Ditch the 2023 User Interface in Acrobat
There are so many shortcomings and problems with the new 2023 GUI interface. Here are just a few:
Swapping left and right-hand panels for no reason. This does not improve anything for users. It just forces users to change everything about how they work in Acrobat every workday.
Functions are indicated by random icons. In the 90s, we learned that icons in software and websites don't work across different populations. Users have a difficult time figuring out what the heck they mean. Give text labels.
The left panel is permanently positioned on the screen and obscures part of the document below. Seriously Adobe, WTF.
The entire menu/panel system can't be customized, moved, or docked. Another WTF.
Hamburger menus (those obscure 3 horizontal lines) are used on mobile interfaces to collapse menus. They are totally unnecessary and inappropriate on desktop interfaces — where working people spend most of their time working. Give people real menus with real names. "Menu" is not accurate, either. What is the name of the other menu to the right? Menu 2? Cheeseburger Menu?
The new interface is inaccessible for those with disabilities who use assistive technologies, especially screen reader users. Adobe has seriously violated its VPAT with governments and corporations worldwide who are required by law to provide accessible work environments and tools.
Grey on Grey is not an accessible color scheme. Can't tell if some icons are active or disabled. Those with low vision can't discern the icons.
Digital signatures, Document Cloud (where Adobe stores your files by default), subscriptions, OCR, file creation, file combining, and accessibility all have reported major problems for the past few years...but rather than fix these critical problems, money was instead spent on rearranging the deck chairs on the sinking Titanic.
As long-time PDF consultants, my firm has found that the majority of customers are professionals who use Acrobat for their jobs. These are not "casual" users working on their smartphones. They are using desktops/laptops with full screens, not mobile devices to do their jobs. And they work with PDFs a lot.
They have developed actions and scripts to automate processes on dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of PDF files every day. These industries include print, prepress, graphic design, accessibility & remediation, accessible forms, variable forms, variable printing, data validation, financial institutions (think of all those bank statements every month!), health care, investment and finance, and manufacturing.
Dramatic GUI changes like 2023's completely change how these automated processes work...if they still work at all.
The cost to these industries to correct the now-broken processes — brought on by Adobe's whimsical, untested design idea — is appalling. If I was a major corporation hit by this unnecessary expense, I'd ban Adobe products from my company and look for another PDF vendor.
There are now many reputable competitors to Adobe Acrobat: See:
— https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-pdf-editors
— https://www.techradar.com/best/pdf-editors
— https://www.pcworld.com/article/407214/best-pdf-editors.html
Calling this Acrobat's "Modern Viewer" is a form of gaslighting Adobe customers. It's not modern at all — 30 years ago, using icons failed in software and web interfaces, and it's failing again with Acrobat 2023. Sometimes retro isn't good, especially retro user interfaces. Please don't attempt to bring back disco, old-fashioned 20 inch TVs, polyester suits, rotary phones and VHS tapes as being "Modern," too.
Ditch this "Modern Viewer" and instead give us a working tool to get our jobs done.
Revert the interface back to what it was.
Fix Acrobat's bugs. There are so many!
And improve the accessibility for those with disabilities (who can't get to the Comments panel, Bookmarks panel, understand what and how much is redacted, make edits or change the content, scale/enlarge the interface, nor sign a PDF).
For those still reading this, users can revert to the old interface for now (August 2023).
— Windows: Hamburger Menu / Disable New Acrobat
— Mac: View Menu / Disable New Acrobat
I have no idea who long Adobe is going to let us revert to the "real" interface.
Bevi Chagnon | PubCom.com
shared this idea
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Sheri Montrose commented
I absolutely hate these pop ups
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luke burton commented
If anyone has Time Machine running on their macs, its very easy to go back to an old version of Adobe and 'restore' it to a previous (and less fcuked) version. I went back 6 months, and hit restore and it worked like a charm! Fixed the new horrible menus and I can use PitStop again! Adobe have no interest in helping us
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John Eurell
commented
Please revert back to the "old" style layout where the Bookmarks are on the left hand side of the window. It is very hard to work smoothly with them on the right.
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JR
commented
Please fix the bugs that have plagued Acrobat for years, instead of adding new ones with this interface that makes every action even more laborious.
There are many things to improve before changing the interface, for example it still takes 4 clicks to add an action in a form field and the basic keyboard shortcuts don't work (Enter key does not act as OK, ESC does not act as Cancel, etc). This interface hasn't changed since 1993, so start here. -
Brian Bishop
commented
Hate the new interface
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Claudette Fitzgibbons commented
The new setup for bookmarks and tools is ridiculously flip-flopped and slows workflow. Where are the floating windows? The least Adobe could have done was to give the people who pay them to use their product a choice of where they want the most used elements. Please change it back or give us the option to put tools and bookmarks on whichever side works best for the individual user. Thanks.
