Changing Font Colors in Comment Text Boxes
After hanging around the Ask the Expert forum for the past few months, I’ve noticed, among some other common recurring questions, one question that keeps popping up: how do I change a font, font color, font size, etc. in a Text box? Although the questions aren’t always clear about what text box a user is talking about, we generally nail it down to a comment tool.
In Figure 1 you can see a Text Box Comment added to a PDF page. Unfortunately, the original installation of Acrobat 8 has a similar type of default appearance. The Box has a screened background and the text color is red. How do I change that red color to black are the cries of the Acrobat 8 users.
Figure 1
Logic immediately points us to a Properties dialog box like we might use for many other Acrobat options settings. However, when you open the Properties dialog box for just about any type of command or markup you see a dialog box similar to Figure 2.
Figure 2
Notice in Figure 2 we can take care of the background fill by clicking on the Fill Color swatch to open the color swatches. Click on No Color or White to change the background fill to a transparent color or a white background. On the left you also see a color swatch for the border. Likewise you can select No Color or another color if you want a keyline border around the text box.
What you don’t have however, are options choices for changing font attributes. This is the problem that’s driving a good many users crazy. The settings aren’t there in the Properties dialog box. So where are they?
Dismiss the Properties dialog box and open the Properties Bar. To access the Properties Bar open a context menu on the Toolbar Well and select Properties Bar. When you click inside a Text Box comment so a blinking cursor appears, or you highlight text as you see in Figure 3, all the type attributes appear in the Properties Bar.
Figure 3
In Figure 3, I have the Font Color menu open to change the font color. You also have options for changing alignment, font sizes, font styles, and super/subscripts and paragraph formatting.
Whenever you engage in any type of commenting and review session or just simply use some comment tools to mark up a document, remember to always open that Properties Bar. Unlike so many other Acrobat features that are often redundant and can be found in several different places around the tools, palettes and menu commands, changing font attributes in comments can only be handled in one place —the Properties Bar.
ted
March 21st, 2007 at 8:27 am
Ted, is this an Acrobat 8-only feature?
It works in Acro 8 on my Mac, but in Acro Pro 7 (on another Mac), I can get the Properties Bar to show up, with the same buttons, but I can’t change the font color in comments.
Selecting the comment text and changing the text color from the Properties Bar has no effect.
Weirdly, all the other properties work fine … text size, italics, etc.
April 3rd, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Ted, I printed out and tried to follow your instructions to a “T”, but it is STILL NOT WORKING!! I was under pressure today to get a redlined document out, and I still can’t get it to work. Help! SURELY Adobe is going to fix this problem!? I got lost on the “open a context menu on the Toolbar Well and Select Properties Bar”…..HUH? I tried every imaginable option to make this work. I opened the “properties bar” on the toobars, but all I get (even when I have text, or a box, selected) is “No current selection”.
Is everyone having as much trouble as I am on this?
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Are you working with a Text Box Comment? This thread deals with changing font attributes in Text Box comments. When you click the cursor inside a text box comment the Properties Bar should show you all the options you have for changing font attributes.
ted
May 4th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Thanks for the article Ted. Is it possible to set a default font, size, and color for the Text Box Tool? The online help says that the Text font and size are based on the system default settings. Is it referring to the OS default settings or Acrobat’s? I didn’t find anything in Acrobat’s preferences related to this. I’m using Windows XP, where would I make changes to my system to affect the font and size in the Text Box Tool?
Thanks.
PS - The Properties Bar can also be accessed by navigating to View>Toolbars>Properties Bar or by typing Ctrl+E.
June 4th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
you write in your article:
“Dismiss the Properties dialog box and open the Properties Bar. To access the Properties Bar open a context menu on the Toolbar Well and select Properties Bar. When you click inside a Text Box comment so a blinking cursor appears, or you highlight text as you see in Figure 3, all the type attributes appear in the Properties Bar.”
What is this “well” toolbar? Can’t find it. Can’t get font or any other properties for text in the text box. super friggin annoying. It would be really swell after all these years Adobe has been in business if they would make a product that works and simply works, with proper documentation. Its so excruciatingly annoying to have to find these fixes on the net. Makes me really hate the developer. Every adobe product I’ve purchased has been like this. Shitty documentation, and completely obscurely accessed tools, all lead to having to scour the net for fixes.
June 22nd, 2007 at 11:43 am
thanks for the article.
is there a way to set the DEFAULT text font, size, etc for text box comments? i see that w the property bar you can change it each time, but dont see any location to change the default. thanks much.
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:44 pm
You can click the Text Box tool and open a context menu on a Tex Box. From the menu options choose Make current properties default. When you save the file the properties are saved with the document. Unfortunately, Acrobat does not seem to hold the new defaults when you open additional files and create new text boxes.
ted
July 5th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
besides changing text color in Text Boxes, can Review and Comment Tools be used to Highlight text? I have not been able to do this, but I’ve not found a way to do this yet. -Thanks.
July 19th, 2007 at 10:57 am
This is soooo easy to explain it is unbelieveable.
ready….
click on the the text box.
hit Control E.
PS This only took me 57 hours to figure out.
PSS After you do this once, the properties will pop up automatically every time you make a text box.
Could the ADOBE help menu be any less helpful on this one???
When you are done smashing your head on the wall. Send me some props.
fred RULEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, I am just feeling like a conqueror of evil software right now.
February 8th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
THANK YOU!!!! so much for writing this blog I can’t tell you how much it has helped.
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Ted, you rock. Thanks a million for helping with this problem. Wouldn’t it be nice if Adobe thought like a word processor?
October 13th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I was getting this to work. Of course, the next thing you want is to be able to set the default. While I was using Acrobat 8 trying to enter a text box and work on the text color, after doing it a few times, Acrobat just went and crashed. Adobe Acrobat for the Mac is a shit piece of software. Also, I find that googling for answers is about the only way to get help. The help window is a poor source of answers. I’d be embarrassed to be a programmer at Adobe.