How can I make my schedule PDF editable in Adobe Acrobat?

It’s not so much that you need a special kind of PDF to create modifiable schedules as it is that you need a specialized toolkit and at least a rudimentary training program to be able to execute this across your entire client base.

• You need a dedicated PDF editor — Adobe Acrobat Pro is the one I’ll offer here, but there may be others that may or may not work for you. A free Adobe Reader falls far short of the requirements you’re laying out here.
• Editing PDFs is not easy, especially for documents where you want users to edit part of the document. It’s an all or nothing toggle switch in the software, so you’ll likely have to prepare some training regimen to ensure the right parts are edited and the wrong ones are not.
• Bonus complication — Is there supposed to be a feedback loop for schedule edits in your workflow? Engineering workflows to accommodate that with adequate protections for consistency and updating across entire organizations will be difficult and fraught with peril. Adobe’s server-based solutions can make that easier, but dramatically bring up the price point for you/your clients to implement a PDF solution that works with your tools.

I guess the question I’m asking, as a fan of using PDF files for many varied purposes, is: Is this trip really necessary? I would think a distributed product like spreadsheet/database output would serve you better than trying to kludge a PDF based solution together.

I don’t mean to pour cold water all over your plans, but I think incorporating editable PDF files into a workflow where you can’t ensure your clients have the right tools, much less the right training to use them properly (while not being able to use them subversively), is fraught with peril.

Wish I had better news for you,

Randy