How to Add and Format Text in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat

[@erinwrightwriting]

All the steps shown in this video appear on my blog at erinwrightwriting.com/add-and-format-text-in-pdfs-with-adobe-acrobat/. Thank you for watching!

[@TheWorldTeacher]

Acrobat Reader DOES permit the adding of text, in fact!

[@williamwallace9826]

Ms. Wright, you just saved my life! (Well, you just saved my current project.) I knew how to insert a text box, but I couldn't figure out how to format the text I entered into the box. And now I do! Bless you!

[@erinwrightwriting]

I am delighted to hear that. Thank you for watching, and best of luck with your project!

[@DavidKohout]

Thanks so much, this is the best and quickest tutorial I could find on youtube for Adobe Acrobat. And your voice is perfect for this type of stuff, so I stayed even tho I knew the rest! 😅

[@erinwrightwriting]

I appreciate your kind words! Thank you for watching!

[@frankorienter8153]

I appreciate the clear, concise presentation. The pace and voice-over are both excellent. Thank You

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for sharing such a kind comment!

[@2008devonport]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, I thiought I was doing something wrong! I have subscribed so will be able to stay up to date!

[@erinwrightwriting]

Excellent! Thank you for subscribing!

[@iftekhar77]

Thank you miss Erin.

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching!

[@raenellcotten4999]

Thank you for this!!

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching!

[@MrJmathai21]

Thank you!!

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching!

[@tendrefriandise7435]

Thank you 💛 very useful 🙏

[@erinwrightwriting]

I am so glad it was useful! Thank you for watching!

[@D_clarity]

Thank you!

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching!

[@richardhutchins1287]

Very Helpful Video. Thank you!

[@erinwrightwriting]

I'm very happy to hear that. Thank you for watching!

[@denniscross4791]

Do you have a tutorial that shows how to add an additional row or column to a pdf form? For example I am filling in a living trust form and want to add additional items but I ran out of rows.

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! I don't have a tutorial on that topic yet. However, if your form is editable, you can add additional text boxes by selecting Tools > Prepare Form > Text Field.

[@catherinehanssens-passeri2080]

I have three paragraphs in one text box. Is it possible to indent one of those paragraphs without affecting the others?

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! If I place my cursor at the beginning of a paragraph, I can press the Tab key to indent only that paragraph. I hope that will work for you also!

[@catherinehanssens-passeri2080]

@@erinwrightwriting Hi Erin, Thanks for the quick response. I was hoping to be able to indent the entire paragraph, not just the first line. Also, how can I change the amount that it indents the first line? I found a ruler, but the markers do not show on the ruler like MS word and other products.

[@captaincope4303]

Thanks Erin, here's My ? I want to change the same words in a PDF at the same times , Like change "rabbit" to "hare" on every page found. and not do a page and a word at a time, hope you see this and reply, TY

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! I have an older tutorial showing how to find and replace text: kzbin.info/www/bejne/np3QoYqwpa6BkLc. Unfortunately, Acrobat doesn't offer a Replace All option, but the Replace Next option does allow you to click through the document rather quickly. I hope that helps!

[@captaincope4303]

@@erinwrightwriting Thank You Erin, that's the consensus so I am looking at Corel Pdf Fusion at the moment in the hopes it can, seems like such an obvious need for Adobe to not address, like a company changing it's name etc... much appreciate Your response

[@pell6825]

Hi, Erin! What Adobe Acrobat Pro version gives options to change point (like 14pt) font sizes?

[@erinwrightwriting]

Great question! All versions of Acrobat should allow you to change the font size of text in text boxes from the Format pane that appears when the Edit PDF toolbar is open. Thank you for watching!

[@pell6825]

@@erinwrightwriting a hundred thanks. :)

[@mixedview6315]

3.14 how can i create multiple pages for not enough space in one page

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! Are you using the new 2023 Adobe Acrobat or an older version?

[@s1pascif]

Hello Erin, Great Videos !! Is there any way we can add text to PDF with specific background colors using Acrobat Pro DC?

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! Unfortunately, there is no direct way to add a background color to a regular text box created with the Edit PDF toolbar. However, if you create a text box with the Prepare Form toolbar, you can right-click it, select Properties, and then change the background color. The other option is the use the text box in the Comment toolbar; however, I don't recommend that method because that text box is an editing markup that can be hidden or deleted by your readers. Best of luck!

[@jmercado516]

1)How do I get text in a formatted box to appear in one line and not have spaces in between for ex. A company name ( to fit across in one line) and address (to not break out and give a space on the following lines) 2) How do I add a another line to text box formatted with different text boxes

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! To customize the spacing between lines, you can adjust both the line spacing and space after paragraphs (even if it's not a real paragraph) from the Edit pane. To add another line to a text box surrounded by other text boxes, you may have to manually shift them all around a bit. I wish you all the best with your PDF project!

