Acrobat Pro DC is a mistake

[Open_GL_document]

This is the most TERRIBLE software Adobe has made. It gets stuck so many times. We can't even chose to not view the edit PDF options after Acrobat DC starts. The editing of documents menu is not only bad to operate, it is also faulty. I wish i could uninstall Acrobat DC and install Acrobat Reader XI again. This software is not an update of Reader XI, it makes me feel that I have gone 5 years behind time! I can barely see the new thumbnail icon of Acrobat DC PDF files on my desktop. I wish I could undo Acrobat DC from my laptop but sadly Adobe doesn't have Acrobat Reader XI in their downloads list!

PDFs are such important documents and they become uncomfortable to use with Acrobat DC. I might as well use some other PDF reader software for reading and editing PDFs. I tried the option of Help-Repair installation. But in vain.

[jeanetteb54117021]

I spent HOURS scouring Adobe tutorial and HOURS online with Operators trying to figure out how to go about this the right way.  What was so frustrating is that I carefully described to each operator what my goal was... that I had 66 pages of PDFs that I wanted to stitch together but PDF Portfolio tool wasn't allowing me to share the files.  Yes, it stitched every one of them together but then stuck a cover sheet on the file saying I needed to download a more recent version of Adobe Reader.  I attempted to do so several times and always got an error message the the line was too long.  The second Operator got the same message.  He then told me I couldn't share the PDF Portfolio with others online and would have to email it instead.  That didn't take off the malfunctioning "Download Adobe Reader Now" message.

Yes, the jpegs of the 'artworks" are scanned but then they are added into a Publisher document in a picture frame, a tool in MS Publisher.  I also added MS Publisher text boxes for the descriptions.  Then I published the Publisher file as a PDF.

As I said, I told every Adobe support person I dealt with what my goal was.  Not one of them suggested that I try using the "Combine Files" tool.  I tried that myself today and it stitched my PDF files together beautifully and allowed me to upload them to my Facebook group page without a problem.

It's sad that a corporation like Adobe doesn't have user friendly software, clear tutorials or support staff who can provide simple answers for new users!

I know the Adobe Systems business would grow huge if they would revamp their tutorials to really answer basic questions and train their support staff and operators to really listen to what the customer's goals are in using this product.  My experience from start to finish was awful and frustrating.  I will be stopping my subscription to Adobe Acrobat Pro DC  before my first month is up unless I see big changes in support and tutorials before then.  Why have an expensive product that is almost impossible to use, after all?

[MichaelKazlow]

I am glad you have it figured out. The problem may have been the term stitched which is probably the correct term from when books were bound by hand and machine. But may have confused a digital native. If you had said you wanted to combing several pdfs, scans or jpegs I could have helped 1, 2, 3 and maybe some others. That is the problem with communicating via the internet. If we can be of further help you know where to find us.

Mike

[michaelr15267612]

I agree - it's awful. It's like a Toy Town version of something that was professional software. Plus it's messing with my installation of  Pro, which I am NOT happy about. (I signed up to this forum specially to put these comments in. Adobe have really messed up on this 'update'. I thought only Microsoft and apple were this arrogant.

[jeanetteb54117021]

It sounds like there is a failure to communicate between Open GL document and pwillener; I'm just not certain who is not understanding. 

I had Acrobat X installed but it didn't have the PDF portfolio feature so I purchased a subscription to Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. I had lots of trouble installing it and, after I finally got it installed I successfully built a 22 page PDF portfolio.  Now, I am unable to share it with my friends because all that happens when I post the file is that there is a Cover Sheet that is the only thing that shows. It says "For the best experience, open this PDF portfolio in Acrobat X or Adobe Reader X, or later." and then has a button that says "Get Adobe Reader Now!"  Why?  When I tried to Get Adobe Reader, Now! it failed saying something about the top line was too large.

I'm very disappointed in the tutorials, help pages and all of the Pro DC related help items because that are not user friendly.  I just wanted a way to share the PDF project I've been working on for months.  Apparently Adobe Acrobat Pro DC is NOT the means to sharing PDF files or portfolios.

[guyfuller]

I must agree that DC has been a bumpy ride, I can't even get the software to open on my Mac.  This is not good.

[emortell]

This is the most TERRIBLE software Adobe has made. It gets stuck so many times.

