InDesign Review feature

[Andrea5FD5]

So I am trying out the review feature for the first time through InDesign, where you send the link to the stakeholders to make comments and edits. When they open it they are able to add comments, strike text, insert text, etc. However, when I open the same review file on my computer it only gives me the option to put a pin or use the pencil. My editing tools aren't there. Any thoughts on why I don't have that feature when I am the one with creative cloud, but the others do not? 

[J E L]

@Andrea5FD5, it may have to do with your browser. Is this happening across different ones i.e., Edge, Chrome, Safari, Firefox?

[Andrea5FD5]

Hi, I am so sorry I didn't respond yet. I was on a crazy deadline. I tried both chrome and explorer and neither one worked for me. Is there a specific one that I should be using?

[J E L · Accepted solution]

@Andrea5FD5, No, there isn't a specific browser that I know of and if Chrome or Explorer didn't work for you then it's probably not the browser but maybe some other firewall or privacy settings if the problem isn't specific to InDesign. I know that other people mentioned Share for Review has some bugs and maybe the new version has some fixes. Your situation is strange because I've had the opposite experience. Everything works fine on my end (using Chrome or Edge) but nearly all the people I share my documents with have problems using it. They don't see the tools, can't log in to access the document, their comments don't save, they can't reply to a comment, etc. So, I've gone back to Publish Online or I send a PDF by email. I hope this will get sorted out soon because I'd really like to use this feature! I'm wondering if this problem happening with any document you try to share? Does resetting your preferences make any difference? Please let us know if you find any solutions!

[Andrea5FD5]

Thanks for your update. Maybe, I will have to wait until more bugs are fixed on it as well. I will keep you updated as I get to use it more. 

[JonathanArias]

for us at work we stop using it. it had too many bugs. 

[Andrea5FD5]

well that's a bummer. As soon as I saw it, I was like "omg this is exactly what we need". :(. Hopefully Adobe fixes it so it can be used. 

[J E L]

Yes, I would really like to use it, too!

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

We also found it too buggy to use.

We switched our clients to the slightly older method.

1) Send a PDF to client.

2) They use Acrobat's commenting tools to mark up changes (deletes, adds, etc.).

3) We import the PDF Comments into the layout with the PDF Comments panel.

4) We review each comment and either accept or reject it.

And done.

So far, no problems or bugs with this method. And it keeps the file off outside servers.

[Andrea5FD5]

Hi Bevi-

Thanks. The problem we have is that not everyone has adobe acrobat so they can't use the marketing tools. I do that when I am able to. It's just also annoying that they can't work in the same file so a lot of times comments get repeated and makes them work harder than they should have to. ha ha. 

We have also started using the program please review. However, it means people need to have access to it and know how to use it. This was going to be the ah ha moment if it really worked and made life so much easier. 

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

@Andrea5FD5 Hi Andrea,

Have you looked at what Acrobat Reader can do? It's free and probably already installed on your users' computers. Lots of features there for reviewing, commenting, and marking up PDFs.

https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/acrobat/how-to/annotate-pdf-online.html?promoid=VY36JZMB  Scroll to the bottom's Related  Features for more details.

Maybe something there will work for your team and workflow, while we all wait for the full Review features to be fleshed out by the engineers.