link for the pdf via private message - How Do I Send Private Message

    Let us know if you need any help.

    Shivam

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