How to Automatically Import Adobe Acrobat Reader Comments into an Adobe FrameMaker 11 Technical Document

© Ugur Akinci
Adobe Acrobat is great for adding all kinds of notes and comments to a PDF document. You don’t even need to have the Pro version to do that. Acrobat Reader XI, which is free to download, comes with great built-in text commenting and graphic annotating tools.
Yet the real works begins once the technical writer receives back such comments. How to import the approved comments back into the original FrameMaker document?
Usually the answer is: manually.
You just copy and paste the new insertions; delete the unwanted text; or replace old text with the new one, all thanks to copy-and-paste and the Delete button.
However, when the comments run into the hundreds or thousands, this manual technique becomes a pain. You need to spend long hours going through each comment and doing what is necessary with it, manually.
GOOD NEWS: There is a fully automated way if you are using FrameMaker 11 and Acrobat PRO XI.
Here are the steps:
1)      Create your PDF copy from the FrameMaker original by using the File > Save as PDF menu command.
2)      Open the PDF in Acrobat PRO.
3)      Select the File > Save as Other > Reader Extended PDF > Enable Commenting and Measuring menu command. (IMPORTANT: This step does not work with Acrobat Reader.)

4)      Send the reader-enabled PDF to your reviewers who can add any kind of comments they want by using Acrobat Reader’s (note that they do NOT need to have the PRO version) text commenting tools:

5)      When the PDF document with the comments is sent back to you (the tech writer), go to your original FM source document.
6)      Select File > Import > PDF Comments from the menu to display the Import Comments from PDF dialog box.

7)      Select the PDF document which includes review comments and click Continue.
8)      The comments will be imported automatically into your FM document. Now all you need to do is approve the ones that you’ll like to accept and reject those that you do not want in your source file. No more copying-and-pasting for you 🙂