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Acrobat for Windows and Mac: PDF Forms

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Precise placement of objects in Prepare Form and Edit Form

I would like to see a "transform" capability similar to InDesign, with a panel or set of boxes in which the actual pixel X & Y coordinates, as well as the dimensions of an object, can be precisely set. Currently, the resolution on this type of placement appears to be set at 2 points, and I would like to be able to fine-tune that to pixels or 10,000ths of an inch as I can in InDesign. That's the basic idea, but read on for rationale.
I work mainly in InDesign to create pdf forms that I then take into Acrobat Pro to make "fillable" (Prepare Form). Often, after I have submitted a form for approval of my superiors, they come up with edits they would like to see. Many times, these edits are additions that need to be inserted precisely into the form to prevent having to recreate the form and then go through the process of making the form fillable again. Frequently, I create a text box or button, only to find I cannot move it to precisely the location required to avoid overlapping text or an object already extant in the form, i.e., the form already is "crowded," but the ability to precisely locate the new object would be acceptable in the eyes of my employer—crowded or not.
This also comes up when I need to align a newly created line that spans the page as an "underline" for two or more text boxes. In this instance, I need the line to extend beyond the text boxes as a place to indicate a fillable text field, so the underline function of the font will not suffice. The text boxes and the line, itself, will only get too close to, or else too far apart from, each other.
There are other instances where this would be a wonderful feature to have, but basically, I'm spoiled to the fine-tuning that InDesign allows, and would appreciate that one feature be incorporated into Acrobat Pro.
Thanks for reading, and if you're a precision designer like me, please vote for this feature!
Ken

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Ken Jeffries shared this idea  ·   ·  Report…  ·  Admin →
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  • Colornet Web commented  ·   ·  Report

    Can we get a nudge amount in the Edit PDF Tool?!

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    Agreed. Such a pain when the system autosizes selection boxes around items and you need to micro align art within different selected items

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    This is absolutely needed. The problem with nudging text boxes drives me crazy! Please fix this soon!

  • Ken Jeffries commented  ·   ·  Report

    Hi, Mr. Sharma,

    I certainly do appreciate this update, and will provide further feedback after I have had a chance to actually use the new precision.

    As Mr. Tremblay noted, though, this does not completely fulfill the needs that were requested. I am attaching an image of what I was envisioning (or something close to it), in the hopes that in a soon-future release the full feature-set may be included. As you can see, the code from InDesign could probably just be incorporated without too much modification/manipulation of the ADC code. At least it would be a great jumping-off point.

    Again, I thank you and all of the engineers and team-members who have gotten us this far!

    Sincerely,

    Ken Jeffries

  • Jean-Claude Tremblay commented  ·   ·  Report

    Gaurav, the solution provided by (20.012.20041) don’t fill the requested feature completely.

    Great to be able to finetune up to 10000th of an inch. We also need a way to change the location of the X,Y coordinates from bottom/left to top/left.

  • AdminGaurav Sharma (Software Engineer, Adobe) commented  ·   ·  Report

    Hi,

    We are delighted to share with you that Acrobat and Reader Desktop release for DC Continuous (20.012.20041) is Live now and this takes care of the Feature Request "Precise placement of form fields"

    For more Info refer here : https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/whats-new.html
    Currently, the fix is done only for form fields and "Inches" unit.

    Please update your Acrobat (It should Auto update or you should do Help -> Check for updates) and let us know your Feedback.

    Thanks
    Gaurav Sharma

  • Ken Jeffries commented  ·   ·  Report

    Greetings, all,

    THANK YOU, Mr. Sharma and all on the Acrobat development team for the promise of implementing this feature!
    It's been a long wait, but it will be SO VERY helpful when it arrives!
    I encourage all who have voted for this to post a big 'thank you' to Adobe for following through—if not right now, at the very least when we see it implemented.

