Hive proofing is built for document review: viewing, navigating, and marking up PDFs together. You can also fix small text and image mistakes in a PDF proof and save the result as a new version.
Since October 2026, every workspace uses the same proofing viewer on web and desktop. The previous (legacy) viewer has been retired, so there is no viewer to switch to. Everything described below, including stamps and layer controls, applies to all workspaces.
Yes: viewing, hyperlinks, bookmarks (outline navigation), annotations and commenting, stamps, PDF layer controls, editing PDF text and images, and page-by-page view
Partial: form field display, button display
No: form filling/submission, embedded scripts, digital signatures, presentation transitions, embedded media, embedded attachments
For workflows that need form-filling, e-signatures, or script execution, those are handled outside of proofing — Hive's own approval and sign-off flows cover the equivalent review-and-approve use cases.
Breakdown of interactive PDF features and their level of support in Hive
Feature | What it does | Supported | Notes |
Form fields (text, checkboxes, radios, dropdowns) | User-fillable inputs | Partial | Existing form widgets render and are visible in the proofing view, but reviewers cannot create, edit, or save responses to form fields |
Buttons (submit, reset, scripted) | Clickable actions | Partial | Buttons render as part of the document, but submit and script-driven actions are not executed |
Hyperlinks (internal and external) | Click to navigate to a page or URL | Yes | Internal page jumps and external URL links work as expected |
Bookmarks / TOC (outlines) | Clickable document navigation tree | Yes | Open the page sidebar and choose the Outline tab to see the PDF's bookmarks. Click one to go to its page. PDFs without bookmarks show No outline available. |
Multimedia (video/audio/3D embedded in PDF) | Play media inside the PDF | No | Media embedded inside a PDF will not play. Hive proofing does support standalone video files as a separate proofing type |
JavaScript (calculations, validation, conditional logic) | Scripted form behavior | No | Scripts embedded in the PDF are not executed |
Digital signatures | Cryptographic signing and verification | No | PDF-native signatures are not supported. Hive offers its own approval and sign-off workflow for documents |
Stamps (Approved, Draft, etc.) | Apply predefined or custom stamps | Yes | Use the stamp tool in the PDF viewer toolbar to place a predefined stamp, or choose New custom stamp to create your own (see Create a custom stamp). Custom stamps created before October 2026 are still available. A stamp is a visual annotation; it does not approve the proof or replace an approval decision. |
Layers (Optional Content Groups) | Toggle visibility of content groups | Yes | For PDFs that contain layers, open the Layers tab in the viewer’s sidebar to show or hide them. Changing layer visibility does not change the stored source PDF. |
Page transitions / animations | Animated page changes | No | Animated page transitions built into a PDF don't play. To see one page at a time, use Page by page view (see View one page at a time below). |
File attachments (files embedded inside a PDF) | Download embedded files | No | There is no UI for listing or extracting attachments |
Annotations (comments, highlights, drawings, markups) | Markup and comment on the document | Yes | Fully supported and is the core of Hive proofing — includes threaded replies, mentions, team approvals, and export of the marked-up document |
Text and image editing | Change text and images on the page | Yes | Choose Edit in the tool menu. See Edit text and images in a PDF proof below. |
Edit text and images in a PDF proof
You can fix small mistakes in a PDF proof right in Hive, on the web or in Hive Desktop. Click the tool menu next to the page numbers and choose Edit. Then click any text to change it, or add a text box, an image, or a whiteout.
Edits are not saved until you click Save as new version in the PDF changes bar at the bottom of the page. Hive adds the edited PDF as a new version of the proof and copies the comments to it. Earlier versions stay. To undo a step or start over, click View changes.
You can't edit when the proof is locked, when you compare versions, or when you can only view the project.
Some things can't be edited:
rotated pages
scanned PDFs, because the text is part of a picture
text that mixes fonts. Hive says This text can’t be edited in place. Undo that edit to continue.
View one page at a time
In the View tools, change Continuous scroll to Page by page. Use the page arrows, or scroll past the end of a page, to go to the next one. Each proof opens in Continuous scroll again the next time.
For a walkthrough of annotations, stamps, version comparison, and approval decisions, see Simple, integrated Proofing & Approvals.