How to edit images in PDF files with Acrobat XI

Hi VICTORIA,

What technique are you using the create the PDF from a DWG file? Sometimes I’ve seen layering issues (although not with DWG). Have you tried activating Edit Mode by selecting the Edit PDF command, and then right clicking on the image? Here you’ll find an Arrange command to move layers up and down. Maybe there is a black layer on top.

Thanks,
Lori

When I convert a file DWG drawing to PDF all the sketch looks like a black block and can’t see what’s in the plan.

Hi Michelle,

It’s not something you can check for after but I’m guessing that some of the PDF files you work in have transparency or layers. If this is the case then when you edit the PDF content in Illustrator you’ll first see a prompt before it opens. And, you’ll get the behavior you mentioned as well.

Thanks,
Lori

Hi Lori,

Any chance you know how to check for that? That is what I think happened but I have to admit I do not know how to check/fix that.

Thanks,
Michelle

Hi Michelle,

Are you seeing any type of warning prompt before the PDF is opened in Illustrator (i.e., transparency, etc)? It’s possible that this is causing the temp file to be created.

Thanks,
Lori

Lori,
No updates recently, which is why I am confused. I did run a “repair” on Acrobat last night hoping it would fix but it did not.

Thanks,
Michelle

Hi Michelle,

Did this behavior change after any recent updates (i.e., Acrobat and/or Illustrator)?

Thanks,
Lori

Thanks Lori,

I do have Illustrator set as the default under Preferences. I have been doing it this way for years for the same client and then all of a sudden this week, this problem occurred. Any help would be great as it is annoying!

Thanks,
Michelle

Hi Michelle,

Do you have Illustrator set as the default under Edit > Preferences > Content Editing? This Preference might be slightly different depending on what version you’re using.

Thanks,
Lori

Hi Penny,

If the graphic is vector based, then you’ll need a program like Adobe Illustrator to change the color. If it’s raster based, then you’ll a program like MS Paint or Photoshop.

Thanks,
Lori

When using the “TouchUp Tool” to edit object in Illustrator, I have always been able to just hit save and the PDF I am editing is changed. Now when I hit save in Illustrator a new PDF file opens with the temp file name in front of everything. Luckily the original PDF reflects the change but the new PDF file is still open (causing an extra step to close the new file). This is not a long step with the amount of changes I must make sometimes its a pain.

Thanks in advance,
Michelle

Hi. How can I change the colour of the text in an image in pdf please?

Hi Brenda Wood,

One thing you can do to control printing is to preset the print dialog setting for your file under File > Properties > Advanced > Page Scaling “None”.

Thanks,
Lori

Hi Roger Hampson,

I would take a look at the Drawing Markup tools to do this. Then, once the PDF is marked up, you can use the Create Comment Summary command in the Comments List panel to create a report.

Thanks,
Lori

Hi Mike Brannock,

To do this level of editing, you’ll need to export your PDF to a format like Word and then remove the page breaks.

Thanks,
Lori

I need to have my diagram templates a specific size in PDF.  they are right if I print them from word, but they stretch when printed from a PDF version.  They change again if i change the paper size.  I need to create a pattern from local and overseas users and their printers.
thanks in advance

I need to remove the page breaks (4)and then save the pdf file as a tif file.  I can’t find any command to do that.  Is it even possible to do this?

I have a large set of building plans in PDF format that i need to highlight, for example where a leak occures in a water pipe, i would highlight the leak point and present it in a report
Can i use adobex pro or should i be looking to other software, if i can use adobex then how do i do this.
Using standard windows machine with win 7

Hi Trudy,

The Convert Colors command in the Print Production panel allows you to save color conversion settings. In the dialog, look for the Save Commands button. It creates a .cca file that you can load to convert files.

Thanks,
Lori

Hi Rodrigo,

See if this discussion helps you:
https://answers.acrobatusers.com/image-editing-rotates-image-q195264.aspx

Thanks,
Lori

I work in the print industry and I have to take the color out of the PDFs before I send it to print. How do I save the settings so that I don’t have to change them each time I convert to grayscale?

Hello,

I want to edit a pdf. My file orientation is in portrait, when I edit the file using Microsoft paint the file switches to landscape when I save from Microsoft paint. Can you help me with this problem

Hi Melissa,

Can you post your question here so we can help you interactively:
http://answers.acrobatusers.com/AskQuestion.aspx

When you post your question can you also clarify what you mean by gray areas - are you attempting to edit text or graphics in your PDF?

