By Megon VenterThu. 16 Nov. 20233min Read

How to Add Shapes in Adobe Acrobat

Discover how to add shapes in Adobe Acrobat using our easy and comprehensive guide. Plus, discover PDF reader alternatives like ours!
How to Add Shapes in Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat provides a variety of features, but one we're especially fond of is the shape tool, even if it is a bit of a pain to find. 


Still, we'll show you how to add shapes to a PDF and make the most out of geometric editing.

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Megon Venter
B2B SaaS Content Writer
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Megon is a B2B SaaS Content Writer with 7 years of experience in content strategy and execution. Her expertise lies in the creation of document management tutorials and product comparisons.


How to Add Shapes in Adobe Acrobat

We wanted to spice up our PDF with some advanced annotations. Find out how we did it below. 


Step 1: Open your PDF file

Click on "Menu" and then "Open". Find your PDF in your device files. 


Adobe Acrobat tool showing the Menu and Open functions
Image source: Adobe Acrobat


Step 2: Click on the "Draw" tool in the toolbar

Select "Rectangle"


Adobe Acrobat tool showing the
Image source: Adobe Acrobat


Step 3: Draw a rectangle in your PDF

Simply click and drag a rectangle on the element you wish to highlight.


Adobe Acrobat tool showing a rectangle being drawn on a PDF.
Image source: Adobe Acrobat


Great, now that we know how to add shapes, let's experiment with a few others.


How to Add Other Shapes in Adobe Acrobat

There are a few other cool shapes you can annotate your PDF with. Let's check them out. 


How to Add Arrows

Step 1: Click on the "Draw" tool and select "Arrow"


Adobe Acrobat tool showing the
Image source: Adobe Acrobat


Step 2: Add arrows to your PDF

Click and drag in a direction to create an arrow, pointing at an element you'd like to highlight. 


Adobe Acrobat tool showing an arrow being drawn on a PDF.
Image source: Adobe Acrobat


How to Add Clouds

We found adding cloud shapes to a body of text is a great way to prompt someone to think about its meaning.


Step 1: Click on the "Draw" tool and then select the "Cloud"



Image source: Adobe Acrobat


Step 2: Add a cloud-like outline to an element in your PDF

Unlike other shapes' design processes, we found that you must click from point to point to create a cloud. For example, in a rectangular fashion.



Image source: Adobe Acrobat

You can also discover our tips on how to add fonts to Adobe Acrobat.

"PDF Reader Pro stands out as a powerhouse—robust, adaptable, and economically priced. It has become the cornerstone of my document management, meeting a broad spectrum of needs with ease."
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Theodore Cipolla
B2B SaaS Content Marketer
Source: LinkedIn


Best Practice for Adding Shapes in Adobe Acrobat

We wanted to see what else we could do with Adobe Acrobat's shape features. Let's explore how to edit them!


1. Change the Color of Your Shapes

Step 1: Click on your shape to select it



Image source: Adobe Acrobat

Step 2: Click on the colorful circle under the toolbar



Image source: Adobe Acrobat


Step 3: Choose the color you would like to change your shape to



Image source: Adobe Acrobat


2. Advanced Shape Editing

We wanted to find out just how detailed we could get with our editing efforts. Find out how below. 


Step 1: Click on the colorful circle under the toolbar 

Select the gear-shaped icon. 



Image source: Adobe Acrobat


Step 2: Use the "Polygon Properties" window



Image source: Adobe Acrobat

Now, you can edit the following options:

  • Style: Change your shape's border.
  • Color: Choose which color suits your shape best. 
  • Thickness: Select the thickness of your shape's border.
  • Opacity: Add transparency to your shape.

Discover our method for redacting text as confidential in PDF Reader Pro.

Why Consider Adobe Alternatives?

Considering PDF editors that are Adobe alternatives can be a practical and cost-effective choice for various reasons:

  1. Affordability: Despite Adobe Acrobat's powerful nature, it doesn't come cheap. We found there were more reasonably priced alternatives out there. 
  2. Slow Performance: We often found Adobe Acrobat would perform slowly, with a fair amount of lagging. 
  3. Unintuitive Interface: We found navigating Adobe Acrobat's tools a bit confusing, often struggling to find what we needed. 
  4. Limited Free Trial: We were disappointed to find Adobe Acrobat's free trial was rather restrictive. We were often prompted to pay for the product when clicking on commonly used tools.
     
"With PDF Reader Pro, the ability to convert, edit, and sign PDFs has never been more accessible and user-friendly."
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Johan Müller
B2B SaaS Content Writer
Source: LinkedIn


How to Download PDF Reader Pro

We found PDF Reader Pro to be an affordable, quick, and intuitive alternative to Adobe Acrobat. It also has a robust free trial that allows you to make the most out of the product before making a purchase decision.


Download it now and see how it compares to Adobe Acrobat! 

Get Started with PDF Reader Pro Today!


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