5. Adding Comments to a Document

One of the longest-standing features in Acrobat is the ability to add comments to a PDF document. Originally, these comments were simple, electronic sticky notes that a reader could attach to the page. The PDF annotation mechanism has since grown to include a broad set of highlighting, drawing, and other tools that you can use to do fully featured commentary on a document. Additionally, there are tools for reading and summarizing these comments, and even for conducting a document review involving your entire workgroup or company.

The annotation feature in Acrobat is so extensive and important that it will occupy three chapters in this book, concentrating on adding comments to a document, reading and managing those documents, and conducting an enterprise-wide review of a document.

Examining Acrobat’s Commenting Tools

Acrobat’s commenting tools are accessible in three locations:

• The Comments > Comment & Markup Tools submenu (Figure 5.1) contains icons for all the comment tools.

Figure 5.1. All the comment tools are available through the Comments menu.

• The Tasks toolbar has a drop-down menu containing all the comment tools (Figure 5.2).

Figure 5.2. The tools are also available through the Tasks toolbar.

• The Comment & Markup toolbar includes tools for the most commonly used comment tools (Figure 5.3).

Figure 5.3. The most commonly used comment tools are on the Comment & Markup toolbar.

You may add buttons to the Comment & Markup toolbar for the missing tools; Chapter 1 provides directions for adding tools to a toolbar.

Comment icons and pop-ups

Every comment on a page has two visual parts.

The comment’s icon is a graphic that indicates the position of the comment on the page (Figure 5.4). This is different for each comment type: a speech bubble for Sticky Notes, a piece of text for a Text Box, and a “sign here” pointer for a Stamp.

Figure 5.4. Every comment has an icon that represents its position on the page.

Most comments also have a pop-up window that displays the text associated with the comment (Figure 5.5). Double-clicking the comment’s icon opens its pop-up, allowing you to read and edit the comment’s text.

Figure 5.5. Most comments also have a pop-up window that holds the text for that comment.

Adding a Sticky Note to a Page

The Sticky Note comment is Acrobat’s oldest annotation type, dating back to Acrobat 1.0. This annotation type is the functional equivalent of the paper sticky note after which it’s named; it holds a small amount of text attached to the page in a pop-up window.

To add a sticky note to a page

1. Click the Sticky Note tool in the Comment & Markup toolbar.

   The mouse pointer turns into crosshairs.

2. Click the page.

   Acrobat places the comment’s icon on the page and opens the comment’s pop-up window (Figure 5.7).

   Figure 5.7. When you place a Sticky Note on the page, Acrobat opens a pop-up window into which you can type your text.

   

3. Type the text you want for the comment into the pop-up window.

A Sticky Note’s default icon is a speech bubble. This is a perfectly serviceable icon, but Acrobat supplies a collection of other icons that may be used with Sticky Notes (Figure 5.8).

Figure 5.8. Sticky Notes may be represented on the page by a variety of icons.

To change a Sticky Note’s icon

1. Right-click the comment’s icon to get a contextual menu.
2. Select Properties in the contextual menu (Figure 5.9).

   Figure 5.9. You change a Sticky Note’s icon (and other characteristics) by modifying its properties.

   

   Acrobat will present you with the Sticky Note Properties dialog box (Figure 5.10).

   Figure 5.10. The Sticky Note Properties dialog box lets you modify a variety of appearance settings.

   

3. Choose a new icon from the list.
4. If you want this icon to become the default icon for future Sticky Note comments, click the Make Properties Default check box.
5. To change the note’s color, click the Color button and choose a new color from the resulting color picker.
6. To change the opacity of the note, drag the Opacity slider to the desired level.
7. Click OK.

Adding a Text Box Comment

Text Box comments are similar to Sticky Notes, but they have no pop-up window. Instead, the comment displays its text in a rectangular, editable field directly on the page (Figure 5.12).

Figure 5.12. A Text Box comment presents a text annotation in a rectangular field placed directly on the page.

To place a Text Box comment on the page

1. Click the Text Box tool in the Comment & Markup toolbar.
2. Click and drag a rectangle on the page.

   Acrobat places the Text Box at that location on the page.

3. Type your comment into the text box.

Having placed your Text Box on the page, you can move it around and resize it very easily.

