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Getting error messages when trying to reader enable documents.

Often, but not always, I get an error message when trying to reader-enable a fillable form created in Acrobat Pro v9. The error message is: This document could not be Reader Enabled. When I close the form and open it and try to reader-enable it again, the message says: This document already has enabled usage rights in Adobe Reader. To remove Reader Enablement, use File/Save a Copy. When I try to open the same form in Reader version XI, I get this message: This document enabled extended features in Adobe Reader. The document has been changed since it was created and use of extended features is no longer available. Please contact the author for the original version of this document.

I've been making forms and reader-enabling them for users for years, and this intermittent problem happens often but not always. I can usually get around it by making a copy of the document saving it with a new name in a different directory, closing it, opening it again and reader enabling it to still another area with another name. That's the only way I can stop getting these irritating messages. Copying over the old file never seems to work. I am not using signature fields in these docs. They are not protected. Help


Steve Wilson


4 Answers

Voted Best Answer

Maybe the Save Settings preference is interfering.
Go to menu Edit -> Preferences, choose "Documents" category and try to disable the "Automatically save document changes to temporary file every: xx minutes" option.

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By Almir R V Santos   

Whenever I have to reader-enable a PDF I save it adding a "_RE" suffix to its name, so I always have the editable form and the reader-enabled one. If the original file is called filename.pdf the reader-enabled is called filename_RE.pdf. I prefer to do this so it is always clear which one is the editable pdf.
I avoid saving the reader enabled version over the original one.


Almir R V Santos   

I've found that the enabled file should be saved with a different name, but that doean't explain why I get the error message when enabling a newly created form. Any answers?


Steve Wilson   

After hours of experimentation, I have come across a reliable fix for this problem. The issue can be fixed using Adobe LiveCycle Designer. Here is how to do it.

First open the problematic document in LiveCycle Designer. Then create a new blank form in LiveCycle Designer. Ensure that you set the correct 'Paper Type' in the Master Page tab of the Object palette to match that of the problematic file. Next go to the XML view of both forms. (You may need to enable this in the 'View' menu.)

Then copy absolutely all of the XML from the problematic form. Go to the new blank form and delete all of the XML completely. Then paste the copied XML into the new form. Save the form. This new form can now be reader enabled using Adobe Acrobat. The error messages will be gone.

This process can be repeated if further work is done on the form causing the error message to appear again in Adobe Acrobat Pro.


Craig Steeland   

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