I could not agree more. Whoever thought this was a good idea should be looking for work.  If this is the future of Acrobat it will be the last edition I every buy.  I'll be uninstalling the two copies I mistakenly purchased without realizing the complete departure from previous versions. 

Why not call it something else other than Acrobat because this isn't the Acrobat I've grown to love over the years.  Sorry but this products is a total FAIL in my opinion!

[dougw8975]

Adobe,

Not only have you produced some terrible software in Acrobat Pro DC, but your support is absolutely shocking!

Acrobat Pro DC keeps freezing when I access certain features and a job that should have taken me less than 2 hours has taken me over 20 so far - and I am up against a brick wall with the bugs that prevent me from completing my project.

I have never purchased an Adobe product before, but I can tell you..... this is going to be the last one ever!!!

[pwillener]

You are not addressing Adobe here; it is mostly a user-to-user forum, with some Adobe support staff helping out.

Did you try to contact Adobe Customer Care?  And they could not help you?

[dougw8975]

I did of course try to contact Customer Care - 5 times now. The problem has been escalated for a third time and no one has got back to me yet except for a bonehead technician who rang me back at 1.30am New Zealand time and then did not say anything when I answered, but then left a message asking me to ring a US Freecall number which cannot be contacted outside the US.

Not a very pleasant experience so far and I'm on the verge of cancelling my subscription.

The people that matter at Adobe should be hanging their heads in shame, to put out such junk and then employ such useless, uncaring support staff to handle the problems their equally useless programmers have created!!

[allisond3938360]

Hello. My name is Allison and I HATE Adobe Acrobat Reader DC! It has turned a previously pleasant experience editing PDFs into a nightmare! I, too, ONLY joined the forum to express my dislike for the new "unimproved and decidedly worse" version.

I found my answer here:

[3rd-party download link removed]

I'm a mac girl, but you can search their site and find a windows version. I downloaded and installed XI before uninstalling DC so when it finished installing it told me it found more recent certificates (whatever that is) and asked if I wanted to use the newer version. I selected the default and then uninstalled DC. Works like a charm now.

To be fair, there were some updates in DC that were an improvement- it was easier to re-size or move added text and it saved my signatures so I didn't have to clear one choice and replace it with another. BUT I can only RESIZE signatures. I can't rotate them (and my husband's signature is crooked). I could cuss under my breath and halfway live with that. I can even mildly tolerate the huge new interface. BUT once I edited a page in a document- added text or signed my name, it locked me into that specific page and would NOT allow me to scroll to any of the other pages! When I'm filling out multiple page documents, you can see why I'm frustrated that I have to save and close the entire thing and then re-open the document to fill out the next page and repeat that process for each page! WHY??? Completely asinine!

I hope this helps. And I hope Adobe is listening to all this negative feedback and working to get back to a workable version. Until then I'm not updating.

[pwillener]

Sorry, I have removed your download link.  We strongly discourage downloading Adobe software from 3rd-party sites, as you will never know what you'll get...

Official download links for older Acrobat and Reader versions have been posted in this topic, but just so that people do not actually have to look for them, here they are one more time...

• Adobe Reader XI and X: http://get.adobe.com/reader/enterprise/
• Acrobat XI and X (Pro and Standard): https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/acrobat-downloads.html

Make sure you uninstall the DC version before installing an older Acrobat or Reader version.

[Guest]

You may also need to re-boot in SAFE mode on a PC since the registry may be buggy after Reader DC is uninstalled.

I found my Widows 7 PC required a SAFE mode reboot post CLEANing off Reader DC to boot properly.

It then took 30 minutes for my Acrobat Pro 9 to again see and recognize all "missing" PDF files on my PC stored locally.

[mzscahlett2]

It is constantly locking me out of all the functions. It is paid and still refuses to let me edit my docs.  This is RIDICULOUS. 

[johnr7702110]

The same idiot/anarchist who initially designed Windows Vista years ago - who was likely trying to end the use of computers as we know and rely on them for daily business operations - must have gone to work for Adobe and designed this software upgrade. What a galactic level of stupidity to ruin a perfectly good working Adobe program - a daily tool of my report-writing trade, and to change that essential tool that I already paid big bucks for to a new anarchy model. Now I lose more time and money on fixing these growing numbers of software company failures than I do in actually running my business. This is the way tech companies are now making money - they break good programs, create upgrades to those breaks, disrupt our business operations in the process, and create fee-based fixes for them. Since I am now working in the Evolutionary Quality Control Department for Adobe trying to fix their problems, when should I expect my first check? I swear, someone released a Stupid Virus, or something. A message to all as upset as I am - stay on the bottled water.

