Adobe Acrobat
Using Acrobat ver. X in a Review Cycle
Written by:
Education and Training Team
Customer Services Management
Division of Information Technology
October 2011
Version 1
Copyright  2011 Charles Sturt University
No part of this document may be reproduced, altered or sold without prior written permission of the
Executive Director, Division of Information Technology, Charles Sturt University
Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle
Contents
Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle ............................................................................... 2
Commenting tools ................................................................................................... 2
About the commenting tools ................................................................................... 2
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Sticky Note tool ............................................................................................. 2
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Text Edits tool ............................................................................................... 2
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Stamp tool ..................................................................................................... 2
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Highlight Text tool ......................................................................................... 2
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Callout tool .................................................................................................... 2
Adding sticky notes ................................................................................................. 3
Emphasising text .................................................................................................... 5
Marking up documents with the Text Edits tools ..................................................... 5
To replace text ........................................................................................................ 5
To insert text ........................................................................................................... 6
To Delete text ......................................................................................................... 6
Working with comments.......................................................................................... 7
Viewing comments .............................................................................................. 7
Initiating a shared review ........................................................................................ 9
Participating in a shared review ............................................................................ 12
Tracking review comments ................................................................................... 12
Starting an email-based review ............................................................................ 12
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Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle
Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle
Commenting tools
Unless a document includes security features, you can add comments to any PDF
file. In most cases, you’ll use the commenting features to provide feedback to a
documents author, but you may also find them useful to write notes to yourself as
you’re reading documents. Acrobat includes several commenting tools, and you’ll
recognise some of them from the physical world. For example, the Sticky Note and
Highlight Text tolls are electronic version of the physical tools you may have on your
desk.
About the commenting tools
Acrobat provides several commenting and markup tools, designed for different
commenting tasks. Most comments include two parts: the markup or icon that
appears on the page, and a text message that appears in a pop-up note when you
select the comment
•
Sticky Note tool –
Create sticky notes, just as you would in the physical
world. Click wherever you want the note to appear. Sticky notes are great
when you want to make overall comments about a document or a sec5ion of a
document, rather than commenting on a particular phrase or sentence.
•
Text Edits tool –
Indicate which text should be deleted, inserted, or
replaced using this tool. Your comments don’t affect the text in the PDF
document, but they make your intention clear.
•
Stamp tool –
Use a virtual rubber stamp to approve a document, mark it
confidential, or perform several other common stamping tasks. You can
create custom stamps for your own purposes, as well.
•
Highlight Text tool –
type your comment.
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Callout tool –
Specify the area you’re commenting on without obscuring it,
Callout mark-ups have three parts: a text box, a knee line, and an end-point
line. Drag handles to resize each part and position it exactly where you want
it.
•
Text Box tool –
Create a box that contains text, positioned anywhere on
the page, and at any size. It remains visible on the page, rather than closing
like a pop-up note.
•
Cloud
Arrow
Line
Rectangle
Oval
and Pencil
– Use
the drawing tools to emphasise areas on the page or communicate your
thought artistically, especially when reviewing graphical documents
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Highlight the text you want to comment on. And then
Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle
Adding sticky notes
You can attach a sticky note anywhere in a document. Because notes can easily be
moved, they are best suited to comments about the overall content of layout of a
document, rather than specific phrasing.
•
In Acrobat, choose the sticky note icon from the Comment tools.
Click on the document where you would like the sticky note and a sticky note opens.
The log in name for Acrobat automatically appears on the note, as well as the date
and time.
You can right click the sticky note to
bring up its Properties
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Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle
Once the Properties box is open you can change its appearance by its look and its
colour.
For example, to change the colour of the sticky note, click on the small colour swatch
to bring up the colour palette.
You can then select the colour you want by clicking on the relevant colour.
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Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle
If you select the General tab in the Sticky Note Properties you can change the
default login name or Author and the Subject of the Sticky Note.
Emphasising text
Use the Highlight Text tool to emphasise specific text in a document.
After highlighting the text, you can add a message, as well.
To highlight text, select the Highlight Text tool and drag your cursor over the text
you need highlighted.
To bring up the comments window, double click the highlighted text.
Click the close icon in the upper –right corner of the message box to close it.
Marking up documents with the Text Edits tools
You can clearly communicate which text should be deleted,
inserted, or replaces using the Text Edits tools.
