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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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  • [Deleted User] commented  ·   ·  Report

    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.

  • emtee commented  ·   ·  Report

    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).

  • Vista Mirage commented  ·   ·  Report

    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.

  • Airtame Mac commented  ·   ·  Report

    One of the worst updates I have seen in 30 years. It is difficult to even navigate a document. I HATE IT!

  • Cassandra commented  ·   ·  Report

    Horrifying update! Switching the tools from the right to the left just because you could creates significant user inefficiency.

  • Magriet commented  ·   ·  Report

    I have tried to revert to the old interface but my Acrobat keeps restarting without reverting. Most frustrating.

  • InstyButte Typesetting2 commented  ·   ·  Report

    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?

  • Dan Ackerman commented  ·   ·  Report

    The new user interface was the most frustrating I've ever received from adobe. Controls and user bars belong to the user.

  • Andrea McConnell commented  ·   ·  Report

    I agree that these chances make no sense and do nothing to improve the product for users.

  • Rinwis4000 commented  ·   ·  Report

    I third Bevi Chagnon's comment. I need the pages panel/thumbnails and bookmarks on the left. And comments *at the same time* on the right. Also, the tool were just fine on the right. I really do not understand why things had to be moved over to the other side. I hate it very, very much. I don't even mind the hamburger menu that much, but tools and comments go on the right, bookmarks and thumbnails go on the left. That worked perfectly and it needs to be restored. At least give us the option to have the things on the side that benefits our workflow the most.

    ETA: I also hate the zooming with the slider. And I like to have my customized tools on the top there, right next to the hand tool and the good old zoom and what ever else is up there.

  • John Kelman commented  ·   ·  Report

    I second Bevi Chagnon's comment - this layout is exactly how I've worked with Acrobat for a number of years, so to make this unavailable is a significant loss of functionality.

  • Bevi Chagnon | PubCom.com commented  ·   ·  Report

    An additional problem with the new Acrobat interface (what Adobe calls the "modern" interface):

    In the classic interface, you can have the Pages panel (aka, Thumbnails) open on the left side and the Comments panel open on the right. Many folks who proofread or review PDFs set up their workspace this way.

    The "modern" interface doesn't allow this: Now, both the Pages panel AND the Comments panel are on the right, and only ONE can be open at any time.

    See screen captures of the same PDF in the Classic GUI and the "Modern" GUI.

    Thus, the new interface has removed functionality — and this is critical for those who edit, review, and comment on PDFs.

  • Sean Hackney commented  ·   ·  Report

    This would be great. The new view with bookmarks on the right is so incredibly odd. Please revert the view back to the original with bookmarks on the left and tools/other options on the right. Or make it so the user can change it to what makes sense for them. I wouldn't think this would be incredibly hard to do. Thanks

  • J. H. commented  ·   ·  Report

    I agree 100% with these posters that the older layout is much more functional (and not just because we're used to it). I myself have reverted to the older interface and hope the option to do so will stay enabled.

  • Joe commented  ·   ·  Report

    The new Acrobat is absolutely awful! What were you thinking. You've made the product unusable.

  • David Owens commented  ·   ·  Report

    I've tried for the past 18 months to get used to the new GUI. It absolutely sucks. I have my staff make changes to pdfs since it takes me so long. Will ytu old GUI option with online version but skeptical it will be as intuitive as older version actually were. Why ***** up a good thing.

  • Nicholas Ortiz commented  ·   ·  Report

    I got totally turned around with the new version and I thought it was just me. Thanks for calling this out. The new GUI is totally unintuitive. The digital signature process is especially painful. Please reconsider this version.

  • Wil Armstrong commented  ·   ·  Report

    STOP CHANGING THE BLOODY INTERFACE... it is not helping. At all.

  • Kurt Kupchella commented  ·   ·  Report

    The new interface sucks. And I know "the corporate entity" doesn't care. Perhaps it's those people in Marketing having a heyday (I hate those people), but I am still adding to the number of people who are fed up, and would like the idiots with new fangled ideas to knock it off.

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