How to Change Strikethrough Line Thickness in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC
Question details
The user needs to adjust the line thickness of a strikethrough annotation in a PDF document, but the property option appears disabled.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat Pro DC
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Reviewing and commenting on a PDF document where a heavier or more visible strikethrough line is needed for emphasis.
- Observed behavior
- The color of the strikethrough can be customized, but the line thickness control is grayed out or entirely unavailable because standard PDF strikethrough annotations scale automatically with the text size.
Ensure you have the 'Comment' or 'Drawing' tools enabled in your PDF editor, as you will need to utilize shape annotations to bypass this limitation.
Use the Line Drawing Tool for Custom Thickness
Since standard text strikethrough annotations do not support thickness adjustments, using a line shape is the best workaround to achieve the exact look you want.
In the PDF specification, a standard text strikethrough is a markup annotation tied directly to the font size of the text it covers. Because of this, Adobe Acrobat disables the thickness slider. By using a drawing tool instead, you gain full control over the line's weight, color, and opacity.
Open the 'Comment' pane or go to 'Tools' > 'Comment'. Click on the Drawing Tools icon and select the 'Line' annotation tool.
Hold down the Shift key (to keep the line perfectly horizontal) and drag your cursor over the text you wish to strike out.
Right-click the line you just drew and select 'Properties'. Navigate to the 'Appearance' tab and adjust the 'Thickness' slider to your preferred weight. Click 'OK' to apply.
Edit Formatting in the Source Document
If you are the author of the document, adjusting the text formatting in the original source file before creating the PDF provides the cleanest result.
Add Custom Strikethroughs Easily with WPS Office
WPS PDF offers robust commenting and drawing tools, allowing you to easily add customizable shapes and lines over text when standard annotation features limit your formatting options.
- 1. Open PDF in WPS: Launch WPS Office and open your target PDF document.
- 2. Access Comment Tools: Navigate to the 'Comment' tab located on the top ribbon.
- 3. Select the Line Tool: Click on the 'Shapes' dropdown menu and choose the 'Line' tool.
- 4. Draw and Customize: Draw the line across your text, then use the dynamic formatting menu that appears to easily adjust the line weight and color.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the thickness option grayed out for standard strikethroughs in Acrobat?
Standard PDF text annotations, such as strikethroughs and highlights, are defined by the PDF specification to automatically scale with the underlying text size. Because they are dynamically linked to the font, manual thickness adjustments are disabled by design.
Can I change the color of a standard strikethrough in a PDF?
Yes. While the thickness is locked, you can right-click the standard strikethrough annotation, select Properties, and choose a different color or adjust the opacity from the Appearance tab.
Is there a plug-in or setting to force standard strikethroughs to be thicker?
No, there are no native settings or standard plug-ins to alter the base behavior of text markup annotations. Using a line drawing shape remains the primary and most reliable workaround.
Will drawn line annotations print accurately like normal text markups?
Yes, as long as you ensure your print settings are configured to print 'Document and Markups'. The custom-drawn lines will print exactly as they appear on your screen.