Thanks,
Lori

Help me please! I need to edit a pdf file however some are greyed out that I need to edit. I need to change some of the information in the gray areas but it will not let me edit it. I purchased the PRO XI just the other day. Can someone please help me ASAP.

Hi Diana Woods,

When you choose to Replace the existing header/footer it creates a completely new header. You’ll want to “Update” the header/footer instead.

Thanks,
Lori

if I insert a page into a document that has been numbered, then update the page numbers to “replace Existing” all of the headers on my letters are gone.  Why?

Hi Ken,

Do you have all the point updates installed for both CS6 and Acrobat X?
I read about an issue like this in PS CS6 but it was fixed in a point update.

Thanks,
Lori

I work in the print industry. When I get a PDF that has 4 color black in it, I need to be able to pull it into Photoshop, correct it, and have it update the image in the PDF. Lately, though, I’m running into a problem.

I grab the Edit Object tool. I select the image I want to edit, right click, and choose “Edit Image”. That launches the image into Photoshop, where I can edit my image, save it, then it updates the image in the PDF.

Here’s the problem: When the image is updated in the PDF, it reverts to its original dimensions, completely blowing out the page. Another person in my office has the same setup (CS6, Acrobat X), and his machine retains the image’s size as it was in the PDF.

Any help you can give is greatly appreciated. :)

Hi peter c neumann,

Under your Preferences (Edit > Preferences on Windows or Acrobat > Preferences on the Mac) you can set the default magnification for opening PDF files. In your case, you’ll probably want to set the zoom dropdown to Fit Page.

Thanks,
Lori

Donna, when I open a PDF photograph, my Adobe Acrobat program brings it up as a very large photo that I then must reduce down to about 25% in order to use it.  Is there a setting I can access to always make photos which are PDF files appear in their normal size, so that I don’t have to shrink them down?

Hi Wendy,

You won’t be able to change the resolution, but you may be able to get a bit better image quality if you use the Edit Using command in Acrobat XI to launch Photoshop. Photoshop contains filters that can reduce artifacts and noise.

Thanks,
Lori

Hi: I am doing some volunteer work and they have been getting receipts from Peru with images so bad we can’t make them out. Is there a way to improve the quality or resolution?

Hi Michael -

How are your videos intended to play? By default, you need to just click the video on the page to start it running. Depending on how the video is added to the document initially, you may also have other settings like a floating window or controls.

donna.

I can’t activate my videos after I save them in PDF.

Hi Sonya -

It should be a fairly simple process, but it sounds like perhaps the source document’s images were modified in some way. What you can do is export the images from your document. Choose File > Save as Other > Image and pick an image format. Once the export is finished, open that document, find and select your image, and then try copying it into the desired location.

donna.

Donna
I am trying to copy an image from one pdf and place on another. If I save it, it becomes distorted and impossible to work with when I add the image. How do I copy something exactly as it looks from one pdf and then place it on another PDF.
I am very frustrated!
Sonya

Hi Jenny -

If you’re getting a message about renderable text, it means that the page already has had the OCR process applied. Use the Edit Text & Images tool, select the paragraphs you want to delete, and delete them.

If you want to preserve the page layout without the text showing, you can select it, then change the text color to white. The text won’t print, or show on the page, but will hold the layout as is.

donna.

Hi Donna,

i’m trying to edit a scanned PDF. when i try to OCR it, it says it can’t because the document has renderable text in it? I need to ‘white out’ some of the text on the PDF. Any suggestions?
I’m using Acrobat Pro Subscription Edition in the cloud membership. Thanks Jenny

Hi fito -

You can’t erase part of an image, but you can crop it. Open the Content Editing tools, then click the image with the Edit Text & Images tool. Once the image is selected you’ll see a set of tools activate in the Format section of the tools. Click the Crop tool, then drag the margins of your image to produce your cropped image.

donna.

Sandy Williams
1 week ago
Hi Sandy -

You should be able to add your content using the Edit Text & Images tool. Essentially, you’ll add the content over what’s existing on the page. Open the Content Editing tools, and click the Add Text tool. Now click the location where you want to add the new text. You can configure the format as well.

donna.