To move and resize a Text Box

1. Select the Hand or Selection tool, if necessary. These are located in the Select & Zoom toolbar (Figure 5.13).

   Figure 5.13. The Select & Zoom toolbar has the Selection tool and the Hand tool, both of which may be used to move a comment’s icon around on the page.

   

2. Click the Text Box.

   Handles appear at the sides and corners of the Text Box (Figure 5.14).

   Figure 5.14. When you select a comment’s icon, handles appear at the corners and sides.

   

3. Click and drag the Text Box to change its position on the page.
4. Click and drag one of the handles to change the box’s size.

You can also control a Text Box’s appearance to quite a large extent. Following are instructions for changing some of these characteristics.

To change a Text Box’s colors

1. With the Hand or Selection tool selected, right-click the Text Box to get a contextual menu.
2. Select Properties at the bottom of the contextual menu.

   Acrobat will present you with the Text Box Properties dialog box (Figure 5.15).

   Figure 5.15. The Text Box Properties dialog box lets you change the appearance of the box that contains the text.

   

3. Click the square color-well control for the border color.

   The color well drops down a standard color picker (Figure 5.16).

   Figure 5.16. Clicking one of the color-well controls results in a standard color picker.

   

4. Choose the color you want for your border.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the fill color.
6. Click OK.

Finally, you can change the font and other characteristics of the text inside the Text Box. This take a bit more effort, because it requires the Properties toolbar (Figure 5.17).

Figure 5.17. The Properties bar presents information on whatever is selected on the page. You can use it to change the characteristics of text.

To change a Text Box’s font and text size

1. Make the Properties bar visible, if necessary; to do so, choose View > Toolbars > Properties Bar.
2. Select the Hand or Selection tool in the Select & Zoom toolbar.
3. Double-click the text in the Text Box.

   A blinking cursor appears at the point where you double-clicked.

4. Choose the text in the Text Box whose font or size you want to change.

   The Properties bar reports the current font and size.

5. In the Properties bar, change the font and size to the values you want.
6. Click outside the Text Box to finish.

Adding a Callout Comment

Callout comments are Text Boxes with an arrow attached (Figure 5.20). They allow you to point to the object on the page that your comment discusses.

Figure 5.20. A Callout comment is just a Text Box with an arrow.

To add a Callout comment to a page

1. In the Comment & Markup toolbar, select the Callout tool.
2. Click and drag a rectangle on the page.

   Acrobat adds a Callout comment with a default arrow pointing at nothing in particular.

3. Type your comment into the text field.
4. Click the border of the comment to make handles appear (Figure 5.21).

   Figure 5.21. Clicking a Callout gives you handles you can use to position the arrow.

   

5. Drag the handles to position the arrow as you want it.

Callout comments have the same set of properties as Text Boxes (font, point size, etc.). See the previous section for a discussion of these properties and instructions on how to change them.

Adding Lines and Arrows

Several of Acrobat’s commenting tools allow you to add graphic items to your document’s pages. The Line and Arrow tools let you add lines and arrows to the page (Figure 5.22).

Figure 5.22. The Arrow and Line tools let you draw arrows and lines on the page. This explains their names.

To add a line or an arrow to the page

1. Click the Line or Arrow tool in the Comment & Markup toolbar.
2. Click and hold on the page at one end of your line or arrow.
3. While holding the mouse button, drag to where you want the other end of the line or arrow to go.
4. Release the mouse button.

Drawing Ovals and Rectangles

The Oval and Rectangle comment tools allow you to call attention to items on the Acrobat page (Figure 5.25). These tools are available on the Comment & Markup toolbar or from the Comments > Comment & Markup submenu.

Figure 5.25. The Oval tool can be used to circle items of interest on the page.

To add an Oval or Rectangle comment to the page

1. Click the Rectangle or the Oval tool in the Comment & Markup toolbar (Figure 5.26).

   Figure 5.26. The Rectangle and Oval tools have icons on the Comment & Markup toolbar.

   

   The mouse pointer changes to crosshairs.

2. Click and hold the mouse on the page.
3. While holding down the mouse button, drag the mouse.

   Acrobat draws a Rectangle or Oval that follows as you drag the mouse.