To replace text
•
•
To show that you want any changes, first click the Replace Text tool
the Annotations section
Select the text you want to replace and type the replacement text
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in
Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle
•
A replacement Text dialog box appears, with the text you typed and the
original text is crossed out.
To insert text
•
•
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To show that you want any changes, first click the Insert text tool
in the
Annotations section
Place your cursor where you want to insert text and start typing
An Inserted Text dialog box will appear with your inserted text and an
insertion point will appear where you placed your cursor.
To Delete text
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•
•
To show that you want any changes, first click the Delete text tool
in the
Annotations section.
Select the text that you want to be removed and press the Delete key on your
keyboard
The text that you selected will show a red line through it.
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Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle
Working with comments
You can view comments on the page, in a list, or in a summary. You can import,
export, and print comments. And you can reply to comments if you’re participating in
a shared review or will be returning the PDF file to a reviewer in an email-based
review.
Viewing comments
The comments list is at the side of the Acrobat window. You can open the comments
list anytime by choosing Comments > Comments List.
The comments list includes every comment in the document, with the comment
author’s name, the type of comment, and the comment itself.
You can scroll through the comments list, they appear in order that they appear in
the document. You can click the minus sign to hide the comment and just show the
page number.
You can sort your comments by author, by choosing
and then Author. Acrobat rearranges the
comments so that they are categorised by comment
author instead of page number.
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Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle
When you click the comment, it will take you to the page the comment is on and to
the comment itself
The comment will be
highlighted by “marching ants”
There is a check box provided for you next to the comment type. You can add check
marks to indicate that you’ve read a comment, replied to it, discussed it with
someone, or anything else that is meaningful to you.
You can also sort your comments by the check box, by clicking sort
Checkmark Status.
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and then
Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle
You can reply to a person’s comments by right clicking and choosing reply.
Note: the reviewer will see your reply only if you
are using a shared review process or if you email
a saved copy of the PDF file to the reviewer
Initiating a shared review
In a shared review, all participants can view and respond to each other’s comments.
It’s a great way to let reviewers resolve conflicting opinions, identify areas for
research, and develop creative solutions during the review process. You can host a
shared review in a network folder.
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•
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Decide who you will invite to participate in a shared review and make sure you
have their email addresses.
Make sure that you have a location that all participants have access to
Choose the PDF you want to use for the review
Choose Comments >
Review > Send for Shared
Review
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Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle
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•
•
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Make sure Automatically collect comments on my own internal server is
selected, click Next.
The next dialog box asks you where you want to host the review. Select the
folder on your network drive
Click Next
You decide how you would like to distribute your shared file
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Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle
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•
•
•
You can then give the location a name if you want to. I put the name of the
folder in here.
The next dialog box identifies you to all the reviewers, so you need to fill this
in with your name etc.
The next dialog box is where you pick the people you want in the shared
review. Enter the email addresses or click the To button and select from the
address book.
You can now edit the message that will be sent with the email before pressing
Send.
Acrobat will then show you this
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Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle
Participating in a shared review
When the email is received, it will have a link to where the PDF file is saved. Click
this link to open the PDF.
You can now put comments on the document. When you have finished commenting
on the PDF then click Publish Comments in the document message bar to save
comments to the server. You do not have to save the document.
Close the document.
Tracking review comments
You can keep track of reviewers’ comments and reply to comments yourself from
within Acrobat. Open the review PDF file. Click on Track Reviews… to see if
anybody has posted any comments yet.
Acrobat reports all the new comments and displays them.
Starting an email-based review
In an email-based review, you send out a tracked copy of the PDF document, so that
you can easily merge the comments you receive.
To start an email-based review, choose .
Enter information in the identity Setup dialog box, if the information isn’t already
available to Acrobat. Specify the PDF to include in the review, and then click Next.
The PDF file you specify becomes the master file; you’ll merge comments you
receive from reviewers into this file.
Type the email addresses of your reviewers or choose them form your address book.
Customise the email invitation, and then click Send Invitation. Reviewers receive the
PDF file as an attachment. When they open the attachment, Acrobat presents
commenting tools and a PDF file with reviewing instructions.
After you receive comments from reviewers, open the attached file in email. The
Merge Comments dialog box opens, Select Yes to open the master copy of the PDF
file and merge all comments in it, and then be sure to save the master PDF
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