  • Kevin Walker commented  ·   ·  Report

    Adobe, thank you for working on this! I use Marcom FusionPro software daily, which is a plug-in for Acrobat. FusionPro has precise object placement controls for its own objects, but cannot move existing elements in the PDF. Currently I am limited to the Edit and Edit Object tools to move existing text and graphics. Having the ability to precisely reposition existing text and graphics within a PDF would be fantastic.

  • AdminGaurav Sharma (Software Engineer, Adobe) commented  ·   ·  Report

    Hello,

    Thanks for raising this feature request.
    We have forwarded this request to engineering team and they are working on the same.

    Hopefully, you will experience this feature in next release.

    Regards,
    Gaurav

  • Anon e. Mouse commented  ·   ·  Report

    I don't understand, Adobe. There are 123 votes for this idea, now, two years later. Surely that means this idea is one of the most popular you have ever received (it's currently ranked #8 in popularity).
    Why would this be declined? Is that still the status?
    I read below that at one time, voting had been closed, yet now it is open again. Does this mean that you are reconsidering? Can you please give us a new update?
    If you're thinking that keeping this feature out will force us to upgrade to LiveCycle, forget it. Freelancers don't have that kind of money, and the people we freelance for aren't going to spring for a tool we need. We're ALREADY paying you a subscription fee, and your tool should do what we need it to.
    How hard can it possibly be to port InDesign's coordinates boxes into Acrobat DC?

  • Tye commented  ·   ·  Report

    I came here ready to post this topic, infuriated by the fact that out of all the messy tools in Acrobat, Adobe could not be bothered to include a coordinate/ dimensions field for precise placement of objects.

    I work in an architecture firm and being administrator, I end up building a lot of graphic design content including forms for clients.

    It's difficult enough that there are no Adobe programs that are natively built around forms, but having to go between products to complete these builds is exhausting.

    I create transparent PNGs in Ps which I then import into Acrobat to attach to fillable forms. It takes forever to get items scaled properly in Acrobat because there is no scaling boxes that you find in...oh, I don't know, almost every other Adobe product.

    I get that Acrobat wasn't meant to be a layout editor, but guess what? Developers have turned it into just that, and with all the tools in Acrobat we have available, it would seem rather logical to add a feature which is consistent across most platforms.

    Along with the properties box not offering the level of detail some of us need, it is also not available in all elements, including those such as images which we have imported in.

    Every single element in a project should have a coordinate/ dimensions box available to adjust for.

    Please. Please add this in. Sooner rather than later. Stop ignoring this request.

  • Susan Tarleton commented  ·   ·  Report

    Graphic Designer here. Illustrator form pdfs took into Acrobat form.
    Really slow for complex forms. Painful and slow.
    The button circles won't deselect if you touch them on preview. Things will not let you select and move them easily. I have to use the arrow keys to move. Things do not cut and paste from other documents easily. I have to copy the edits and then copy the form actions separately.
    My work look like an amateur. I had eight spec sheets!

  • Jezza commented  ·   ·  Report

    It's woefully amateur when it comes to Prepare Forms. Embarrassing in this day and age.

  • Bryson Jack commented  ·   ·  Report

    Wow! Such a pricey app, you would think Adobe could have gotten this done by now. Pathetic.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    it is now the 24th of July 2019 and this still does not exist!

    the work around does not work as I do not have Illustrator.

  • TheMacWizHizsef commented  ·   ·  Report

    Hey, Adobe: HOW MANY VOTES DOES IT TAKE TO GET SOMETHING ADOPTED????? This has more votes than some of the ideas that you HAVE adopted, so what gives?
    PLEASE reconsider this idea. I would have voted for it today, but because "voting is closed," I can't.
    This is a SORELY NEEDED addition to Acrobat. It's not our fault it was designed for PC users who don't expect much and then ported to Mac. Remember your roots: Adobe is in business BECAUSE OF MAC USERS. C'mon, please reconsider and give us this ability!

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    Why did you decline this suggestion? This is the most frustrating work when you have to nudge and drag and eyeball to get things to line up (as best as possible)

    I have waited patiently, but it's such a time killer, we may need to seek out a better software option.
    Please re-evalutate your decline.

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