4. Release the mouse.

   Acrobat adds the Oval or Rectangle to the page.

5. Click the Oval or Rectangle.

   Acrobat adds handles to the sides and corners (Figure 5.27).

   Figure 5.27. Clicking a Rectangle or an Oval icon produces handles you can use to resize that icon.

   

6. Reposition and resize the graphic as you wish.

Adding Polygons and Clouds

The polygon-related comment tools work the way similar tools work in most graphics software: You click sequentially on the vertices of the shape you want, and Acrobat connects the dots, making the polygon.

Acrobat supplies three different polygon annotation tools (Figure 5.28), only one of which resides in the Comment & Markup toolbar:

• Polygon tool. This tool creates a closed polygon. When you’re finished clicking vertices, Acrobat adds a final side that connects the last point with the first.

• Polygon Line tool. This is identical to the Polygon tool, except that Acrobat doesn’t close the figure for you.

• Cloud tool. This is identical to the Polygon tool, except that Acrobat draws the polygon as a cloud, as in Figure 5.28.

Figure 5.28. There are three polygon-related comment tools Polygon: Polygon Line, and Cloud.

Unfortunately, only the Cloud tool is available in the Comment & Markup toolbar; you can add the others following the steps in Chapter 1.

To add a Polygon or Cloud to a page

1. Do one of the following:

   • To add a cloud, click the Cloud tool in the Comment & Markup toolbar.

   • To add a closed polygon, select Tools > Comment & Markup > Polygon Tool.

   • To add an open polygon, select Tools > Comment & Markup > Polygon Line Tool.

2. Click the starting point of your polygon or cloud.
3. Click sequentially on all the corners in your polygon.

   Acrobat draws the line segments as you go so you can see how your polygon or cloud is looking.

4. Double-click the final point to finish the polygon.

Text Edits

Acrobat provides a complete set of tools for indicating changes that need to be made to text on a page. These include annotations to mark text for replacement and deletion and to mark an insertion point for missing text.

The way in which you mark up text is a little counterintuitive at first, but it quickly becomes second nature with practice. Broadly, there are two steps to indicating a text change:

1. Indicate the position of the change.

   This entails placing the cursor at the location of an insertion or selecting the text that needs to be deleted or changed.

2. Apply the comment for the markup you want.

The tools you use to do this are most conveniently accessed through the Text Edits menu on the Comment & Markup toolbar (Figure 5.30).

Figure 5.30. The text markup tools reside in the Text Edits menu in the Comment & Markup toolbar.

The markup tools available in Acrobat are illustrated in Figure 5.31. They are as follows, from top to bottom in the illustration:

• Highlight Selected Text adds a colored backdrop to the selected text to draw attention to it.

• Insert Text at Cursor indicates that text should be inserted into the existing words. A little caret appears at the place you click in the text. The pop-up window associated with the annotation contains the new text.

• Crossout Text for Deletion lines out the selected text, indicating that it should be removed.

• Replace Selected Text lines out the selected text, indicating that it should be removed, and places an insert-text caret at the end, indicating that new text should be inserted. The pop-up window associated with the annotation contains the new text.

• Add Note to Selected Text highlights the text. The pop-up window associated with the annotation contains a comment about the text. This seems to be in every way identical to the Highlight Text tool, except that Acrobat automatically opens the pop-up window so you can type your comment.

• Underline Selected Text underlines the text for emphasis.

Figure 5.31. Acrobat provides all the tools you need to do full text markup on an Acrobat file.

To add a text markup to a page

1. Click the Text Edit tool (not its drop-down menu) in the Comment & Markup toolbar.

   The mouse pointer turns into an I-beam.

2. If you’re indicating an insertion point, click a location in the text on the page.

   A blinking cursor appears at that point on the page.

3. For all other types of edits, select the text that you want to mark up.

   Acrobat highlights the text. You may use the Shift key to extend the selection, as is usual in word processors.

4. In the menu attached to the Text Edits tool (Figure 5.30), select the markup you want.

   Acrobat immediately applies the markup. If your markup requires insertion or notation text, a pop-up window opens so you can type your text.

