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Acrobat for Windows and Mac: User Interface

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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:

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. The left panel is permanently positioned on the screen and obscures part of the document below. Seriously Adobe, WTF.

  4. The entire menu/panel system can't be customized, moved, or docked. Another WTF.

  5. 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?

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  1. Revert the interface back to what it was.

  2. Fix Acrobat's bugs. There are so many!

  3. 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.

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Bevi Chagnon | PubCom.com shared this idea  ·   ·  Report…  ·  Admin →

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  • Erin Burrows commented  ·   ·  Report

    I really hate the new interface. Luckily, we have the option to Disable New Acrobat in the menu, but how long will that be available? This change cannot have been based on real-world workflows, and it makes no sense to makes such drastic changes for no reason. It is ridiculous to have to go online and do a search on how to fix the new changes, which were seemingly implemented without warning and without user input. Maybe focus on speeding up how slow the program is before making nonsensical updates?

  • luke burton commented  ·   ·  Report

    An easy fix for this issue is to use "find and replace".... Find an alternative and replace Acrobat with something better. Adobe dont give two sh*ts about the professionals or our issues, and they cant fix them... they cause them. Adobe make toys for children now and are getting rich doing it. Graphic designers (real, professional graphic designers) are leaving the industry purely because of Adobe and their arrogance and greed.

  • Zaz Asp commented  ·   ·  Report

    Floating toolbar is highly inconvenient, blocking out the text I WANT to read and forcing me to keep moving the toolbar around when it could literally stay in the sidebar. There is also no option to hide or disable the toolbar at all which is amazingly stupid.

  • Ian Caldwell commented  ·   ·  Report

    Everything about the "new" Adobe has made things worse in my workflows. Nothing has been improved and every action takes longer.

  • Samuel Buggeln commented  ·   ·  Report

    It is truly shocking to have placed a "floating" menu obscuring the content of the document window, with no option to "float" the menu out of the way of the elements of the document in the top left corner that we need to work on! Honestly, the arrogance and cluelessness is breathtaking. Fixing this is not enough. Please fire people.

  • dbutzner commented  ·   ·  Report

    I disabled the new Acrobat. The tool bar at the side is not user friendly.
    It is hard to find the tools

  • Gopa Campbell commented  ·   ·  Report

    In response to Lynn Serafinn (below), and in response to those who are frustrated by Adobe updating your Acrobat when you have already rolled it back, if you turn off auto updates, it will solve the problem: Acrobat--preferences--Updater--uncheck automatically install updates.

  • Lynn Serafinn commented  ·   ·  Report

    The new interface drives me bonkers. Whose bright idea was this? I keep rolling it back, but then it changes to this counter-intuitive design with every Adobe update. Insane.

  • Faith Ann commented  ·   ·  Report

    I really, really, really need the toolbar to be at the top where it is safely out of the way of the work that I need to do. If you are going to add new features, that is great. PLEASE leave the current features as an option. This is really slowing me down as I can't even see half of what I need to on my small computer screen.

  • Daniel Shinabarger commented  ·   ·  Report

    I've been designing a PDF document for a tabletop rpg that's optimized to fit the space in a PDF reader at a good zoom level, and make use of the left bookmarks toolbar effectively. The new UI really messes up that experience. The little bar to the left is in the way, and it feels unnatural to use the bookmarks bar on the right. It was quite elegant before. Forcing this as the default on people really messes up having a consistent experience for users, at least for me. I reverted to the old UI myself, but I'm strongly against this janky new direction.

    At the very least, allow for some drag and drop customization, or some level of improved customizability.

  • Arto Hakkarainen commented  ·   ·  Report

    Older version has been an easy-to-use tool and I don't like the new one. It looks bad and it's only clumsier to use. Fortunately I was able to switch back to older version. In my personal use I could use another PDF readers, but at work our IT dictates the PDF reader as well as the other application and therefore I have to use Adobe's Reader. Older version has been preferred PDF-reader also in personal use so nothing wrong with that.

  • Gerhard commented  ·   ·  Report

    this new interface is hilarious stupid...
    top and right panel allow zero customization and are nearly empty.
    Tool panel floats on the document and cannot even be moved to any edge, as there is fixed distance to float inside the document... to definitively hide document content...
    All the custom quick actions are lost with the new interface...

    The comment from Adobe was, we hope you will come to like the new interface.
    As it currently is -> never
    In case it can be customized again -> maybe yes...
    But productivity wise I confirm the statements from the author of this request.

  • oradke commented  ·   ·  Report

    The new user interface is a piece of ****. Whoever thought this was a good idea needs to be fired. Listen to your community, fix the bugs, make the program faster and stop trying to push new "features" on us. We need to WORK this these tools! If they waste our time it's the last straw to "Bye Bye Adobe".

  • DSTR commented  ·   ·  Report

    The new version is terrible. If they force this on us, our company is for once and all going to switch to BlueBeam and cancel all of our licenses. They are insulting professionals who utilize this product and dumb it down for junior high users. If that's their audience, then good luck, but the new interface does not bode well in professional utilization.

  • Brian commented  ·   ·  Report

    The tool bar on the left panel is very intrusive and it cannot be collapsed. I organize multiple documents side by side and not allowing the tool bar to be collapsed while staying in 'organize pages' mode is unusable. In the broader picture, please stop changing the UI and focus on fixing bugs. Just look at your top 10 'feature requests'.

  • Stephen commented  ·   ·  Report

    The #1 reason I subscribe to Adobe products is that I already know how to use them. If I have to re-learn my tools, I'll be considering the alternatives.

  • Carlos GR commented  ·   ·  Report

    Please for the love of god. leave things that work as they are. we have enough compatibility issues and problems in general as it is.

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