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why can't people save changes to a PDF form?

I sent a fillable form. Respondents are able to fill in the form but when they attempt to save it they get a message that says they cannot save or they will lose all the changes. What settings would allow them to save their responses and then send them back to me?


Michelle Gremp


5 Answers

Voted Best Answer

Hi,

The form has not been Reader Enabled before it was sent out, which means that users with Reader cannot save the data that they input. See a summary here: http://assure.ly/etkFNU.

You can Reader Enable a form in Acrobat (via the Forms Menu in Acrobat 9 or earlier or if using Acrobat X from the Save as menu). Note that there are licensing restrictions.

Forms can also be Reader Enabled using the LC Reader Extensions server component, but this involves additional costs.

Niall


By Niall ODonovan   

Hi Michelle,

Are the users filling the form with Adobe Reader? If yes then the form must have Extended Adobe Reader Rights applied to it to allow filling and saving in Reader. If you have Acrobat 8 Pro, 9 Pro or Standard or later you apply the Rights under the Advanced tab in Acrobat ( the wording has changed between versions but the menu item says something like Extend Rights or Enable Rights....). In Acrobat X, you apply the Rights by going to Save-As and selecting it from there.

Hope this helps,

Dimitri
WindJack Solutions
www.pdfscripting.com
www.windjack.com


Dimitri Munkirs   

As noted, for users with Adobe Reader, special Extended Reader Rights need to be applied to the PDF.

Users with MacIntosh computers who use the 'Preview" application the data on a returned form does not properly display because 'Preview" does not save the PDF as expected by Adobe. There is an add-on script that can correct these forms.


George Kaiser   

Hi,

you can find the complete help here:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/acrobat/p...


JR Boulay   

Here is a quick tip that explains what you need in Acrobat X Std. or Pro. to allow respondents to save form field data in Adobe Reader.




Lori Kassuba   

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