Bad Parameter when Saving form after entering information

[jeanniec88238072]

I have downloaded Form FDA 3514 from FDA website and have entered all of the information.  Normally after doing this, I can save and then distribute document for review.  However in this case when I am unable to save and get a message that says "The document could not be saved. Bad Parameter." I have seen comments that say to reinstall Adobe or update however, if I do that I will have to close my file and lose all the work I have put after entering a signficant amount of information. Please advise if there is another way to save what I have done so I can save to my computer or share it.  Thank you. 

[Amal.]

Hi @jeanniec88238072 

Hope you are doing well and thanks for reaching out.

The “Bad Parameter” error occurs when Acrobat finds some problem with the underlying structure of the tags in the PDF file. Try the following solutions.

Solution 1: Combine the PDF with another PDF

1. Launch Acrobat, and then choose File > Create > Combine Files into a Single PDF.
2. Click the Add Files menu and choose Add Files.
3. Browse and select the PDF file that shows the "Bad Parameter" error, and then click Open.
4. Click the Add Files menu and choose Add Files.
5. Browse and select another PDF file, preferably a one-page, blank PDF file, and then click Open.
6. Click Combine or Combine Files. The selected files are combined into a single PDF, and the file (Binder1.pdf) is opened in Acrobat.
7. Save the file. Select all the pages you added to the PDF using the Combine Files operation (the pages of another PDF you selected while combining files). Delete the selected pages:
8. Save the file again. To see if the error still occurs, try to delete a page from the PDF.

Solution 2: Export the PDF as PostScript file and then convert it into a PDF using Distiller

This solution works well for a PDF without interactive elements, such as multimedia or form fields.

Don't try this solution if the PDF has interactive elements; those elements may not work correctly after exporting the PDF to PostScript and then converting it back to PDF.

1. Open the PDF in Acrobat.
2. Choose File > Export To > PostScript.
3. In the Save As PDF dialog box, enter a different name for the file, and then click Save.
4. In the folder where you saved the PostScript file, right-click the file and choose Open with Adobe Acrobat Distiller.

Acrobat Distiller converts the PostScript file into a PDF file. The PDF file is saved in the same folder.

5. To see if the error still occurs, open the PDF file in Acrobat and try to delete, insert, or add a page.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards

Amal

[Githuku254]

How about in Illustrator?

[Whisper67]

I followed all of those instructions and it's still giving me the same unhelpful, hard-pass error message. The one thing I want to do is password protect this and it won't let me. What a trash product.

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi Whisper67,

We are sorry to hear about your experience.

Could you please share more information about what happens when you try to password protect the PDF? Do you get the error message on a particular file or with others? 

Please confirm if that document is signed. If yes, that can be the reason for the error. 

If you get the “Bad Parameter” error, it occurs when Acrobat finds some problem with the underlying structure of the tags in the PDF file. Could you please share the PDF with us so we can check it?

Feel free to let us know if you need any help.

Thanks,

Meenakshi