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March 8, 2016
Answered

Windows users can save my fillable pdf form but mac users can't. How do I fix this?

  • March 8, 2016
  • 1 reply
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I created a fillable pdf that Windows users can fill in, save and return to me as an attachment. Mac users can't save the filled-in file. How do I enable that?

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Correct answer ivanm85795128

My mac guy found the solution in a macworld forum:

As it turns out, the fix is simple, but a little silly: After you’ve filled out a PDF form in Preview, choose Print from the File menu and then use the dialog box’s PDF option to save it to a PDF.

While it might seem like you could accomplish the same thing using the Export As command in the File menu, it doesn’t work in the same way—the Print option actually takes the data you’ve entered into the form and turns it into part of the PDF (if you prefer the technical term, it rasterizes it). On the downside, that means that you can’t edit that text any more, but it also means that your PC-using friends and colleagues will actually be able to see the form data, because it’s no longer editable text, but a picture of that text.

If you’re sending the filled-out PDF form to a fellow Mac user, you don’t have to go through this whole rigmarole. However, saving to a PDF does have an additional benefit in that case: Since the form data gets converted into an image, saving to PDF means the recipient cannot easily edit the data that you’ve already entered

1 reply

try67
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 8, 2016

What application (including exact version number) are the Mac users using?

On Tue, Mar 8, 2016 at 6:56 PM, ivanm85795128 <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

ivanm85795128AuthorCorrect answer
Participant
March 8, 2016

My mac guy found the solution in a macworld forum:

As it turns out, the fix is simple, but a little silly: After you’ve filled out a PDF form in Preview, choose Print from the File menu and then use the dialog box’s PDF option to save it to a PDF.

While it might seem like you could accomplish the same thing using the Export As command in the File menu, it doesn’t work in the same way—the Print option actually takes the data you’ve entered into the form and turns it into part of the PDF (if you prefer the technical term, it rasterizes it). On the downside, that means that you can’t edit that text any more, but it also means that your PC-using friends and colleagues will actually be able to see the form data, because it’s no longer editable text, but a picture of that text.

If you’re sending the filled-out PDF form to a fellow Mac user, you don’t have to go through this whole rigmarole. However, saving to a PDF does have an additional benefit in that case: Since the form data gets converted into an image, saving to PDF means the recipient cannot easily edit the data that you’ve already entered

try67
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 8, 2016

The real solution is not to use Preview, as it's a buggy application that

corrupts PDF forms.

Tell them to use Adobe Reader instead and this issue will be solved.

On Tue, Mar 8, 2016 at 7:46 PM, ivanm85795128 <forums_noreply@adobe.com>