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I have a PDF with over 130 comments. I've tried importing into InDesign using the Import PDF comments. When I do, I get this message:
PDF has no comments. Select another PDF to continue.
Upon further examination of the PDF from within Acrobat, in the title bar next to the filename, it says the PDF is "Opened from Adobe Document Cloud."
I can't figure out how to tell InDesign to select the PDF for comments from the Adobe Document Cloud.
If I try to save a copy of the PDF locally, I'm told that the copy will be saved without comments. It's like a Catch-22.
I suggest you file a bug report at the InDesign User Voice if you have not done so before. You're (mostly) speaking to users here, not to the people who need to hear it—the product managers and engineers:
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The PDF must have been saved by InDesign CC 2019 (14.x) in order for the feature to work. Was this such a PDF?
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Yes, I'm using the 2019 suite with the 14.0.1 update.
It's so ridiculous that Adobe would tease us with this great new feature, then make it impossible to use. Obviously, it's going to be painful to make 130 changes if I have to flip back and forth. Had I known the Acrobat cloud review system was so buggy, I would have used my internal review server. I thought by using Adobe's own server, it would make things better, not worse. Now I'm stuck.
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I ran into this exact same issue, aafisher, and didn't get it worked out. There weren't that many comments so I just entered them in manually. I'll do a little research on this and cycle back.
FWIW, I created the file in InDesign 14.0.1 and sent the resulting PDF out for review using Acrobat Pro 2019.
~Barb
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Hi Barb,
interesting. How exactly was the reviewing process be done?
Was Document Cloud involved?
Not that a Document Cloud process will strip off any useful information from the PDF that comes back with comments.
What I would test:
Open the reviewed document that was once exported from InDesign CC 2019 in Acrobat Pro.
Go to Print Production > Preflight, open the flighout menu to Options > Browse Internal Page Structure
Look for entry PieceInfo
Here a valid sample with all needed info in place:
If PieceInfo is not there or there is no info about InDesign inside PieceInfo a crucial piece of the PDF Comments workflow is missing.
Regards,
Uwe
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I setup my own WebDAV server that I had been using as a review server for many years. I was only in this last version of Acrobat which allowed one simple button to share reviews. So, I tried it. Now the reviews are apparently stored in a copy of the PDF, which I don't have direct access to, so I can't choose it in InDesign as a source for comments.
I don't understand what info you want about the PieceInfo, but here's a screenshot of the original PDF I sent for shared review:
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Hi aafisher ,
as I can see from your screenshot your original PDF contains the needed PieceInfo.
Question is if the reviewed one is still containing it. The one that you like to import to the PDF Comments panel.
Regards,
Uwe
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...and Adobe has made that one impossible for me to access.
InDesign should have the option to Import PDF Comments from Adobe Document Cloud.
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I had a video bookmarked that was recorded recently that I hoped would address this, aafisher , but I just watched it and it didn't. So, I just sent a note to someone at Adobe who I hope can offer some clarification. I'm baffled.
And Uwe—when you initiate a shared review in 2019, it puts the file on the Document Cloud automatically. When the feature was first introduced (was it CS6?) we could use Adobe's servers, then we had to use our own servers, now the file is moved to the Document Cloud. The review part is straightforward—though we are missing some essential mark-up tools like Replace Text and Insert Text that I also asked about. We now have the ability to set a deadline and send automatic reminders, but best I can tell, the process falls apart when we try to import the comments into InDesign. As aafisher, said—you must import comments from a file stored on a local drive, but when you try to save the file to your local drive this message appears:
I promise to come back when I get more information. I'm hoping we are just missing a step, otherwise it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
~Barb
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And here is the answer from my contact at Adobe who specializes in Acrobat:
So the new shared review service in Acrobat DC is online only. We still have shared review using something like Sharepoint or a WebDAV enabled server inside of Acrobat.
None of this is compatible with InDesign.
So aafisher ignore the big blue share button and go back to putting the PDF on your server and email your colleagues when it is available for commenting.
Not what we were hoping for, but this does explain the problem we both ran into.
~Barb
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This would have been nice to know BEFORE I sent out the review. Here's a hint: don't advertise a new feature with a big blue button when it will break other really important features. Seriously, 130+ comments are unavailable because I was seduced by an ostensibly easier process.
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Hi aafisher
Here's a hint: don't advertise a new feature with a big blue button when it will break other really important features
I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but you are on a community forum: users helping other users. This means I am a user like you, aafisher, volunteering my time to answer questions. I understand your frustration, but I don't work for Adobe, nor does anyone else on this thread.
I wish you the best,
~Barb
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I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that was addressed to anyone who helped me. I appreciate your help. That comment was addressed to Adobe. Graphic production is not a hobby for me, and this bug will cost me hours of work. I'm also dealing with a different InDesign problem, posted in a different thread, so I'm just really frustrated.
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You may or may not know this but InDesign and Acrobat teams are completely separate from each other. The Acrobat team developed the Document Cloud and its set of features. The InDesign team developed the import PDF comments feature. You'd think they would have collaborated but it seems doubtful that that happened.
They probably communicate with each other on a limited basis to share information but it probably never occurred to them that the two features were not designed to work with each other. Things like this can happen in a big company, geographically dispersed.
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Steve,
That may very well be the case, but it's still no excuse. They charge $660 per year to license their applications. They are targeted to the professional market. They advertise these features as ready for the pros, the entire suite designed to work together seamlessly.
I have been a beta tester for plenty of applications, and in those cases, I would expect to find problems like this. But as a beta tester, I wouldn't be paying to use the software.
This is not beta software, and I can't bill my clients for dealing with the bugs. So guess who pays for these problems?
Again, I appreciate the help of the volunteers, but that doesn't change the fact that Adobe screwed me, and I'm not happy about it.
Adding insult to injury, it looks like they completely removed my own review server from the Acrobat preferences, and there's no way to add it back. Now I'm forced to use a review server which is incompatible with InDesign comment import.
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I suggest you file a bug report at the InDesign User Voice if you have not done so before. You're (mostly) speaking to users here, not to the people who need to hear it—the product managers and engineers:
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This is crazy there isn't a connection between a cloud review and InDesign to import comments. I can't actually see how to download a pdf in document cloud and don't want to disrupt the reviewers by doing anything.