How to Strikethrough in Adobe: A Comprehensive Guide

So, you need to strikethrough text in Adobe? It’s a surprisingly common need, whether you’re editing a PDF, working in Adobe InDesign, or creating dynamic content in Adobe After Effects. The good news is, Adobe provides several ways to achieve this, depending on the specific application you’re using. Here’s the breakdown:

For Adobe Acrobat PDF Documents:

The method for strikethrough in Adobe Acrobat relies on the commenting and markup tools. Here’s the step-by-step process:

1. Open your PDF: Launch Adobe Acrobat and open the PDF document you want to edit.
2. Access the Comment Tool: Locate the “Comment” tool in the right-hand pane. If you don’t see it, go to “Tools” in the top menu and search for “Comment.”
3. Select the Strikethrough Tool: Within the Comment toolbar, look for the icon that resembles a crossed-out “T.” It might be hidden under the “Drawing Tools” or “Markup Tools” section. Click on it to activate the strikethrough functionality.
4. Apply the Strikethrough: Click and drag your cursor across the text you want to strikethrough. A line will appear directly through the selected words or characters.
5. Customize (Optional): Right-click on the strikethrough annotation. A menu will appear allowing you to adjust its color, opacity, line thickness, and even add a comment to explain why the text is being crossed out.
6. Save your Changes: Go to File > Save to permanently apply the strikethrough to your PDF document. Remember to consider “Save As” if you want to keep the original intact.

For Adobe InDesign:

InDesign, being a professional layout and design software, provides more granular control over text formatting, including strikethrough.

1. Select the Text: Using the Type tool (T), select the text you wish to strikethrough.
2. Access the Character Panel: Go to Window > Type & Tables > Character to open the Character panel.
3. Apply Strikethrough: In the Character panel, look for the strikethrough icon. It’s usually represented by an “A” with a line through it. Click this icon to apply the strikethrough.
4. Customize (Optional): InDesign provides precise control over the strikethrough appearance. Within the Character panel menu (the three horizontal lines in the upper right corner), you can access “Strikethrough Options.” Here, you can adjust the weight, color, offset, and even the type of line used for the strikethrough (e.g., solid, dashed, dotted).
5. Create a Character Style (Highly Recommended): If you plan to use strikethrough frequently, create a Character Style. This will allow you to apply the same strikethrough formatting consistently throughout your document. Go to Window > Styles > Character Styles. Click the “Create New Style” icon (a folded paper) and name your style. In the “Basic Character Formats” section, apply the strikethrough. Now you can apply this style to any text with a single click.

For Adobe Illustrator:

While Illustrator is primarily a vector graphics editor, you can still add strikethrough to text.

1. Select the Text: Using the Type tool (T), select the text you want to strikethrough.
2. Access the Character Panel: Go to Window > Type > Character to open the Character panel.
3. Apply Strikethrough: Similar to InDesign, the Character panel will have a strikethrough icon (the “A” with a line through it). Click it.
4. Customize (Optional): Illustrator’s Character panel also offers basic strikethrough options. You can adjust the weight and color of the strikethrough line.
5. Consider Outlining: If you need more advanced customization or the strikethrough isn’t behaving as expected, consider outlining the text (Type > Create Outlines). This converts the text to vector shapes, allowing you to manually draw a line across the letters. However, remember that outlined text is no longer editable as text.

For Adobe After Effects:

After Effects is used for motion graphics and video editing, and the strikethrough implementation is somewhat limited.

1. Select the Text Layer: In your Composition panel, select the text layer you want to modify.
2. Access the Character Panel: Go to Window > Character to open the Character panel.
3. Apply Strikethrough: The Character panel will have the strikethrough icon (the “A” with a line through it). Click it to activate.
4. Limited Customization: After Effects offers basic color and weight customization for the strikethrough via the Character panel. For more intricate strikethrough effects, you might need to use shape layers and animation techniques to create a custom animated strikethrough.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Strikethrough in Adobe

Here are some commonly asked questions to further clarify how to use strikethrough in Adobe products:

1. Why can’t I find the strikethrough tool in Adobe Acrobat?

The strikethrough tool in Adobe Acrobat is located within the Comment toolset. Ensure you have the Comment tool active. If you still can’t find it, go to the Tools panel and search for “Comment”. After activating the Comment tool, look for the Strikethrough icon within the markup tools. Sometimes, it might be grouped with other annotation tools.

2. How do I change the color of the strikethrough line in Acrobat?

After applying the strikethrough, right-click on the annotation. A context menu will appear, allowing you to select “Properties.” In the Properties dialog box, you can change the color, opacity, and line thickness of the strikethrough.

3. Can I make the strikethrough line thicker in Adobe InDesign?

Yes, you can. Go to Window > Type & Tables > Character to open the Character panel. Click the panel menu (the three horizontal lines) and choose “Strikethrough Options.” Here, you can adjust the weight of the strikethrough line. You can also create a Character Style for consistent application.

4. Is there a keyboard shortcut for strikethrough in Adobe products?

Unfortunately, there’s no universal keyboard shortcut for strikethrough across all Adobe applications. The closest alternative is creating and applying Character Styles in InDesign.

5. How do I remove a strikethrough in Adobe Acrobat?

Simply select the strikethrough annotation and press the Delete key. Alternatively, you can right-click on the annotation and choose “Delete” from the context menu.

6. Why is the strikethrough not aligned correctly with my text in InDesign?

This can happen if the baseline shift of the strikethrough is incorrect. In the “Strikethrough Options” (accessible through the Character panel menu), adjust the “Offset” value until the strikethrough aligns properly with the baseline of your text.

7. How do I create a dotted or dashed strikethrough line in Adobe InDesign?

In the “Strikethrough Options”, you can choose a different “Type” of line. Options include Solid (the default), Dashed, and Dotted. You can further customize the appearance of the dashes and dots.

8. Can I apply strikethrough to text in a table cell in Adobe InDesign?

Yes, you can. Select the text within the table cell and apply the strikethrough using the Character panel, just as you would with regular text.

9. How can I make a strikethrough appear “behind” the text in Adobe Illustrator?

The easiest way to achieve this effect is by duplicating the text layer. Apply the strikethrough to the top layer. Create an outline of the text, set the outline stroke the correct color and weight, and position behind the text layer. If you want to edit the text later, it can become a difficult procedure to re-arrange the outlines.

10. Is it possible to animate a strikethrough effect in Adobe After Effects?

Yes, but it requires a bit more work. The standard strikethrough option in After Effects isn’t animatable directly. Instead, use shape layers to create a line and animate its position, scale, or trim paths to simulate a strikethrough effect. This allows for greater control over the animation.

11. What’s the best way to keep strikethrough formatting consistent across multiple documents in Adobe InDesign?

The best approach is to create a Character Style that defines your desired strikethrough formatting (weight, color, offset, etc.). Then, load this Character Style into other InDesign documents through the “Load Character Styles” option in the Character Styles panel menu.

12. Can I search for text with strikethrough formatting in Adobe InDesign?

Yes, you can. In the Find/Change dialog box (Edit > Find/Change), choose the “GREP” tab. In the “Find what” field, enter ~St. This GREP code searches for text with strikethrough formatting applied. You can then replace it with something else or remove the strikethrough.

By understanding these techniques and tips, you can effectively use strikethrough in various Adobe applications to achieve your desired formatting and visual effects. Mastering these nuances will significantly enhance your workflow and creative capabilities.