Highlighting certified/signed/verified documents

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
January 17, 2024
1 reply
2250 views

How do I highlight of bookmark certified/signed/verified pdfs (i.e., government public documents). I am not changing anything. I often need to review long regulatory documents downloaded from the government and for some reason I am no longer able to highlight or add notes. Do I have to print it to make notations for my own purposes? If I convert it to Word, I lose the benefits of bookmarking. The toolbar no longer has any highlighting options.

This topic has been closed for replies.

try67

Community Expert

Adding bookmarks to a signed file is editing its internal structure (even though it doesn't seem that way), so it's not allowed no matter what. Adding comments, filling in form fields and signing it again are possible, but only if the first person who signed the document did not lock it. If they did, you won't be able to do those things, either.

AGGorskiAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thanks. It seems that is the end result. It makes no sense that a reader cannot track thier notes/thoughts - not even by highlighting. Why not have the software automatically note that post-verification highlighting or notes are not part of the original document. I know that as a work around I can export to Word or even MS print to PDF (then recognize text) but if I need another document program to do simple notetaking and highlighting, why use Adobe?

try67

Community Expert

> Why not have the software automatically note that post-verification highlighting or notes are not part of the original document.

It does do that, actually, but only if those things are allowed in the first place. If the author decided to lock the document, then Adobe's software will respect (and enforce) their wishes. Your issue is really with them, not with the application.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded