In your review email invitation, click the link or the Review button.
Note: Below is an example email invitation sent via Adobe Document Cloud. The invitation may look different if the initiator sent you a public link to the review PDF in an email.
Last updated on
21 Dec 2023
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Also applies to Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Acrobat 2017
Review a PDF hosted in Adobe Document Cloud
If the initiator shared the PDF using the Adobe Document Cloud review service, the email invitation includes a link to the review PDF. When you click the link, the PDF opens in a web browser. You can add comments in the PDF using the commenting tools available in the browser window. No sign-in required. From the web, you can also launch Acrobat Reader or Acrobat desktop application to add comments.
You can join the review in one of the following ways:
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The PDF opens in a web browser. Enter as a guest, or sign in with your Adobe ID and password. Signing in allows you to use @ mention tags, edit or delete your comments anytime.
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Add comments to the PDF using the commenting tools. All reviewers can see your comments.
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While reviewing, you can also do the following:
- Use the @ mention to get the reviewer's attention. Use of the @ mention sends a notification to the named reviewer.
- Filter Comments (
) based on comment status like Unread, Resolved, @ mentions, or comment by a reviewer. - Use the Options Menu (
) to view all reviewers, copy shared link, remove yourself as a review participant, or report abuse.
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When you have finished your review, click Finished. A notification is shown in Acrobat and an email is sent to the initiator.
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In your review email invitation, click the link or the Open button. The PDF opens in a web browser.
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In the toolbar, click Open In Acrobat. The PDF is downloaded and opened in Acrobat Reader or Acrobat depending on which application is the default PDF owner.
Note:To join the review, you must have the latest version of Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat installed. For more information, see Adobe Document Cloud review service | Open in Acrobat
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In Acrobat Reader or Acrobat, add comments to the PDF using the commenting tools. The comments are automatically saved, and all reviewers can see your comments.
Note:If you are not connected to the Internet, you can still add comments to the PDF. The comments will be saved to the Document Cloud, whenever you connect to the Internet.
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While reviewing, you can also do the following:
- Use the @ mention to get the reviewer's attention. Use of the @ mention sends a notification to the named reviewer.
- Use Search Comments field to search for a specific term.
- Sort Comments (
) based on page, author, date, type, unread status, or color. - Filter Comments () based on comment status like Unread, Resolved, Unresolved, @ mentions, or comment by a reviewer, comment types, and color.
- Use the Options Menu () to edit, mark as unread, resolve, or delete the selected comment.
- Check the review status for all the participants by clicking the reviewer avatar in the upper-left corner.
A. Click to view all participants B. Annotation tools C. Click to toggle between managing the shared file and viewing comments D. Search comments E. Sort comments F. Filter comments G. @ Mention
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When you have finished your review, click Done. The review PDF is closed. The initiator gets a notification in Acrobat/Reader and an email is sent.
Review a PDF hosted on SharePoint, WebDAV server, or a Network folder
When you receive an email invitation to a PDF review, the invitation typically includes the PDF as an attachment or provides a URL to the PDF. Alternatively, some invitations include a Forms Data Format (FDF) attachment. When opened, an FDF file configures your review settings and opens the PDF in Acrobat.
PDFs in a review have special features, including commenting tools and a document message bar with instructions. Use the commenting tools to add comments to the PDF and then submit them. Either publish the comments to a comment server where others can see them, or send comments as an email attachment to the review initiator.
Note:
It’s possible to receive a PDF that doesn’t include special features. If so, add your comments using tools in the Tools > Comment toolbar. Then save the PDF and send it back.
To review the PDF later, reopen it from the Tracker. Doing so ensures that your comments are added to the tracked copy of the PDF and that the initiator receives your comments. If you don’t send or publish your comments right away, save the PDF before you close it to avoid losing your comments. Until the initiator receives your comments, they appear only in your local copy of the PDF and aren’t visible to other reviewers.
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In your email application, open the PDF by clicking the URL or double-clicking the attachment (PDF or FDF).
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Do one or more of the following, if prompted:
- Log in to Adobe Document Cloud with your Adobe ID and password.
- Click Connect in the Shared Review dialog box.
- Click OK in the Welcome To Shared Review window. This window shows the review deadline, participants, whether each reviewer has made any comments, and the comment server location.
- Type your name, email address, company name, and job title.
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Save the file to a location that you can find easily, such as the desktop.
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Add comments to the PDF using tools in the Tools > Comment toolbar. To delete a comment, select it and press Delete. (You can only delete the comments that you made.)
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Do all of the following that apply:
- If you’re notified that new comments from other reviewers are available, click the message. New comments appear in the PDF.