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Jønathan Stanwood commented
Awesome. I hope someone listens. I hate having to re-learn Acrobat with every update. So friggin annoying.
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Gopa Campbell commented
I already posted once about how horrible I find this update. Then today I found Adobe had also installed it on my laptop. (I had already reverted to "old" Acrobat on me desktop and turned off auto updates there.) Reverting to old Acrobat on my laptop did give me the option to tell Adobe, again, why I was downgrading as they popped up a message box wanting to know why I did that. So I gave them a very detailed, point-by point earful. They have pretty much destroyed the functionality for someone like me. I am a book designer and typesetter, and, when inputting changes from the publisher (which are usually sent as a pdf) to not be able to see the comments and the thumbnails at the same time makes the program useless. Also, only being able to see the partial name of the document in small tab is a nightmare, as I often have 2 versions on the screen open at the same time, with one called : "Document name_REV1" and the other "Document name REV2." The tabs only allow me to see the first bit of the name, so it is just too confusing. For now, "Old Acrobat" works just fine, but I am also currently doing a trial with PDFExpert which appears to be a very good program and have the features and usability I need. But it's pretty annoying to have to pay for more software on top of the Adobe subscription. In my notes, I asked Adobe if they had ever heard of QuarkXpress and had any idea why it failed when Quark stopped responding to its customers. Right now switching to something like Affinity Publisher is not an option as it does not have the advanced typesetting features I need, and anyway, the publishers I work for wouldn't stand for it! They seem to have designed this for someone to work on their phone, but seriously! . . . Who does this kind of work on a phone? Maybe Adobe needs designers who have an actual job and who understand how the program is used, rather than some idiots spending their lives twiddling with their phones.
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InstyButte Typesetting2 commented
Hi Vista Mirage,
Bevi Chagnon, who originated the thread, has a few links to reviews of suitable Acrobat Pro replacements up above. We're looking to ditch Adobe for pdf editing as well, since, as you have pointed out, some basic functionality is now no longer reliable. -
Vista Mirage commented
Thank you everyone. At least now I see that I am not the only one. If you read the thread here, everything is about user interface...can't find this tool or that tool, things in inconvenient places but seems no one has talked about functionality until after I posted.
So far the old version is working for me thank goodness because my contracts are so important and too me months to develop it with all the data fields. I think the old version may not be available for long.
Does anyone have a suggestion as to any better alternative to Adobe Acrobat. I see a few her mention an alternative but no one actually named any. I am prepping for the eventuality when the old version will no longer be available. Need a PDF app which allows fillable data fields.
Thank you all!
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AG
commented
I'm having issues with basic functionality in "Old Acrobat" mode now as well. Things like being unable to exit a document without saving (an old, old bug that seemed to be a non issue until recently), and immediate crashing upon issuing the command to switch to Old Acrobat through the View menu (and thus doesn't enable the switch).
It looks like Adobe is trying the "force users to upgrade by making the old version work worse" tactic.
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AG
commented
I'm having issues with basic functionality in "Old Acrobat" mode now as well. Things like being unable to exit a document without saving (an old, old bug), and immediate crashing upon issuing the command to switch to old acrobat through the view menu.
It looks like Adobe is trying the "force users to upgrade by making the old version work worse" tactic.
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emtee
commented
In response to "Vista Mirage" - yes, people are also having problems with functionality.
For me, there are at least two game-stopping bugs that make it no longer usable in some situations (I've reported, but nothing gets done).
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It seems folks are only complaining about the user interface, having difficult to navigate etc... Are people not having trouble with it's FUNCTION? I can't even send a contract for signature now. I have a contract where there are data fields to be filled in with text/data. Once I fill in the information in the fields and ready to send the document out for signature, this new Adobe PDF app will then give me the msg "data fields not compatible"!!!!! This PDF doc that took me months to developed and have used for years without issue now can not longer be used with the new Adobe PDF update. LUCKILY, found out that we can revert to old version (at least for now).
So never mind the user interface being confusing to navigate (I get that) BUT I can't even use my existing fillable documents once they are being sent out for signature.
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Airtame Mac commented
One of the worst updates I have seen in 30 years. It is difficult to even navigate a document. I HATE IT!
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Cassandra
commented
Horrifying update! Switching the tools from the right to the left just because you could creates significant user inefficiency.
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Magriet commented
I have tried to revert to the old interface but my Acrobat keeps restarting without reverting. Most frustrating.
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Ting You hit the nail on the head. This is a prime example of ensh!ttification. The definition should be annotated with the 2023 Adobe Acrobat UI "upgrade". I see that no one from Adobe has yet had the intestinal fortitude to venture into this feature request. Maybe when it hits 600 votes?
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Dan Ackerman commented
The new user interface was the most frustrating I've ever received from adobe. Controls and user bars belong to the user.
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Ting You commented
This is a fine example of ensh*ttification https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification -- I suspect if we don't pay, we'll be subject to the pain.
