Fix Acrobat Pro Edit Using Menu Not Showing Illustrator or Photoshop
Question details
The user is unable to find Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop in the Edit Using context menu when attempting to edit vector or raster images within a PDF document.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat Pro DC 2019
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Trying to edit vector and raster images embedded in a PDF using external Adobe design applications.
- Observed behavior
- The Edit Using list is missing Illustrator and Photoshop; only the generic Open With option is available.
Ensure that Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop are fully installed, updated to their latest versions, and licensed under the same Adobe Creative Cloud account as your Acrobat Pro software.
Repair Adobe Application Associations
Re-establishing the connection between Acrobat and other Creative Cloud apps by updating and restarting the software.
Acrobat relies on system-level application associations to populate the 'Edit Using' menu. When an update occurs, these links can sometimes break, requiring a manual refresh of the associations.
Save your work and completely exit Acrobat Pro, Illustrator, Photoshop, and the Creative Cloud desktop app.
Open the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application and navigate to the 'Updates' tab to ensure all your apps are running on the same release cycle.
Open Acrobat Pro, go to Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Acrobat > Preferences (Mac), and select the 'Content Editing' category.
Under 'Image Editor' and 'Object Editor', click the 'Image Editor' button and browse your system files to manually select the Photoshop and Illustrator executable files.
Reset Acrobat Preferences
Clearing corrupted preference files to force Acrobat to rebuild its default application menus.
Use the 'Open With' Workaround
Using alternative methods to edit PDF images when the primary menu fails to populate.
Edit PDF Images Directly with WPS Office
If integrating external editors like Photoshop and Illustrator becomes too cumbersome, WPS Office provides built-in, native PDF image editing capabilities. You can crop, resize, and replace images directly within the PDF document without relying on external software configurations.
- 1. Open the PDF: Launch WPS Office and open your PDF document.
- 2. Access Edit Mode: Click on the 'Edit' tab located on the top ribbon, then select 'Edit Content'.
- 3. Modify the Image: Click directly on any image in the PDF to reveal the built-in image adjustment tools, allowing you to crop, rotate, or replace the graphic.
- 4. Save Changes: Once your edits are complete, click 'Save' to apply the changes natively to the PDF file.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Illustrator and Photoshop suddenly disappear from my Acrobat menu?
This typically happens after a software update to either Adobe Acrobat or the Creative Cloud suite. Updates can occasionally disrupt the background registry pathways that link the applications together, causing the 'Edit Using' menu to drop the missing apps.
Will resetting Acrobat preferences delete my digital signatures?
Resetting preferences will restore default interface settings and may remove custom toolbars, but your saved digital signatures and stamps are stored securely in different system directories and will generally remain intact.
Can I set a non-Adobe program as my default image editor in Acrobat?
Yes. You can manually assign any compatible third-party application by navigating to Acrobat Preferences > Content Editing, and browsing your system for the specific application's executable file (.exe or .app) to set it as your default Image or Object Editor.