[0001sfarrell]

I totally agree.  I've just lost an hour of production time trying to get this version of Acrobat to do what previous versions were able to do.  I'd like to boot the guy/gal who changed this program and made it useless  over the moon!  I want to send Adobe a bill for my lost time!

[ginther2]

So in the new Illustrator and InDesigns they have the same overall window thing ... but you can turn it off –– how can you turn off the annoying window in acrobat that now opens every time you open a pdf
???

[glens1634732]

Absolutely agree - I use Adobe Acrobat at least an hour per day - and now it is a complete NIGHTMARE. I had all my toolbars arranged - one click to find any tool I used frequently - now it takes 4 clicks - back and forth across the screen to do the same think. It has absolutely stunted my workflow - and killed my productivity. ARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH. Once you get the right Tools menu open across the top of your screen - the text next to the icons take so much space that you end up with a dropbox at the end - and the tool you're looking for is always in another drop down menu. So again - 2 or 3 clicks every time you need a tool - where it used to be one click. I am working so SLOWLY and it is so FRUSTRATING that there must be a way out of this MESS. I purchased the software preinstalled on a new laptop - now I need to find out how to get my money back because there is no way I am going through life using a terrible piece of software like this. I need to work QUICKLY and I can't.........

[Seamus_O_Connell]

This change is very bad for the charity I'm the administrator of. We have a lot of end-users based at home, many of whom are technically naive. I send them fillable PDF forms which they return to me. Many of them will throw up their hands in horror when faced by the profusion and confusion of the new interface, and will print the form out, annotate it by hand, and return it to me by snail-mail. And some will give up even trying to print the form out and will ask me to send them a printout in the post.

I already have to warn our users IN CAPS to untick the McAfee offer if they update their copy of the Reader. That McAfee offer default is nasty, an underhand, unfriendly, and time-wasting selling trick.

I cannot continue to lumber our users with these complications. I shall have try and find another PDF reader which supports fillable forms. Or the charity will have to stop using fillable forms.

Does anyone know of an alternative PDF reader which supports fillable forms?

[Mike Wintheiser]

The entire team that developed Acrobat Pro DC needs to know that their product is a total failure. We users learned the tool bar that used to appear on the right of the document. So now you hid the tools we use the most in layers of mouse clicks that are not at all intuitive. For example, try to extract pages. Where the hell did you hide it. also now a second drop down "extract" task is require. Try inserting a rectangle in a document. I had to do a google search to find the damn thing. Once again, multiple mouse clicks for what used to be one. Where is the magnifying glass. The new one is a search not magnify. This was very useful and now is gone. (Or at least I can't find it do far). You never tried this new product on regular users or they would have told you it is pure trash. 

[lezlih10605532]

Totally agree.Took 2 WEEKS to get it to work. Now each time I open a pdf I have to VALIDATE, when it HAS BEEN VALIDATED by Adobe support manually.

I put up with this annoyance as I can't afford to remove & re install & have 2 weeks of Hell again trying to DOWNLOAD & INSTALL.

total rubbish

Wish someone else produced pdf software & taken Adobe down 

Had it.

Sent on the go with Vodafone

[Guest]

There is still Foxit.

Quicker for it consumes much less resources (always a pita with adobe)

more intuitive

less "Schnickschnack"

[JasonDD210]

It's like having a book on your shelf that you bought and like, and Adobe come in your house while you are there, and with full authority remove your book and replace it with the one they prefer you to have. The new book is one that tries to steer you into using new Adobe services. This upsets people. We don't like being reminded that Adobe can just ask us to bend over whenever they feel like it.

I use Adobe because it's the best software solution, but I hate myself for it, and I think many feel the same way. If there were enough alternatives for the range of CC software I use, I'd ditch Adobe and use those. I did this with Microsoft after Office 365 and now use LibreOffice instead. It's simple and effective.

[artoshea5]

I am looking at Adobe Reader DC from the aspect of a research writer. Terms and words that one time meant something agreed upon in the dictionary have taken on new meanings that often confuse and obfuscate.

In my lifetime I have also been a general contractor and a legal secretary. All three of these careers included careful use of agreed upon words and wording.