[@jmercado516]

@@erinwrightwriting thank you so much for your time and response I appreciate it. If I come with any other inquiries I will definitely reach out. I appreciate this so much.

[@adrianadelaney9467]

How to create fillable documents with adobe

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for the topic suggestion!

[@kelvins6525]

Hello Erin. Do you have video instructions on how to convert an existing pdf into a fill-able pdf using Adobe acrobat standard 2020 ?

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! I don't have a tutorial about forms, yet. However, here is an article from Adobe Support that you might find helpful: helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/creating-distributing-pdf-forms.html. Best of luck!

[@vincenzogasbarro4546]

Great video but I do have one question I am hoping you can answer. If I need to add more text to an already exited textbox, how do I do that while at the same time, have the pdf make room for the things after it so that it doesn't collide with each other? I have a pdf that is formatted perfect right now, however I need to add more info and don't want to do that if it is just going to collide into the info after it.

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! The text boxes in Acrobat won't shift the way that text will in a word processing software such as Microsoft Word. One solution is to add a blank page to create more room as you move the boxes around as necessary. I wish you the best of luck!

[@vincenzogasbarro4546]

@@erinwrightwriting That worked great! Thank you so much for the help!

[@irishdawn8387]

thanks so much, just a question everytime I use the acrobate to use the notes and I saved it it keeps creating multiples boxes when I have a few tabs for a project I'm working on and it is causing conflict in my document any helps?

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! Can you provide a bit more information about the type of boxes that are appearing?

[@irishdawn8387]

@@erinwrightwriting Everytime I save my new pdf file I have whole paragraph I have a couple indented wordings for a family genealogy project to sperate by names, alphabets and who the persons and then when I go back there are three boxes and it is hard to edit to add more stuff and details

[@2008devonport]

How do I colour a text box in this programme please or is it not possible to do this

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! Unfortunately, Acrobat doesn't currently offer a way to add background colors to regular text boxes. However, stay tuned because I am planning a tutorial showing how to work around that limitation.

[@CurlyGirl2011]

Hi Erin. I have a question that has got me really stumped. I have no issues creating fillable forms using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. However, once I create a form (converting it over from Word), part of my pdf will show spelling errors in the fillable areas when filling them in but other fillable areas will not highlight a misspelled word. Any idea how to correct this? Thank you! Excellent videos!

[@erinwrightwriting]

Hello, Sherry. Thank you for watching my video! Adobe Acrobat's spellcheck is a bit temperamental, so unfortunately I don't have any specific advice for you. If possible, you may want to try creating a fillable form directly in Acrobat rather than converting it from Word because there's a chance the issue is occurring during the conversion. Best of luck!

[@CurlyGirl2011]

@@erinwrightwriting Thank you Erin! I will try that.

[@PublicSpeakingMadeEasywithVal]

Hi Erin, Thanks for this. It's great. I'm wondering if you know how I can easily add in a long paragraph to an already completed and well spaced fillable form I created. I created it in Word before converting to a PDF, but now I've decided I want another paragraph of about 100 words. Do I have start over in WORD?

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! If the new paragraph is going at the end, you can just add a new text box. However, if other elements will need to be moved, you may want to add it to your Word file and then convert again in order to avoid moving individual text boxes, form fields, buttons, etc., in the PDF. I wish you the best of luck!

[@PublicSpeakingMadeEasywithVal]

@@erinwrightwriting Thanks yes- that's what I had to do, essentially begin from scratch in WORD - darn. Next time, I'll be sure to perfect the document in word before I convert it. Adding the drop down list fields in the forms don't move along with the selected text so that was a job as well. Thanks again.

[@PublicSpeakingMadeEasywithVal]

Erin, Do you know or have a video on how to align the fillable form boxes with the text? I can align the text boxes to 'bottom' - I can group the text boxes to align to 'bottom', but when I group the boxes, it excludes the "fillable form fields' and they get left behind.

[@erinwrightwriting]

@@PublicSpeakingMadeEasywithVal That is a great question! I don't have a tutorial on that topic yet. When I need to align a form field with the text, I usually right-click one of the elements and then select Show Grid. However, that's likely not the most effective method. I will do some research to see if there's a better way.

[@PublicSpeakingMadeEasywithVal]

@@erinwrightwriting that's a good help for now, THANK YOU

[@hallyuhebdomadaire4657]

How do you fill the space with color in a text box?

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching my tutorial! Unfortunately, Adobe removed the background color options for text boxes in recent versions of Acrobat. However, you can add a shape from the Comment toolbar and then place the text over it to look like a colored text box. Best of luck!

[@davefield8100]

Can you change the background color of a text box?

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! Unfortunately, the current version of Acrobat no longer offers a way to change the background color of regular text boxes. However, one workaround is to position a colored rectangle shape behind the text box. I am going to demonstrate this workaround in an upcoming tutorial.

