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TIP 123: Working with the Comments List
Each comment added to a document is stored in the Comments list, which is one of the panes displayed in Acrobat 7 by default. If you have closed the pane, choose View > Navigation Tabs > Comments. Click the Comments tab at the left margin of the program window to open it. Unlike the other panels that open to the left of the Document pane, the Comments list is displayed horizontally below the document (Figure 123a).
Figure 123a. The Comments list appears horizontally below the document. Both the document's pages have been commented on. Click the plus sign (+) to reveal the page's comments, and the comments' information.
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Check That
One of the simplest methods of organizing your work is to add checkmarks to selected comments. Click the comment to select it, and then click the Checkmark too , or right-click/Control-click the comment in the Comments list or on the document and choose Mark with Checkmark from the shortcut menu. Checkmarks aren't shared with other people as part of a review; you use them to organize your own work. For example, add checkmarks as you finish a correction. |
As you can see in Figure 123a, both Page 1 and Page 2 appear in the Comments list, meaning that our two-page sample document contains comments on both pages. The plus sign (+) to the left of a page number indicates that the page contains comments. Click a comment in the list. If the comment is located on the portion of the document that is displayed in the Document pane, it is highlighted.
Get It Together
As you will find when you work with a large number of comments, it is quite easy to get confused. If you have a large number of comments addressing the same thing, you can group them together as one comment. For example, the sample document used in Tip 119 contains an arrow and two circles identifying a desired correction on a table. Each of these comments is a separate object. By grouping them together, they appear as one entry in the Comments listmuch simpler to work with. Click the Hand tool on the Basic toolbar and click the first comment; press Shift+click to select the others you want to include in the group. Then right-click/Control-click and choose Group. The comment displays the grouped icon on the Comments pane's listing. To ungroup the comments, right-click/Control-click any of the comments in the group and choose Ungroup. Each then becomes a separate item in the Comments list. In a grouped comment, the comment's status, text you add in notes, and any replies to the comments are shown only for the first comment you select. The remaining content exists for all commentsit is merely hidden in a grouped comment. |
Comments are organized in levels within the Comments list. Here are some tips for viewing comments:
Figure 123a is shown in its expanded state. Once the page is open, you can see the list of comments. You also see an additional plus sign to the left of the comment; click it to open the comment and read details such as the author and the time the comment was added. |
Clicking plus signs can get tiresome. To quickly open all the pages and all the comments, click Expand All on the Comments list toolbar. You can close the page and comment contents just as quickly; click Collapse All on the Comments list toolbar.You can position the comment in the Document pane and highlight it using the directional arrows on the Comments toolbar. The downward-pointing arrow moves the view to the next comment in the list; the upward-pointing arrow goes to the previous comment.
Working on a long document can involve dozens or even hundreds of comments. That's a lot of information to keep track of. Here are a few tips for working with comments:
Sometimes you want to reply to a comment rather than adding one of your own. First, click the comment to select it in the Comments list. Then click the Reply button on the toolbar. Type the reply in the text field (Figure 123b). Acrobat places the Reply icon before your text. After you deselect the reply, the row stays colored to distinguish replies from comments.
Figure 123b. Reply to comments rather than adding new comments to stay organized.
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You can click anywhere on a comment's listing in the Comments list (on the name or on the comment text) to display a text field, which is used to add a note to an existing comment. It isn't the same as adding a reply because it originates with the person creating the original comment. Sometimes you need to add information to a comment, such as explaining why you want to make a change in the document (Figure 123c). Such notes appear in a tool tip when the pointer moves over the comment on the document page.
Figure 123c. Add a note to an existing comment if you are the original comment author.
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Delete comments you don't want to maintain. Click the comment to select it and then simply click the Delete icon on the Comments list toolbar.