Turn on suggestions Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.
Showing results for
Showonly | Search instead for
Did you mean:
Exit
- Global community
- Language:
- Deutsch
- English
- Español
- Français
- Português
- 日本語コミュニティ
Dedicated community for Japanese speakers
- 한국 커뮤니티
Dedicated community for Korean speakers
- Home
- Acrobat
- Discussions
- Re: Text field not changing to comb
-
- Home
- Acrobat
- Discussions
- Re: Text field not changing to comb
Community Beginner ,
/t5/acrobat-discussions/text-field-not-changing-to-comb/td-p/10226860 Nov 27, 2018 Nov 27, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Hi there,
I am creating an onscreen form from an existing pdf. The original format version isn't available as it's a government form.
I am adding fields so I can type my responses and I need to add some information as a comb of characters, yet when I select this option and type the number of characters required, then press OK, the field doesn't change. It stays as a text field.
any thoughts?
thanks,
Su
TOPICS
Edit and convert PDFs
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
Explorer ,
/t5/acrobat-discussions/text-field-not-changing-to-comb/m-p/10226870#M125674 Nov 27, 2018 Nov 27, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Try setting a border color for the field. Once I chose a border color for the text field, the grid lines for each character displayed as expected.
Before adding a border color:
After adding a border color (gray):
View solution in original post
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
12 Replies 12
Jump to latest reply
Community Expert ,
/t5/acrobat-discussions/text-field-not-changing-to-comb/m-p/10226861#M125665 Nov 27, 2018 Nov 27, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Why would it change to anything else? Try filling in a value and you'll see the effect of this property.
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
SuziS_UK AUTHOR
Community Beginner ,
/t5/acrobat-discussions/text-field-not-changing-to-comb/m-p/10226862#M125666 Nov 27, 2018 Nov 27, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
try67, thank you for your reply.
I am expecting to see it change from a regular text box to a grid of, in this case, 7 spaces. It doesn't. It stays as a text box and doesn't treat the information entered into it as if it was a comb of text.
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
Community Expert ,
/t5/acrobat-discussions/text-field-not-changing-to-comb/m-p/10226863#M125667 Nov 27, 2018 Nov 27, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Yes, it should show a grid and the text you enter in it should be divided.
Does that not happen after you press Close? What exact version of Acrobat are you using (look under Help - About Adobe Acrobat)?
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
SuziS_UK AUTHOR
Community Beginner ,
/t5/acrobat-discussions/text-field-not-changing-to-comb/m-p/10226864#M125668 Nov 27, 2018 Nov 27, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
No, the screeenshot I provided is after I have clicked CLOSE.
Re the version number: I'm using Adobe Pro on a Windows 10 device, version 2017.008.30051
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
Community Expert ,
/t5/acrobat-discussions/text-field-not-changing-to-comb/m-p/10226865#M125669 Nov 27, 2018 Nov 27, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Make sure you install all available updates and then try again.
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
SuziS_UK AUTHOR
Community Beginner ,
/t5/acrobat-discussions/text-field-not-changing-to-comb/m-p/10226866#M125670 Nov 27, 2018 Nov 27, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Thanks try67, do you know what the latest version number is please?
My installation is a volume licence provided to my employer and they may or may not update the software every time it is updated.
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
Community Expert ,
/t5/acrobat-discussions/text-field-not-changing-to-comb/m-p/10226867#M125671 Nov 27, 2018 Nov 27, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
For Acrobat 2017 it's 17.011.30106, as far as I can tell.
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
SuziS_UK AUTHOR
Community Beginner ,
/t5/acrobat-discussions/text-field-not-changing-to-comb/m-p/10226868#M125672 Nov 27, 2018 Nov 27, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Thank you for that.
The ability to create a comb of characters has been around for years, so surely it's not a version number issue but I'll certainly look into that.
I'll update this thread once this has been done.
Thanks again,
Su
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
Community Expert ,
/t5/acrobat-discussions/text-field-not-changing-to-comb/m-p/10226869#M125673 Nov 27, 2018 Nov 27, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
It could certainly be a bug that's specific to one version and was solved
later on.
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
Explorer ,
/t5/acrobat-discussions/text-field-not-changing-to-comb/m-p/10226870#M125674 Nov 27, 2018 Nov 27, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Try setting a border color for the field. Once I chose a border color for the text field, the grid lines for each character displayed as expected.
Before adding a border color:
After adding a border color (gray):
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
Community Expert ,
/t5/acrobat-discussions/text-field-not-changing-to-comb/m-p/10226871#M125675 Nov 27, 2018 Nov 27, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
OK, yes, but didn't you also said that you tried the field and it didn't work correctly?
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
SuziS_UK AUTHOR
Community Beginner ,
/t5/acrobat-discussions/text-field-not-changing-to-comb/m-p/10226872#M125676 Dec 04, 2018 Dec 04, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
LATEST
Hi Debbie,
I owe you an apology; yes, this is the answer!
In previous versions of adobe the text box has changed to show all of the boxes, but in this version it didn't and I needed to apply the appearance mask to it in order to show it actually as a combo box.
Thank you, I should have just tried this in the first place
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
Resources
About Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Inc
Adobe Inc
Adobe Inc
Adobe Inc
Adobe Acrobat Feature & Workflow
FAQs
Copyright © 2025 Adobe. All rights reserved.
Using the Community Experience League Terms of Use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information AdChoices