User interface is the worst ever. Bring back the old interface
My idea is to bring back the old function interface.
The new user interface is the most inconvenient, inexplicable, poorly organized user interface I have experienced with any Adobe product.
In the future, interfaces should be tested with real live users and not code writers.
I wish there were a way to use a "legacy" interface.
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Mohammed Tousif commented
Sometime I am getting confused but very easy to do
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Michael Young commented
I like what you have said Jessica Minden.
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Jessica Minden commented
Why is it necessary to even go through a "learning curve"? That sounds like change for the sake of change. I went through the guide. Everything is moved and not at all customizable. Yay - it's the same across devices.....I only use one device, so /cheer?
Your customers have given you feedback and it sounds very much like your attitude is "we have dumped enormous amounts of time, money, and energy so....get used to it."
You want to improve it? Leave the customizable toolbar on the right and sync THAT across devices. Don't reset the toolbar everytime Acrobat updates.
Listen to the feedback, set your ego aside, admit you screwed up, and leave it alone.
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AdminShashank Jain (Admin, Adobe) commented
Thanks Eric for this thread, while in the earlier comments Amit and others have mentioned what are the benefits for New UI. I would like you all to please go through this guide https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/learn-new-acrobat.html
which explicitly states what all has been changed in new UI, I completely resonates that a new UI comes with some learning curve, but the above blog-post would definitely help everyone in onboarding and getting familiarise with new UI faster.Besides this, really want to understand what specific workflow/tool you are using in the new UI and you're & finding it difficult to find/perform. Will take a deeper look into that specifically and help you find it in the new UI or fix it at our end if it's a bug/miss in new UI.
Said that, after going to all comments, would like to answer few of the queries/issues raised.
Query: why I can see "tour panel" each time I am opening any file:
Answer: Major Verbs(such as Edit, Convert,Sign, Prepare form, etc) has its associated tour cards, once it is shown, it would never be shown again. It is to help users navigate faster in new UIQuery: Unable to set "open pdf's from last session on Acrobat launch"
Answer > Please go to preferences and under General select 'Open PDFs from last
session on Acrobat launch and relaunch acrobat, it's working now.Be assured, we are going through these feedbacks and are fixing them on a regular cadence, as to update you that in v1 release of new UI, we got feedbacks which we have fixed, some of the examples are :
Adding a preference to remember current state of Tools pane in Reader, making Draggable Quick Toolbar, Pinning of Tools in right rail for customization of page display and navigation tools, Customisation of tools in All tools , Added “Menu” label to hamburger, Undo/Redo option in Top Bar ,Upfront Dismiss/Skip option on first launch onboarding coach marks, Addition of Snapshot tool in Right Click Menu to improve its discoverability, Print Feature has now been enabled after selecting Portfolio PDF document, Split tool now working when added in Quick Toolbar
Unique icons added for tools “Select Text”, “Select object”, "Crop Pages" & "Set Page Boxes" in Quick Toolbar
And several fixes for crashers and bugs along with some accessibility related fixes -
Peter G commented
Isn't it something -- everybody is screaming that the new interface is a POS. and The Company comes back and says, "Sorry you don't like it. You'll just have to get used to it."
I know there are a lot of Acrobat "knock offs" out there. Can anyone suggest one?
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David Peters commented
NA wrote:
"The whole utterly incompetent and arrogant development department for Acrobat should be sacked immediately. The rot started many years ago with the truly hideous and very slow non-standard (even by Adobe's standards) bland white interface. That caused uproar, Adobe didn't listen, and now it only gets worse. These developers/designers have no clue about normal software paradigms or UI design, and Adobe corporation clearly has no idea about treating professional users [who else would be mad enough to pay for Acrobat?] with respect. Instead they foist whatever untested and childish ideas they've had upon their customers, much like a kindergarten kid running out of class with a runny painting."
Bravo NA. Your relentless incendiary words are precisely the kind of rhetoric needed to possibly capture the attention of Adobe’s decision-makers. Decades ago, I hurled a torrent of maximally searing invectives at their ever malfunctioning OCR feature—and, miraculously, it was rectified within weeks!
Should I stumble upon that old thread, I’ll share the link here. Meanwhile, here’s two links to more riveting reading material.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Adobe+Acrobat+so+HORRIBLE+it+makes+me+cry
https://bit.ly/Acrobat-Uservoice-Interface
PS: Even this stupid forum is barely usable from a user interface point of view.
Adobe really is the blueprint for ENSHITTIFICATION if there ever was one.
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MFlemming commented
I want nothing to do with the new interface. I've got work to do- lots of it- and have no time to play.
