As editors, we use the finer markup tools: Insert, Strikethrough, Highlight (and as few balloon comments as possible—they make designers nuts). I just finished copy-editing a 100-page cookbook in Acrobat. Yes, I realize the software was never designed for such a monumental task.
Unfortunately, clients insist on designing projects first and only sending them to an editor at the last minute as they're supposed to go to print. They think their book just needs "a quick proofread." They can't surrender the InDesign file because they're madly working on it and InCopy scares the crap out of them.
I inserted almost 1,000 edits and comments in the cookbook. Designers want the markup as clear and clean as possible. It takes five or six mouse clicks to select the text—or a single punctuation mark or word space—choose the tool, double-click to open the note field, then type the instruction (and often a brief explanation for the change). The process can double or triple the time it takes to edit a job on a nightmare rush deadline.
I'm using a MacBook Pro. I looked at Keyboard shortcuts for Adobe Acrobat. I don't just want to switch tools, and CMD-u didn't work as I expected. They don't work like shortcuts in Preview editing mode, where I can highlight the text and type CTRL-CMD-A (Annotate) to open tools; CTRL-CMD-s for Strikethrough; CTRL-CMD-h for Highlight, CTRL-CMD-u for underline, and so on, all from the keyboard. This is what we're looking for in Acrobat. Same thing in Word: If a client requests hard markup instead of Track Changes, I can use the keyboard for Strikethrough, Underline, Bold. Takes one second versus 15–30 seconds in Acrobat.
Most editors who work in Acrobat wish the functionality was better adapted to the tasks we perform instead of for laypeople who may have simpler needs for the program. I discovered by accident that if I place my cursor and hit the space bar, it sets an insert mark and opens up the insert field with a note I can type into. I want the same ability with all the other markup tools. Suggestions?