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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.
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.
Image source: Adobe Acrobat
Step 2: Click on the "Draw" tool in the toolbar
Select "Rectangle"
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.
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"
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.
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.
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:
- Affordability: Despite Adobe Acrobat's powerful nature, it doesn't come cheap. We found there were more reasonably priced alternatives out there.
- Slow Performance: We often found Adobe Acrobat would perform slowly, with a fair amount of lagging.
- Unintuitive Interface: We found navigating Adobe Acrobat's tools a bit confusing, often struggling to find what we needed.
- 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.
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!
Free Download 
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