Acrobat Reader Substitute text

[tommaso_maria]

Goodmorning, I've always substituted texts on Acrobat Reader by selecting the wrong word and directly writing the correct word. Unfortunately, it doesn't work in this way anymore.

Now, for every single correction I have to select the "substitute" tool and then select the word and then writing the correct word.

I know it seems the same, but as a proofreader a correct thousands of errors everyday and that addition click literally double the time of each assignment. 

I have tried everything, I have also disinstalled the program, but nothing changed.

How can I fix this?

Thank you for your help.

Tommaso

[tommaso_maria]

I just add, that I am not talking about adding comments on PDF, just editing words with the tool "substitute" or "edit" (in Italian it is named "Sostituisci testo selezionato").

Thank you again,

Tommaso

[try67]

This was never possible in Reader. If you were able to do it then you had Acrobat, not the free Reader.

Also, it's not a good idea to do it directly in the PDF file.

[tommaso_maria]

Thank you for your reply.

I've never had Acrobat PRO, I've always used free Acrobat Reader. 

I confirm that I've used this option for years now. 

This morning it stopped working.

I have only InDesign and Reader on my pc and never had any other Adobe apps.

I disinstalled the app and also used the the AcroCleaner tool, but nothing.

How can I return to use this option?

Thank you,

Tommaso

[try67]

Then you must have used one of the commenting tools, such as Add Text. This should still be possible. You might need to select this tool first, though.

[gary_sc]

Hi, @tommaso_maria, can you please verify that you are using Acrobat Reader and not Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Standard?

If you are actually changing the word in the body of the PDF; let's say you changed the sentence "I tossed the ball to the young man" to "I tossed the bass to the boy," that cannot be done in Reader. 

Meanwhile, try this and see if it helps:

1. On Macs, go to the View menu and select Disable New Acrobat.
2. On Windows, to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner (where the old File menu used to be) and select Disable New Acrobat, it's about 2/3 down the menu.

If you need to revert back to the new UI, just reverse the above.

One BIG warning: this capability will eventually be removed, so turn off Auto updates for your Adobe Software.

[tommaso_maria]

Hi gary_sc

thank you for your reply.

I am sure I've always used Reader because I've never paid for it, and Acrobat Standard and Pro are not free.

I think I didn't explained well the issue: I used to highlight the incorrect word and write directly the correct version, which appeared on a comment beside, in the column of comments. In this case, a red line appeared on the incorrect word (which is different from making a note, because in this case the incorrect would be highlighted, not "crossed" with a red line).

Also, I've never edited the incorrect words directly in the pdf. 

This option is not available from this morning, and I really have to understand how to return to use it.

I hope I explained, I'm doing my best with the language.

Thank you,

Tommaso

[tommaso_maria]

The option is still available by selecting the tool, but the strange thing is that I have always used it writing the correct word straight after highlighting it, without the need of selecting the tool in the tools menu. 

[gary_sc]

OK, sorry for my misunderstanding. I did want to make sure I was answering your question, not the question I thought I was answering. 

Unfortunately yes, you now have to do extra clicks to do what was once an easy one-click operation. You can follow the instructions I placed above to revert to the old UI and do it the simple way. However, the ability to go back to the old UI will cease to appear at some point, and there will not be any way around that other than to change your PDF Reader or not to ever update your Acrobat Reader. 

So, be sure to turn off Auto update.

[tommaso_maria]

Oh no, this is a tragedy, a real catastrophe.

The problem is that, even using the old UI after disabling new Acrobat, the easy one-click operation is not available anymore.

Do you know why this happened? Is it something Adobe decided to change? If yes, why?

Thanks for your time,

Tommaso

[gary_sc]

Oh my. I'm sorry, I didn't realize Adobe has also butchered that. 

I know of no way around this for you.

[S. S]

Hi @tommaso_maria @gary_sc,

Hope you are doing well. 

Going through the above conversation, I see that the feature referred to here is the strike to add annotations. Let me know if I am wrong.

If not, this was added to the new UI in the previous release. To add the strikethrough annotation, select the text, type the correction, and it should appear on the comments panel to the right.

Adding a screen recording of the workflow for reference.

@tommaso_maria I suggest updating the app to the latest version for the best experience.

Let me know if this helps.

-Souvik

[gary_sc]

@S. S @tommaso_maria 

I'm not sure Maria is looking for this. All I see you doing is crossing out text and canceling it. 

Maria, is this helpful at all? Souvic is trying to help, but I am not sure what you are expecting to see or happen. 

[tommaso_maria]

Hi Souvik,

thank you.

Yes, what I see in the screen recording is exactly what I would like to do; I used to do it (until yesterday) but I have no chance to do it now. If I highlight a word and start writing nothing happens. It works only if I select the tool in the tools menu and then highlight the word and start writing.

Do you know if this is a new release of Reader or it is something that happens only to me?

Thank you,

Tommaso

I don't know why

[Bernd Alheit]

You can pin the tool:

[tommaso_maria]

Hi Bernd Alheit

I don't have that option (see screenshot below).

And, even if I had it, it would be different, because in that case every single time I highlight a word, the program would cross it and automatically open a comment for my review. But there are cases in which I just want to delete the word.

What I used to do was to highlight the word and then decide whether correcting it (by writing the correct version) or simply crossing it by clicking on the delete button. 

Deleting/correcting was far faster to me. Do you know if there has been recently a release that chenged this option?

Thank you

 

[tommaso_maria]

Hi Bernd,

I saw it is possible to pin it.

But the problem persist, as described before.

Thank you

[tommaso_maria]

Also, I used to click in a particular position and start writing to add text (even a single comma) and now it's not possible anymore. I have to select the tool "add text" and then select the position and add the text.

I mean, I used to edit the text by simply working on it, without the need to select every single option, just working with the keyboard. 

[Bernd Alheit]

Use following tool:

[tommaso_maria]

No, thank you, but I do not need to add text comment. That is not my problem.

I would like to keep on adding comments without the need to select the "Replace selected text" or "Insert text" tools. Until yesterday, it was possible to simply highlighting a word or selecting a precise position to respectively "Replace selected text" or "Insert text" without the need to select the tool. 

I wonder why it is not possible anymore.

Thank you,

Tommaso

[S. S]

Hi @tommaso_maria,

Please update the app to the latest version (2024.003.20112).

This version should be able to do it. You can go to Menu-> help-> Check for updates.

Once done, you should be able to achieve the workflow I shared in the recording above.

Also, when you try to do so, please ensure that the pointer is selected rather than the hand tool.

-Souvik

[tommaso_maria]

Hi Souvik,

thank you.

I follwed your instructions but the only release available was 2024.003.20180.
I updated Arobat Reader but the issue has not been fixed.

Any other suggestion?

Thank you,

Tommaso

[Zanith Cook]

Just replying here because I'm having the same problem. Waiting to see if someone has a solution...

[S. S]

@Zanith Cook @tommaso_maria,

Would you mind getting on a call with me? 

This sounds strange and shouldn't be happening. 

Seeing the issue on call would help me better understand and share the relevant steps.

If yes, do let me know, and I will share a link for you to set up a meeting with me at your convenient time.

Thanks,

Souvik

[tommaso_maria]

Hi Souvik,

sure, I am available for a call.

Please, consider that I live in Italy (CEST time zone).

Thanks

Tommaso