- To find out if new comments are available from other reviewers, click the Check For New Comments button
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Submit your comments by clicking Publish Comments or Send Comments To Review Initiator in the document message bar.
When you send comments, a PDF containing your comments is sent as an email attachment to the review initiator. When you publish comments, your comments are saved to the comment server.
The options in the document message bar depend on how the initiator set up the review and whether you can access the comment server.
Check For New Comments
Prompts Acrobat to synchronize comments between the comment server and the local hard drive. If you don’t click this button, Acrobat checks for new comments every 10 minutes if the document is open and every hour if the document is closed.
Merge Comments
Copies the comments in the open PDF to your copy. This option is available only for PDFs you receive from reviewers in email-based reviews.
Publish Comments
Available only in shared reviews. Uploads your new comments to the comment server. This button is disabled if the review has ended.
Save An Archive Copy
Available only in shared reviews, when a review has ended. Saves a copy of the document with review comments to your hard drive.
Send Comments
Creates an email message addressed to the review initiator that contains the commented PDF as an attachment. This option is always available for reviewers in email-based reviews. It appears in shared reviews if the reviewer has chosen to work offline or if an attempt to connect to the comment server has failed.
Status
An icon that displays the connected state of the comment server. The icon appears as the last attempt successful icon 
, the last attempt unsuccessful icon 
, or the attempting to connect icon 
. If you click the icon, a menu with additional options appears: Track Reviews opens the Tracker; Save As Archive Copy saves a copy of the PDF that is no longer connected to the review; Work Offline lets you work in offline mode, in which you can make comments but cannot publish them until you switch back to online mode. To switch to online mode, click Reconnect To Server.
When you participate in a shared review, Acrobat synchronizes published comments on your local hard drive with the comments on the server. Acrobat notifies you when new comments are available. Because synchronization continues after the PDF is closed, you’ll continue to receive notifications.
Messages in the notification area inform you when new reviewers join the review, when updates occur (multiple reviews), when deadlines change, and when synchronization attempts fail. They also inform you when a new broadcast subscription is added in the Tracker. You can change the frequency of messages and of comment synchronization, and you can manually trigger the synchronization process.
To view new comments in a shared review, you must be able to connect to the network where the comment server is located. If you can’t connect, check the server status in the Tracker to determine the cause of the problem.
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Click the Check For New Comments button
in the document message bar.
If you review a PDF offline or outside a firewall, or if you lose your connection to the comment server, you can send your comments in an email message.
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Choose File > Send File > Attach To Email.
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In the Send Email dialog box, select Default Email Application, or Use Webmail and choose you webmail client from the Select menu.
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Click Continue, and follow the onscreen instructions.
Note:If the PDF exceeds the 5-MB file-size limit, Acrobat prompts you to send your comments in a Forms Data Format (FDF) file. The initiator can import this smaller file. To adjust the limit, open the Preferences dialog box and select Reviewing. Then enter the new value for Send Comments As FDF For Files Greater Than [#] MB.
When you participate in a review, you can receive comments from other reviewers. For example, if a reviewer can’t access the comment server, the reviewer can send you comments. As another example, suppose that you solicited feedback from people who weren’t initially invited to the review. Those reviewers can return a copy of the review PDF to you with their comments. By taking ownership of the comments, you can share them with everyone in the review.
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Open the PDF that contains comments.
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Do one of the following:
- Click OK when asked if you want to publish comments for this reviewer. The published comments appear in the PDF. Your name appears in the title bar and the author’s name appears in the body of the comments, preceded by the text On behalf of.
Note:To hide "On behalf of" text, in the Preferences dialog box under Reviewing, deselect Show “On Behalf of” text in comment when user takes ownership of comments in a shared review.
- Click Yes when asked if you want to merge comments, or click Merge Comments in the document message bar and then click Send Comments. Add email addresses for other reviewers, as needed, and then click Send.
- In Acrobat or Reader, open a copy of the PDF and choose Comment > Comments List > Options > Import Data File. Select a file with comments from reviewers. Add email addresses for other reviewers, as needed, and then click Send.
Only new or edited comments are published or sent.
Use the Tracker to reopen PDFs in an active review. The Tracker only displays PDFs that you’ve saved. If you didn’t save a PDF the first time you opened it, reopen the PDF from your email application.
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Choose View > Tracker.
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In the Tracker, double-click the PDF.
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Add new comments or edit existing comments. To delete a comment, select it and press Delete. (You can delete only comments that you made.)
Acrobat removes deleted comments from the online PDF the next time it synchronizes comments. If you delete comments that you sent in an earlier email message, they aren’t deleted in the initiator’s document.
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Click Publish Comments in the document message bar.
Only new or edited comments are published or sent.