[@ankitasrivastava6140]

Hi Erin, I am having a problem with editing PDF , When i insert text alphabets and numbers are fine but as soon as I enter any symbol like :, () etc the text direction changes. i am not sure what is the problem . Please help

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! That is an interesting issue. I don't have a definite answer; however, you may want to go to the Edit menu > Preferences > Language > and ensure that "Enable Writing Direction Switching" is not selected. Best of luck!

[@nikkimerchant839]

Do you know how to add a custom font color to Adobe Acrobat Pro?

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! After adding your text box, you can create a custom font color by selecting the Font Color button in the Format pane and then selecting Other Color. Best of luck!

[@tonistirtz9763]

I would like to know how to write text on one page in a PDF document and have the typed text duplicated on multiple linked pages elsewhere within the same PDF document. So that the text does not have to be repeatedly typed on a different pages within the document.

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! You could use a form field to duplicate the text across pages, but that is tricky if you don't want the text on every page. Instead, the easiest method is most likely to copy and paste the text in a new text box into the specific pages. Here is an article from Adobe support that includes a section on duplicating form fields, if you want to try that route: helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/pdf-form-field-basics.html. Best of luck!

[@tcutts8174]

Hello Erin, I received a Adobe PDF as an attachment in an email and all of the pages are crooked. The sender say no matter what she does the always come out crooked. Do you know how I can make them straight on my end?

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! I can't be sure what is causing this issue. However, if the pages are really crooked, you may want to try rotating them for a better view, which you can do by selecting View > Rotate View. Best of luck!

[@sherrywainz899]

why might when I type text in the box nothing displays? I create the box, and type, but nothing shows?

[@sherrywainz899]

Also I cannot cut and paste either.

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! If you are able to create the text box, I'm afraid I can't think of any reason why your text isn't showing other than possibly the font color is set to white? If the situation continues, you may want to report the issue to Adobe support. I wish you the best of luck!

[@davidshebly6252]

how to add curvy text in adobe acrobat pdf?

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you so much for watching my tutorial! Unfortunately it's not possible to attach text to a curve in Acrobat. However, you can do so in Illustrator, Photoshop, or Microsoft Word and then place it in your PDF. Best of luck!

[@NICKRITZER]

Adobe makes things so stupidly difficult to add something as simple as TEXTS. I can't seem to add texts at all...seen lots of complaints about this.

[@a47mlb]

Hi, Erin. Are you able to set a max word count within a fillable text box?? Ex.: Requiring an essay be written, no more than 500 words. Can you set a max word count so when 500 words are met you can't type any farther?

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching my video! You can set word limits for text boxes in forms. I don't have a tutorial on that subject yet. However, here are the instructions from Acrobat (sorry, it's a long article!): helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/pdf-form-field-properties.html#options_tab_for_form_field_properties Best of luck!

[@richardjames9591]

I am bewildered right away by all this talk and examples of text boxes. You might as well be speaking Greek. And I don't want to do anything like your examples. Let me tell you by example what I thought "add text in pdf" meant. Say I have, in my text, the word "smile" and it was supposed to be "smiled." How do I go into Edit, move my cursor to the word "smile", position it after the "e", and add a "d"? I don't need to know any of the other stuff you talked about, just how to add, subtract, delete, etc. letters, commas, etc., change capital letters to small ones and vice versa, change letters to superscript or subscript, etc. Right now, when I press "edit" on a document I've been given, and try to move the cursor to particular words, to edit them, I get weird blocks, whole paragraphs in funny grey hatched shading, or a whole page in a text box with four circles at the corners and connecting lines that won't let me work on any words or letters *within* the text box. (All I can do is deleted or operate on the whole paragraph or page, which is not what I want to do.) So either I'm doing something wrong, or the previous person who created the Adobe document has put some kind of lock on the text to prevent subsequent editors from changing individual words or characters. Could you tell me (a) what is the normal way of editing text in the way I'm talking about, when the document hasn't been locked up; (b) assuming someone has locked up the text, what is the way to unlock it?

[@rishuloberoi6640]

how to add box ?

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching my video. Do you want to add a visible text box?

[@rishuloberoi6640]

@@erinwrightwriting yes

[@erinwrightwriting]

@@rishuloberoi6640 You can see one of the text box tools in my other tutorial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5XZkqGsi7Bkj9U. In addition, there is a text box tool in the Prepare Form toolbar accessible through Tools > Prepare Form. Best of luck!

[@Bockwursty]

So it's not possible to add text to a specific layer? This software is clearly worth the 800 bucks per year.

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for your question. Working with layers in Acrobat isn't quite as intuitive as it is in other Adobe products such as InDesign. Here is an article from Adobe support that you might find helpful: helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/pdf-layers.html.

[@zheezhee352]

Thank you!

[@erinwrightwriting]

Thank you for watching! I wish you all the best with your PDF project!