Donna,  I have a floor plan that was saved as a pdf.  I need to add names and phones numbers to the pdf and I’m not sure how to do it.  I have adobe acrobat Pro - it won’t let me edit the cube spaces.  I did review your edit text session, but nothing is working for me. 

Erasing: Hi,,, I just downloaded Acrobat XI pro and was trying to erase/edit parts of an image in a document. Could not not it,, can anyone help? thanks,,,

Hi Jenny -

Depending on what version of Acrobat you’re using you’d follow different methods. If you’re using Acrobat XI, you could capture the text using OCR, and then use the Edit Text & Images tool to select what you want to delete.

You could also capture the text in other versions, and then use the TouchUp Text and TouchUp Object tools to select and delete the content.

Regardless of what you’re using, if all you want to do is hide something, use a Text Box comment. Select the tool, then click and drag to make a box big enough to cover what you’re hiding. Right-click and choose Properties, then set the color for the stroke and fill to white, and the opacity to 100%. That’ll block anything on the page.

donna.

Hi Donna,

I’ve got a scanned pdf file that when opened in acrobat it reads as an image. Can i use a white out tool to remove certain part of the document i.e. text and images and if so, how?
Thanks
Jenny

Hi Brian -

Look for ratio settings in the PDF Conversion settings in Autocad. You’ll find the command listed under the Acrobat menu. You should be able to configure your ratio there.

donna.

I have just downloaded X1 and I now have a page ratio error with Autocad DWG files converted to PDF. Page Ratio should be 420 to 297
but is 420 to 63.5 which produces tiny scaled to fit images in the centre of a long horizontal strip. My question is how do i correct this ratio. Hoping you can help. Thanks. Brian

Nice and clean template.Thanks very much.

Hi sct hunt -

Sorry, I can’t help you there. This discussion area pertains to editing content in a PDF document. Perhaps do an online search for the sorts of graphics you need.

donna.

Does anyone know a good page for picking up graphics for drawing simple floor plans?

Hi Sepp,

No cookies are required to watch the video.

Patty

Seems that this video does only work with flash cookies.

Hi Ron -

The simplest way is to make the changes in Acrobat. Is the DRAFT text included as a background or a watermark? If so, that’s an easy fix. If not, you can still do it fairly simply, although it’ll take more time. If you’re using Acrobat XI, use the Edit Text & Images tool, select the objects page by page and delete them. For earlier versions, use the TouchUp Text or TouchUp Object tool (depending on the DRAFT word’s composition) and delete them.

donna.

Hi Roy -

Document tags are structural identifiers for the different elements on a page. In Acrobat, they are quite similar to those you see for a Web page, although Acrobat isn’t an HTML format, of course.

Check out this short video for more info:

http://acrobatusers.com/tutorials/how-to-prepare-a-pdf-file-for-mobile-use

donna.

donna.

Hi John -

You are referring to Drawing Comments, and yes they are definitely mentioned on any site discussing Acrobat features.

The type of markup you’re describing can be done using Adobe Reader XI. Any earlier version would require the document author to enable the document for use in Reader first.

donna.

Help!

How do I take a document that has draft written across the page background. Its a pdf. How do I get rid of the word draft from all pages after editing and saving as a word doc. Also it is not a watermark so that did not work.

Thanks

What do you mean by having the document tagged?

What is the lowest level (cost) of Acrobat that allows graphic editing…drawing lines and shapes on PDF graphic files?  And adding text boxes?  I need to mark up PDF road maps and don’t want to convert them to Word to do so.  I used to be able to do this with an earlier version of Adobe Standard(work computer). 

John Pope

PS…website never mentions graphic editing (balloons, shapes, lines added by an editor to a PDF drawing or photo).

Hi Jaye -

Yep. You can still do the same thing. You MUST have the document tagged first, though. Once you do, open the Content panel, open the container containing your image, right-click the image and choose Properties.
When the dialog box opens, click the Tag tab, and you’ll be able to input alt text.

donna.

Sorry I should have been alot clearer.

What I need to do with Images on a Mac is edit and add alternative text to a PDF that has been sent to me to ensure it is more accessible. Now I can do this on a PC but once I open it in a Mac options come up but it is greyed out and I cannot edit anything.

Not visually editing - editing for screen reader use

Some minor differences between the Win and Mac version. I work on both environments. The acrobat file storage is great though.

Hi Jaye -

Sure you can. I did most of the tutorials on Mac and it doesn’t work any differently.

donna.

You cannot edit images on a MAC.