How to center an image in Acrobat DC Pro?

[LactForms]

What I need to do seems so simple, but it has been astonishingly frustrating.  I just want to center an image horizontally on the page.  I select the image, go to the edit menu, and all the options are available in Objects *except* align option, which is greyed out (see link for screenshot).  What am I doing wrong?  This REALLY should be more intuitive.

http://puu.sh/l4my1/c0b31011fc.png

Thanks for your help!

[try67 · Accepted solution]

The Align option is only available when you select multiple objects and want to align all of them with one another.
PDF files were never really meant to be edited in such a way to begin with, so the editing capabilities of Acrobat are quite limited (although they get better all the time), and some features which would seem basic in an editor might be missing.

[LactForms]

This is such a basic function that it astonishes me it isn't available.  I *strongly* suggest it for future revisions.  I wish there was a plugin that could do it.

Is there at least any way to keep the ruler turned on from document to document so I don't have to go through all the steps to turn it on each time I open a document?

Thanks for your help.  Truly.

[George_Johnson]

The keyboard shortcut to toggle the display of the rulers is Ctrl+R on Windows and cmd+R on a Mac.

If you really need to center an image, there is a method, but it's a bit convoluted. First add a button and set the background color and border color to nothing. Then set the Layout to Icon Only and set the icon to the image. Right-click the button and select: Align, Distribute or Center > Center Horizontally

You can either set the button to read-only, or flatten it so it's converted to regular page contents. The following free JavaScript-based utility makes this easy: UVSAR : Selective Flattener tool for Adobe Acrobat 8, 9 and X

[The Big Beekeeper]

And after 9 whole years we still aren't able to center an image with Adobe's paid services!

[Etienne de Durocher]

Whats an alternative to this because this is a basic thing and im litteraly not wasting a second of my time trying to use a software that has no way to center object on a page 

[Joshua3855316756d8]

Create your document in a word processor program and export those files to PDF versions. No adobe is needed unless you need to turn the document into a fillable form, signable form, or secure PDF. 

[JR Boulay]

Cut-paste the image in another software, then cut-paste in Acrobat which places it at the centre of the page.

[Joshua3855316756d8]

Wow, we need third party programs to center an image on adobe PDF... 

[The Big Beekeeper]

Adobe is basically an add-on for Microsoft Office or a similar suite.  It's sad to see them charge such a premium for a service such as Adobe PDF that essentially requires Word or an equally competent program to operate properly.

[Joshua3855316756d8]

I totally agree, adobe boasts a robust suite of tools and yet you cant create simple PDFs from scratch, you need to create your document in another program, such as microsoft word, and then turn those files into PDF. Extremely frustrating I agree. 

[try67]

PDFs were never meant to be created from scratch in Adobe. Doing so is a very bad idea.

[The Big Beekeeper]

You receive a PDF in an email.  You notice one image is slightly off and it needs to be centered.  You open your $25+/month paid Adobe PDF editor software to take a look.  Oops, looks like the only way to properly make that tiny change is to export this pdf into Word (destroying half the formatting in the process), performing the incredibly simple operation, and then importing it back as a pdf (further compromising any formatting albeit to a lesser degree).  No thanks.

[try67]

That's not creating a PDF from scratch. And yes, the proper way to do it is by editing the original file format, not the PDF. Then use your Acrobat subscription to create a proper PDF file from it. If you don't have access to that file then you can attempt to do it in Acrobat, but it should be considered a last resort.

[The Big Beekeeper]

I understand that, but it's 2024 and .pdf files are ubiquitous.  There are plenty of situations where one would have access to a .pdf with no access to the original file format.  An online form, an old company file, a client with a document that has been passed around for a while.  

Adobe should accomodate for simple edits, tweaks, and revisions within their Editor suite.  There is an entire 'Edit' section of the software that is for this purpose.  It is severely lacking in functionality.  Most of the people in this thread are not creating from scratch, they're looking to tweak a single aspect of an existing PDF with no accessible original file format.  Adobe already transforms documents into an editable format, and my assumption is that it wouldn't take a massive lift on their part to add a baseline of simple edit operations into an already existing 'Edit' function.

[try67]

I agree there's always room to improve the editing tools in Acrobat. I'm just trying to make it clear that it's not the original purpose of it, and any such tools should be used with caution and the understanding that they can also screw up the file pretty quickly.

[The Big Beekeeper]

Not sure where you're getting that info?  If you go to Adobe Acrobat's website, the literal first thing that pops up below the banner is:

Edit text and images right in Acrobat.

Easily fix text and swap images without jumping to another app. All it takes is a few clicks.

It's straight up misleading if not false advertising to state that 'Any such tools should be used with caution' when the company expressly advertises the ability on their front page!  Why defend a company that is over-promising and under delivering?

[try67]

I'm not defending them. I think their PR department is making a mistake of creating unrealistic expectations with these texts, even though they are technically correct, I'm guessing. But if you ask any programmer who is familiar with the PDF standard they'll tell you the same thing as I just did.