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NA commented
The whole utterly incompetent and arrogant development department for Acrobat should be sacked immediately. The rot started many years ago with the truly hideous and very slow non-standard (even by Adobe's standards) bland white interface. That caused uproar, Adobe didn't listen, and now it only gets worse. These developers/designers have no clue about normal software paradigms or UI design, and Adobe corporation clearly has no idea about treating professional users [who else would be mad enough to pay for Acrobat?] with respect. Instead they foist whatever untested and childish ideas they've had upon their customers, much like a kindergarten kid running out of class with a runny painting.
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Michael Young commented
From Adobe website page: "Adobe Acrobat now has a simplified interface to help you quickly discover tools and complete your PDF tasks efficiently."
No. Stop changing interfaces to "simplify." It is not helpful to the majority of users who know and use the old interfaces. And I doubt that it helps others who do not understand the old interface.
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Sofia Murphy commented
Agreed! User interfaces should prioritize usability and practicality. Testing with real users can uncover invaluable insights for creating interfaces that meet users' needs. In the meantime, providing options for users to revert to a 'legacy' interface could offer a solution for those who find the new interface challenging. If you're interested in learning more about the importance of usability testing, check out this article: https://www.excellentwebworld.com/usability-testing-tools/
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yuri deglin commented
the New Interface is awful. I think it is a perfect example of employees of a corporate behemoth trying to justify their existence and salaries.
Instead of innovations (which arguably difficult to do for a product that is mature and has been around for decades) they start to rearrange stuff.
With unsubstantiated claims that it is "better and easier to use". -
PMR commented
1. Despite of I am switchin dark mode, Adobe always coming back to light one
2. why I can see "tour panel" each time I am opening any file
3. unable to "disable new Acrobad Reader" from Menu Panel
4. unable to set "open pdf's from last session on Acrobat lauch" -
MFlemming commented
Thank you to those who contributed.
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Chris Greve commented
Thank you Andrew Patmore!! Great suggestion - worked perfectly
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Andrew Patmore commented
I just found an answer to your (and everyone else's) problem. In "View" you can disable the new interface and it will revert to the old one!!
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Tara Dittbenner commented
The new user interface is the most inconvenient, inexplicable, poorly organized user interface I have experienced with any Adobe product.
In the future, interfaces should be tested with REAL LIVE USER and not code writers. (Especially bored code writers than seam to have rolled the dice with random changes.)
My thoughts exactly. I use acrobat pro every day, all day and I don't have time to search for the save icon or the page up and down.
The layout is completely random. When you make interface changes the goal SHOULD be to improve the user experience. This is terrible. It's decreased efficiency.
PLEASE PLEASE fix it. I know I can switch to the old UI but it freezes up and gives me error messages - not once a day, not- a few times a day - but multiple times per hour.
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Jasper Edrich commented
Dead right.
To revert to the old one which is superior in all respects, here is Sharon's post copied from below (thank you Good Sharon):
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" SharonG commented · January 18, 2024 10:44 · Report
Click on Menu in upper left corner
Select “Disable new Acrobat”
You can always switch back to this by going to View and then Enable New Acrobat."_________________________________________________
............. -
Barry Dalby commented
Thanks to those who pointed out that you can disable this new interface.
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Ian Hirst commented
I couldn't get my head around it at all. The previous version had so much flexibility and the assigning of specific fields to specific people made it easy to use. It would not assign with the new version. The old version was great in making some sections read-only which I couldn't find in the new version.
My worry is they have the Revert to old Acrobat in at the moment but you know they will remove that eventually. -
Amy Routson commented
Thank goodness there's an option to "Disable new Acrobat" because the new interface is the worst "upgrade" I've ever seen!!! The employees (and management) who thought this was a good idea should be demoted at best. (Personally, I would clean house!)
The new set-up is incredibly inconvenient. Not only is it difficult to find the tools we're used to, but we can't even delete the tools we don't want/don't use from the toolbar!! And if there's a way to organize the tools, I have yet to discover it.
Some tools seem to have been eliminated entirely, such as the little camera/snapshot tool that used to live in the upper left corner. Thankfully I know the keyboard "shortcut" to be able to do it because I use that feature all the time.
It also appears as though the Editing PDFs capabilities have either changed beyond recognition or been eliminated.
No one has time to research where to find things or to completely relearn a program that wasn't broken. I agree with the person who said these things should be tested with real live users before being launched! I can't imagine anyone who works in this environment on a daily basis would be pleased with any of the changes. (If you're out there...please, by all means, enlighten me!! I'm dying to know what you think is good about the changes.)
I've switched back to the old interface and am beyond happy to be there!!