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M
MirekAP
Participant
July 14, 2017
Answered

Saving Filled Forms

  • July 14, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 473 views

I have a fillable form that I have sent to a client, who filled it out and signed it. I am a Mac user, and when I preview the document by using the spacebar, it appears blank. When I open it in Acrobat Reader Pro, which is up-to-date, the text shows up but I can still edit it. Is there a way to (easily) save the filled PDF so that the information is locked?

I tried, for example, going to the print menu and having it make a new PDF that way, but Acrobat won't let me.

Would be grateful for any solutions!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Karl Heinz Kremer

DO NOT OPEN PDF FILES IN APPLE'S PREVIEW APP!!! I hope this was clear enough Preview is the killer of PDF files (see here for more information about what happens with forms: Preview.app - Killer of PDF Files - KHKonsulting LLC )

If you only have Adobe Reader, then unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to make the file read-only. If you have Adobe Acrobat, you can flatten the document (which will remove all interactive features and turn them into static PDF content), or you can set the form fields to read-only, which would prevent somebody from modifying them.

Given my warning from above about Preview, you could use Preview to flatten the document by opening it in Preview and then "printing" to a PDF. This will potentially destroy "stuff" in the PDF file, so you may have to analyze the resulting file and see if you can live with the quality of that resulting PDF file. 

1 reply

Karl Heinz Kremer
Community Expert
Karl Heinz KremerCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
July 14, 2017

DO NOT OPEN PDF FILES IN APPLE'S PREVIEW APP!!! I hope this was clear enough Preview is the killer of PDF files (see here for more information about what happens with forms: Preview.app - Killer of PDF Files - KHKonsulting LLC )

If you only have Adobe Reader, then unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to make the file read-only. If you have Adobe Acrobat, you can flatten the document (which will remove all interactive features and turn them into static PDF content), or you can set the form fields to read-only, which would prevent somebody from modifying them.

Given my warning from above about Preview, you could use Preview to flatten the document by opening it in Preview and then "printing" to a PDF. This will potentially destroy "stuff" in the PDF file, so you may have to analyze the resulting file and see if you can live with the quality of that resulting PDF file. 

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