Applying a Stamp to the Page

One of the most popular annotation types (well, I like it) is the Stamp tool. This comment type is modeled on the traditional rubber stamp once popular with banks and still popular with 4-year-old children.

The Stamps are available from the Stamp drop-down menu in the Comment & Markup toolbar (Figure 5.33).

Figure 5.33. The Stamp tool lets you place predefined graphics on the page as the equivalent of a rubber stamp.

The Stamps are organized into categories: Dynamic, Sign Here, and business are provided by default. You can also compile your own Favorites menu, containing Stamps you particularly like.

Furthermore, Acrobat thinks of the most recently used Stamp as the current Stamp and places it at the top of the Stamp menu (Figure 5.34) for convenient access.

Figure 5.34. The Stamp you most recently used resides at the top of the Stamp menu as the current stamp.

Note that some of the Stamps are dynamic, incorporating the identity data you supplied when you first started using the comment tools (Figure 5.35).

Figure 5.35. Dynamic Stamps incorporate information from your system and personal identity data.

You can create your own Stamps and your own categories. The Acrobat version of a Stamp allows you to use any PDF graphic—any combination of text, line art, and images—as your rubber stamp. You’ll see how to do this in the next section.

To apply a Stamp to the page

1. In the Stamp tool menu (Figure 5.33), choose the category and Stamp you want.

   The mouse pointer turns into a ghostly version of the stamp you choose, like the Draft Stamp in Figure 5.36.

   Figure 5.36. Having selected a Stamp in the Stamp menu, you move a ghostly version of it to the correct location on the page.

   

2. Click at the place on the page where you want your Stamp to go.

   Acrobat places the Stamp on the page in its default size.

3. Click the Stamp image on the page to select it.

   Handles appear at the corners of the Stamp (Figure 5.37).

   Figure 5.37. Clicking a Stamp yields handles you can use to resize it.

   

4. Click and drag the handles to make the Stamp the size you want.

   Once you’ve used a Stamp, it becomes your current Stamp and is convenient to use again. Just click the Stamp tool button (not the drop-down menu) and place the Stamp on the page as described.

Creating Your Own Stamp

It is remarkably easy to create your own Stamp for use with the Stamp tool. You can take graphics, text, or images from any PDF file and turn them into a Stamp.

You can even create new categories for your Stamps.

To create a stamp

1. In the Stamp tool’s menu, select Create Custom Stamp (Figure 5.38).

   Figure 5.38. To create your own Stamp, select Create Custom Stamp from the Stamp menu.

   

   Acrobat will present you with the Select Image for Custom Stamp dialog box (Figure 5.39).

   Figure 5.39. Select a file as the source for your Stamp’s graphic.

   

2. Click the Browse button.

   The standard Open dialog box opens.

3. Choose the file that contains the artwork you want to use for a Stamp.

   This can be a PDF file or any type of file that Acrobat can convert to PDF. Acrobat displays the first page of the document in the dialog box.

4. Using the scroll bar, select the page in the document that you want to use as your Stamp.
5. Click OK.

   The Create Custom Stamp dialog box opens (Figure 5.40).

   Figure 5.40. Give your new Stamp a name and assign it to a category. You may type in a new category name, if you wish.

   

6. Choose a category to which to add your Stamp, or type in the name of a new category.
7. Type a name for your new Stamp.
8. Click OK.

   Your new Stamp appears among the other Stamps in the Stamp tool menu (Figure 5.41).

   Figure 5.41. Your new category and Stamp appear in the Stamp menu.

   

Having created a custom stamp, you can remove it again using the Manage Custom Stamps dialog box (Figure 5.42).

Figure 5.42. The Manage Custom Stamps dialog box lets you delete and edit existing custom Stamps and create new ones.

To delete a custom Stamp

1. In the Stamp tool’s menu, select Manage Stamps.

   Acrobat will display the Manage Custom Stamps dialog box.

2. In the list of Stamps, select the Stamp you want to delete.

   Acrobat shows the Stamp’s graphic in the dialog box.

3. Click Delete.

   Acrobat deletes the custom Stamp.

4. Click OK.

Checking Spelling in Comments

Acrobat has a built-in spell-check feature that looks for spelling errors in a document’s comments and form fields. The only difficulty in using this feature is finding it; it’s located in a submenu that’s otherwise unrelated to forms or commenting.

