Adobe Acrobat 9.1: The Properties Bar... A Hidden Gem

by David R. Mankin

 

Many folks are perfectly content with leaving things the way they are.

 

"Why change it? It works, doesn't it?"

 

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

 

Well, if everyone subscribed to this way of thinking, and they used Acrobat in a review cycle with co-workers, it wouldn't take long for the pages of a PDF file to become covered with dozens of yellow Sticky Notes (because yellow is the default color of a Sticky Note). It would be infinitely easier to decipher a colleague's comments if each contributor had his/her own unique color for their comments.

 

In Adobe products, I have long subscribed to the notion that if you're looking for a command, right-click and it's likely there. Many folks, therefore, have discovered on their own that if you right-click a Sticky Note's icon, you can select Properties and change the way your note icon looks by making changes on the Appearance Tab. If you have created a Call Out, you could right-click on its edge and adjust the line style, line weight and fill color.

 

 

The secret to unlocking these attributes more quickly (and finding attributes that you can't even get to by right-clicking) is to open up a toolbar called the Properties Bar. The Properties Bar concept is not new. Early releases of QuarkXPress had a Properties bar, and it didn't take Aldus, and ultimately Adobe long to realize its value and include it in PageMaker.

 

To launch the Properties Bar, right-click the tool bar area at the top of your Acrobat interface and choose Properties Bar.

 

 

Now that the Properties Bar is visible, it's time to scratch your head. It appears to do NOTHING. Actually, the Properties Bar is doing just what it's designed to do--show you the properties of whatever object you have currently selected. You likely had nothing selected, so the Properties Bar was just minding its own business and waiting for you to click on something.

 

Select a Sticky Note and the Properties Bar instantly reports the Note's properties. You can change the attributes of the Sticky Note by simply dialing in a different value in the Properties Bar.

 

Any commenting object you select can easily be customized. Clicking on a Call Out allows you to quickly customize its stroke, fill and opacity. Double-clicking inside the text area puts you in text edit mode, and you can then select a custom typeface and text alignment.

 

 

If you like the Properties Bar as much as I do, you may want to have it onscreen all the times. Consider dragging the Properties Bar to the edge of your Acrobat window and dock (attach) it anywhere you like.

 

 

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Want to learn more about Adobe Acrobat? Click here.

 

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David R. Mankin is a Certified Technical Trainer, desktop publisher, computer graphic artist, and Web page developer. He is an Adobe-Certified Expert in Acrobat.

Comments

[Cody Wohlers]

When I have two windows of Acrobat 9.2 open in Windows, the properties bar is only available in one window. Clicking on something in the first window displays the properties for it in the properties bar on the second window! while the first window's properties bar always says "No current selection". Clicking on the second window to access the properties causes the first window to loose focus, which looses its selection.

Have you experienced this or know of some information available to fix the problem?

Thanks.

[Nooit meer betonschade]

I really appreciate the kind of topics you post here. Thanks for sharing us a great information that is actually helpful. Good day!

[Study in UK]

I have been using the acrobat reader for so long, but never really cared to look at the properties bar!

[Brent Haag]

Cody - I totally agree with your comment about the properties bar in a separate window. I've also had the problem where I have text selected, but it says "no current selection"...WTF!!!! I'm using Acrobat Pro 8.

[free flash games]

Cody - I totally agree with your comment about the properties bar in a separate window. Ive also had the problem where I have text selected, but it says no current selection...WTF!!!! Im using Acrobat Pro 8.
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