Adobe Acrobat and Working with PDF files

Owned by Joel Whitney
Last updated: Oct 09, 2023

PDF files may open in a web browser depending on your computer settings. Please make sure to open your PDF files in the Adobe Acrobat DC desktop app.

  • Offers a consistent and reliable PDF viewing experience.
  • Provides access to all the tools you need to edit, add comments, fill forms, and sign PDFs.

Browse to where you saved the PDF file, Right-click the PDF file, and then select Open with Adobe Acrobat DC.

To set Adobe Acrobat to open all PDF files by default, right-click the downloaded document, select Change... button next to "Opens with:", select Adobe Acrobat, select OK to confirm


Table of Contents

How to fill and sign a PDF form

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  1. Open a PDF document in Acrobat DC.


  2. Click the “Fill & Sign” tool in the right pane.

  3. Fill out your form:
    Complete form filling by clicking a text field and typing or adding a text box. You can add checkmarks and fill in radio buttons too.

  4. Sign your form:
    Click “Sign” in the toolbar at the top of the page. Then draw, type, or choose an image for your signature. Then click “Apply” to place your signature on the form.

  5. Send your form: 
    After you have filled out the form, you can share the PDF with others via e-mail or other methods. (Note: sharing via Adobe Sign and the Adobe Document Cloud cannot be used for enterprise or confidential data at this time.)

How to edit PDF files

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  1. Open a file in Acrobat DC.

  2. Click on the “Edit PDF” tool in the right pane.

  3. Use Acrobat editing tools:

    • Add new text, edit text, or update fonts using selections from the Format list.

    • Add, replace, move, or resize images on the page using selections from the Objects list.

    • Click the other tools to edit your PDF further. You can add a watermark and annotate PDFs too. 
       
  4. Save your edited PDF:
    Name your file and click the “Save” button. That’s it.

Add new text to a PDF

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  1. Open a file in Acrobat DC.

  2. Click on the “Edit PDF” tool in the right pane.

  3. Select Tools > Edit PDF > Add Text .

    Add text tool

  4. Drag to define the width of the text block you want to add.

  5. For vertical text, right-click the text box, and choose Make Text Direction Vertical.

  6. The Add text tool intelligently detects the following text properties of text close to the point of click:
    • Font name, size, and color
    • Character, paragraph, and line spacing
    • Horizontal scaling

    These text properties are automatically applied to the text that you add at the point of click.
    You can change the text properties using the options under Format in the right pane.

  7. Type the text.

  8. To resize the text box, drag a selection handle.

  9. To move the text box, place the pointer over the line of the bounding box (avoid the selection handles). When the cursor changes to Move pointer , drag the box to the new location. To maintain alignment with the other list items, press Shift as you drag.

How to compress your PDF file

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  1. Open a PDF in Acrobat DC.

  2. Open the Optimize PDF tool to compress a PDF document. 
    Choose Tools > Optimize PDF or click on the tool from the right hand panel.

  3. Select Reduce File Size in the top menu.

  4. Set compatibility of Acrobat version and click OK.
    Default will be to the existing version.

  5. Set optional advanced optimization.
    Select Advanced Optimization in the top menu to make updates to image and font compression. Click OK when you are done modifications.

  6. Save your file
    Choose File > Save As. Rename the new file with the smaller PDF size (don't overwrite the original in case compression degrades the quality). Select a location and click Save.

How to combine and merge your files into one PDF

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  1. Open Acrobat DC to combine files: Open the Tools tab and select "Combine files."

  2. Add files: Click "Add Files" and select the files you want to include in your PDF. You can merge PDFs or a mix of PDF documents and other files.

  3. Arrange and delete content: Click, drag, and drop to reorder files or press "Delete" to remove any content you don't want.

  4. Combine files: When you're finished arranging, click "Combine Files".

  5. Save as a PDF file: Name your file and click the "Save" button. That's it.

How to convert PDF files into Word documents

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  1.  Open a PDF file in Acrobat DC.

  2.  Click on the “Export PDF” tool in the right pane.

  3.  Choose Microsoft Word as your export format, and then choose “Word Document.”

  4. Click “Export.” If your PDF contains scanned text, the Acrobat Word converter will run text recognition automatically.

  5. Save your new Word file:
    Name your converted file, choose DOC or DOCX file format, and click the “Save” button. That’s it.

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