Stop Acrobat DC from Automatically Converting PDFs

[maryk63683931]

Hi!

Every time I open a PDF file that has not already been converted to editable text and images, Acrobat immediately begins the process when I open the file.

I have cut apart many of my books and scanned them to pdf, and some of them are quite large. Not only does automatic conversion take time that I don't have, it doesn't always do the best job.

How do I stop this?

[Adorobat · Accepted solution]

Hi maryk63683931,

As per the description mentioned above, you want OCR to not run automatically when trying to edit a scanned file in Acrobat, is that correct?

You may refer to the following links which discuss the same topic:

How can I disable automatic OCR when editing scanned documents?

Re: How do I stop auto convert to text in Acrobat DC when I want to edit a pdf?

Let me know if that is not the case.

Thanks,Shivam

[KellyEros]

I love how all the recommended links just lead you to a default support page with zero information pertinent to the subject.

[Test Screen Name]

Much has changed in the 3 years since the original problem. Please describe your own problem, it may be different.

[cakeller]

I was frustrated - and still baffled why this is so unintuitive, but I figured out the solution - which should be in this thread BECAUSE this thread comes up first on google when lookign for how to prevent Acrobat from automatically converting pages to editable text.

go ahead and click [edit PDF].

When the toolbar comes up there should be a section with "Scanned Documents".  under that is a settings gear. 

Click the settings gear...

In the dialog that comes up next, uncheck "Make all pages editable" and click ok.

Below the settings gear, there is another checkbox "Recognize Text" uncheck that if you don't want acrobat to scan for any text.

After you close, these settings should persist. 

Why isn't this somehow available in the preferences or something, I don't know. Automatically changing my document in a way I don't want is annoying. I often do PDFs without text, and just want to be able to crop off the white margins... why would I want this feature to be automatic? default should be off.

[andrewr95720076]

yes @cakeller !!!! Thank you so much for giving me a solution to this ridiculous problem. 

[chrisuren]

The links in the correct answer are no longer valid.

[Guest]

It is like they are trying to make Acrobat annoying and unseable.  The last few generations of changes are unbelievably stupid.  It is like they ignored what professional users do and designed it for 1st timers.