In October of this year, 2016, a word in Microsoft Updates begged the question “what do they mean by this word?” That word was “rollup”. Due diligence brought the answer to that question, it now means that a number of updates are included all in one, or none at all. And if you install the “rollup” you cannot delete it.

Someone forgot that the “P” in PC, not political correctness, but Personal Computer means it is your computer not theirs. Our choices have been usurped by arbitrary, one-sided, decisions. The Merriam- Webster Thesaurus first synonym for “arbitrary” says it all; “Synonyms dictatorial, high-handed, imperious, peremptory, willful (or wilful)”, and so it is across the board with today’s software updates.

On September 30, 2016, I was informed that to view videos online I had to update Adobe Flash Player, and I did so. I was not told that it was now a “rollup” but discovered it the hard way when I needed to get proof that my car insurance had not lapsed for more than 30 days and had to prove this when changing to a different insurance agency.

I protested that their computer had wrong information and was told I had to get a Letter of Experience. I requested the document and saved it to my desktop. When I attempted to send it to the new insurance company I tried opening it in both Word and Adobe Reader but it was only in code in Word and Reader had changed to the DC version which requires a monthly subscription.

The wonderful cloud based subscriptions for Office 365 cost more than owning a copy of Office. In summer of 2016, a friend complained that Photoshop went cloud based subscription and priced her out of the silk-screening business.

Truth be told that is what Adobe has done. The recourse for me was to use screenshots and a lengthy explanation for my new auto policy after a second request for a Letter of Experience was required and a lot of digging down deep into what is really happening. Thus far, I have seen nothing in this forum that comes near the reality of the situation. What I do see here is similar to other software “help” and forums that are spewing company policy rather than “help” anything other than to trumpet an MVP’s ego, or put the person asking for “help” in a sit and spin cycle.

Prove me wrong.

How?

Post this. It seems that October was The Season of the Witch.

@ my initials, art oshea

[stevenjklein]

No subscription is required to use Acrobat reader.  (There are premium feature which require a subscription, but no subscription is needed to simply view or print a PDF file.)

You might be happier with a Mac, which features built-in PDF tools that let you view and create PDF files, as well as certain editing functions like deleting pages, or combining pages from 2 or more PDF files.  And even major OS updates are free!

If you prefer to stick to windows, then you can continue to use Acrobat Reader to view and print PDF files — as I mentioned above, no subscription is needed for those functions.  And if you don't like Adobe's tools, there are several 3rd-party PDF tools to view and create PDF files.

[artoshea5]

Steven, I wrote a response and included screen shots shortly after your comment three weeks ago. But It may have been too big, with too many screen shots. It may have convinced you that your opinion is incorrect. No need really. Because, hey you may prefer a Mercedes. Personally I'd prefer a blonde, no an Asian, well I guess that doesn't help at all does it? Review what help really means, unless you prefer being...well, you know what you are.

Here, this may help some of you that prefer to keep the industry standard Adobe PDF reader:

Adobe Reader Fix

There is a solution to the arbitrary enforcement of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. This works for Windows 7 Pro 64 bit. Download and run CCleaner from filehippo.com. In CCleaner under “Tools” select uninstall Adobe Reader DC, then in “Tools>Browser Plugins” delete Adobe Reader DC update and disable Adobe Reader XI update. After making your selections then run CCleaner. If you don’t have a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader XI in your download folder then go to oldversion.com and download Adobe Reader XI. Choose “Custom” install and select

“Only inform you of updates”. Install Adobe Reader XI then check Start>Search>*.pdf and you will/should see the Adobe PDF icon back for all your PDFs. Remember to choose not to update any of Adobe’s products. Open Adobe Reader XI in Edit>Preferences> at the bottom of the “Categories” list select “Updater”. To the right of the list select the bottom radio button; “Do not download or install updates automatically”. Also, while you are viewing online videos when asked to update Adobe Flash Player avoid doing so as long as possible. Because since September, Microsoft (and others) started bundling many updates into one in what is called a “rollup”. Once you download and install the MS KB updates you cannot uninstall them. This new word “rollup” and concept may also be being used by Adobe products so that updating one, such as Adobe Flash Player, all Adobe products are updated together in a “rollup”. My problem with Adobe Reader DC came as a result of updating Adobe Flash Player. It is my suspicion that all Adobe products are now in “Rollup” mode.

Again, prove me wrong. How?

Post this in Adobe Forums.

Thank you again. @ my initials, art oshea