To check spelling in your comments

1. Select Tools > Editing > Spell Check.

   The Check Spelling dialog box opens (Figure 5.43).

   Figure 5.43. Use the Check Spelling dialog box to check the spelling in your document’s comments and form fields.

   

2. Click Start.

   Acrobat examines all the comments and form text fields in your document, looking for spelling errors. When it finds a misspelling, Acrobat presents the error in context and shows you a list of replacements (Figure 5.44).

   Figure 5.44. When Acrobat finds a misspelled word, it presents you with a list of alternatives.

   

3. For each misspelled word, do one of the following:

   • Click Ignore to ignore that instance of the misspelled word.

   • Click Ignore All to ignore all instances of that word.

   • Choose a replacement in the list, and click either Change or Change All.

   • Click Add to add the word to Acrobat’s dictionary of known words.

   After you change, ignore, or add the misspelled word, Acrobat goes on to the next.

4. When there are no more misspellings, click Done.

Exporting and Importing Comments

The data associated with a document’s comments is much smaller than the document itself. A 10 MB PDF file may have less than 1 KB of comment data.

If someone sends you that 10 MB file for comment and you want to return the annotated file, it’s more efficient to send just the comment data than it is to send the entire PDF file.

You do this by exporting the comments to a Form Data Format (FDF) file (Figure 5.45). This file contains only the text, images, position, and other data associated with your comments. You can email this relatively tiny file to another person; they can then import the FDF data into their copy of the same PDF file.

Figure 5.45. Exporting comments results in an FDF file that contains only the document’s comment data.

When Acrobat imports an FDF file, it places the comments into the new document in their original locations. This is a much more efficient way of sending comments from one location to another.

To export your comments to an FDF file

1. Do one of the following, depending on your computer platform:

   • On the Macintosh, choose Comments > Export Comments (Figure 5.46).

   Figure 5.46. On the Macintosh, you select Comments > Export Comments.

   

   • In Windows, select Comments > Export Comments to Data File (Figure 5.47).

   Figure 5.47. In Windows, you select Comments > Export Comments to Data File. Note that you can also export to Microsoft Word and AutoCAD.

   

   Acrobat will present you with a standard Save-a-File dialog box.

2. Specify a name and location for your FDF file.
3. Click OK.

   Acrobat creates the FDF file.

To import comments from an FDF file

1. With the PDF file open, elect Comments > Import Comments.

   An Open dialog box opens.

2. Choose the FDF file that contains the comments.

   Acrobat reads the file and places the comments it contains into the current document.

Enabling Commenting in Reader

Acrobat Pro Only: By default, PDF documents cannot be modified in any way with the free Adobe Reader. Unfortunately, this ban includes attaching comments to a file. If you want people to be able to review your document in Adobe Reader, you must explicitly turn on that ability for the document.

Once your PDF document has been enabled for commenting in Reader, you’re restricted in what you can do to that document. Even in Acrobat Standard or Pro, you can no longer shuffle pages, edit page contents, add form fields or links, or otherwise modify the document. This will be true until you disable the ability to annotate the document in Reader.

To enable a document for commenting in Adobe Reader

1. Select Document > Enable for Commenting and Analysis in Adobe Reader (Figure 5.48).

   Figure 5.48. You must explicitly enable the use of Adobe Reader to comment on a document.

   

   Acrobat will present you with a dialog box warning you that file editing will be restricted (Figure 5.49). Then a Save dialog box opens, because Acrobat insists that you re-save the Reader-enabled file.

   Figure 5.49. Acrobat warns you that once a document is enabled for commenting in Adobe Reader, it’s no longer editable even in Acrobat Pro.

   

2. Save the Reader-enabled file with a new name and new location on your disk.

   If you later attempt to edit the PDF file in Acrobat Pro or Standard, an alert opens, giving you an opportunity to save a copy of the document without Adobe Reader commenting permission (Figure 5.50); the newly saved file is once again editable in Acrobat Pro.

   Figure 5.50. If you try to edit a Reader-enabled document in Acrobat Pro, you’re prompted to save an editable copy of that document.