IMPORTING A PDF WITH COMMENTS Error

[Anonymous]

So I'm currently using AUTOCAD 2018, and have Adobe Acrobat PRO which allows me to export comments from a PDF. As I'm trying to export to Autocad it boots up a new Autocad window and then gives an error, service unavailable.

I contacted Adobe customer services and they mirrored their screen to mine and attempted to export it, I should be getting a pop up window to display the Autocad Destination and PDF. I get none of that.

I have tried importing the PDF via PDF IMPORT on Autocad, but it only gives me the drawing with no comments or adjustments to my drawing which was returned from the engineer with notes for change.

The closest I have gotten is using the XREF command importing a PDF, but it stays in the PDF layer, I have tried to put my drawing over that layer but it is way too messy as the new objects overlap certain old ones.

I'm looking for any help at this point as I've spent two days trying to get this to work.

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

When you worked with Adobe on this issue, what did they conclude? I opened Acrobat (Mac version) and added some comments to a PDF and then exported the comments to a data file in FDF format.  I am unsure how that would come into AutoCAD.

I also tried saving the original PDF and comments into a new PDF and I was able to import that without any issue. Can you please provide detailed steps on what you  are attempting so I can try it on my side too?.

[Anonymous]

They concluded that there is an error coming from Autocad. They tried the similar export process with Word and it worked fine as it should. The comment export to Autocad was attempted by the service technician and it led to an error.

Here is a section for exporting to Autocad:

https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/importing-exporting-comments.html

I followed the directions but never got to the specify the PDF file and the AutoCAD file step of the process.

• From the options menu  in the comments list, choose Export To AutoCAD, and then specify the PDF file and the AutoCAD file in the Import Comments dialog box.

• In AutoCAD, choose Acrobat Markups > Import Comments From Acrobat DC.

I'm wracking my brain on where Acrobat Markups in Autocad is.

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

Thanks for the additional information.  Have you tried the first method of using a FDF file to see if that works?  

As far as the Adobe  tools within AutoCAD, I suspect that they would show up in the Add-Ins tab or in a Toolbar if they went "old-school" .  They likely get added to AutoCAD with the installation of AutoCAD PDFMaker.  Here is an older article that describes the process of getting the Adobe toolbar inside of AutoCAD and using -Toolbar to access it.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

I have tried everything here to somehow produce the PDFMaker plug-in into AutoCAD including repair Adobe and resetting to defaults in Autocad and still nothing:

Install Adobe Acrobat after AutoCAD has been installed so that it is able to add the PDFMaker plug-in to the AutoCAD installation. However, each version of Acrobat only matches up with a select few versions of AutoCAD for PDFMaker support (see Compatible web browsers and PDFMaker applications). Double-check that you have the correct version of Acrobat for your version of AutoCAD.

The PDFMaker toolbar itself can be turned on using the -TOOLBAR command in AutoCAD.

Doing a repair of Acrobat can get the PDFMaker files to reinstall into AutoCAD. The repair option is in the Help menu in Acrobat. Additionally, resetting AutoCAD to defaults (see How to reset AutoCAD to defaults) and then doing a repair of Acrobat can help in getting the PDFMaker toolbar to install and work.

The only thing I'm unsure of is my Autocad compatibility with the newest version of Adobe which I should have as I just installed a fresh version of Acrobat yesterday.

I am currently running a student version, could that be creating a conflict? I asked my professor and he said there should be no issues as it has worked for others in my class.

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

I am curious if this is due to different application versions (both Adobe and AutoCAD).  Also, are there any differences in user permissions of the type of licensing being applied?

It also sounds like this is not likely an AutoCAD issue as it seems troublesome to even get the add-in installed.  The last supported version of AutoCAD appears to be AutoCAD 2015.  What version are you trying to run?

[Anonymous]

I'm using AUTOCAD 2018 student version and the newest version of Adobe.

I'm back to the same issue of being unable to import comments from the PDF.

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

I am sorry that this issue is reoccurring.  Since I do not have access to the Adobe Plugin I am not able to test this.  Are the comments actually embedded in the PDF? If you use Reader can you see them? IF so, can you share a sample PDF so I can examine it?

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

Can I private message the said PDF to you ?

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

Of course!

If your data needs to be private or confidential, please email it directly to me at john.vellek@autodesk.com and please include a link to this thread in your email.

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

I opened your PDF in Acrobat and looked at the Comment List. It does not show any comments in the file.

Can you verify on your side if this is truly the case?

Or, if you are not looking for Adobe PDF comments are you looking for the ones that look like this?

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.