Error 14: Expected a dict object

Report · Dec 20, 2019

Hi,

I've been editing a PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC (Windows 10) by adding comments and markup. When I finished and went to save it, I received an error message: "The document could not be saved. There was a problem reading this document (14)." Ctrl+i gives the detail "Expected a dict object."

I've tried searching online for a solution, but it seems they all involve finding another way to open or copy the document; the focus is on making it viewable, not savable. That's not the problem I'm having. I need to know how to save this file without closing it and losing all the comments and markup I've spent hours adding. Can anyone help?

Thank you!

Report · Dec 23, 2019

Checking back in with an update. I was able to save it by exporting the comments, which converted it to an FDF file. If you know of another solution based on the info I provided, it could still be helpful, but for now the problem is solved. Thank you for your help!

View solution in original post

Report · Dec 21, 2019

Hi Hannahs,

We are sorry for the trouble you are experiencing. As described above, you are getting the Error 14: Expected a dict object.

This error occurs when there is something internally wrong with the PDF. We need some more information to better understand the situation:

Have you created the PDF or have you got the PDF from a different user?
Was this PDF created with Acrobat DC or a 3rd Party tool? Open the PDF > Right Click > Document Properties > Description > check the PDF producer
Has the PDF been through a lot of modifications? Acrobat can sometimes mess up the PDF Internally if a lot of modifications have been made.

Please try to recreate the PDF by doing 'Save As' with a different file name and run the optimizer on the file.

You may also refer to a similar discussion here (https://answers.acrobatusers.com/Error-Expected-Dict-Object-q55452.aspx)

Let us know how it goes

Regards

Amal

Report · Dec 23, 2019

Hi Amal,

Thank you for your response. The PDF was sent to me by its author, who says she created it by "saving a Word document as a PDF" and didn't make a lot of changes or insert pages. However, she also stated that she uses Ubuntu and LibreOffice, not Word, and Evince rather than Adobe. Document Properties shows the application as PDFescape Online and the PDF producer as RAD PDF.

I did try to "Save As" with a different filename before I posted here, and it gave me the same result. If I try to optimize the PDF as you recommended, will it delete all the comments and markup?

Report · Dec 23, 2019

Checking back in with an update. I was able to save it by exporting the comments, which converted it to an FDF file. If you know of another solution based on the info I provided, it could still be helpful, but for now the problem is solved. Thank you for your help!

Report · Dec 23, 2019

Hi Hannahs

We are glad to hear that the issue got fixed.

Fell free to contact us for any further assistance required in the future.

Regards

Amal

Report · Sep 03, 2020

I am having the same issue 'expected a dict object.' However I do not know how to remove the warning in order to save the document with a different file name.

Please advise

Report · Apr 12, 2021

Same issue here - how to remove Expect a dict object so I can try to save the file. Please help as I don't want to lose all my comments!

Report · Aug 24, 2021

I'm having the same issue. I manage the bylaws for a large LLC; it is presently over 550 pages, and edited almost weekly. The 16 mb file has suddenly refused to save, and I've had no luck finding any corruption. For a while (weeks) if I just closed the file, I would find that it did save anyway. Now when I try to save, I get "Do you want to save changes before closing, Yes/No"; Yes results in a return to Error 14 -- No closes the file, with all updates lost! Saving with a different filename does not work. I'm now desperate to find a solution, as company history is at stake and updates are piling up!

Report · Aug 25, 2021

Hi there,

We are sorry to hear that. Have you tried the suggestions in the correct answer marked, like exporting the data/comments and converting it as FDF file?

Let us know how it goes

Regards

Amal

Report · Aug 25, 2021

This file has no data or comments to export. It is all text, and must be able to be uploaded to the web.

Report · Aug 26, 2021

Hi there,

We are sorry to hear that. There is a huge possibility that the PDF file is corrupt. Plesae check the correct answer marked in the similar discssion https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-sdk/expected-a-dict-object-and-this-document-enabled-extended... and see if that helps.

Regards

Amal

Report · Aug 26, 2021

Of course the file is corrupt! That's what I'm trying to overcome. I have attempted Karl's fix by using HEX Editor NEO and reverting the file to the previous %%EOF and saving the result with a new filename.The file has a file date shown on its first page, and this file was as of the previous day. But the file was still corrupted and could not be resaved. So I tried another iteration, reverting to the next previous %%EOF. Still corrupted and not re-saveable. I did that three more times, taking the file back to a full month previous. It seems futile to continue. Do you agree, or should I persist? As I said, despite saying it could not be resaved, the file did save when closed for a number of times; I don't know how many. But a month ago, when I believed the issue was that 15 MB was the max file size allowed, I used SmallPDF.com to produce a 4 MB version of the file. I think I should just accept my losses and continue using that file and re-do all updates since then. Ugh.
That begs the question, why doesn't Adobe have a means of reducing file size more significantly than the modest Save as Other...Reduced Size PDF...? The SmallPDF app costs $12/month just to overcome Acrobat's file bloat.

Report · Apr 25, 2023

I found a sort-of workaround which involves identifying the page(s) that contain the error and removing them:

1. Use the extract pages tool to create individual files from each page. This could take a while if your document is long, and I'd advise making a separate folder to save them to.

2. You'll get the same error message each time Acrobat encounters a page with the error. Click OK to skip it and continue with the others. The number of times it appears will tell you the number of corrupt pages.

3. The numbers at the end of the new file names will show you which pages haven't been extracted (because they were corrupt). You can recombine the non-corrupt pages into a single new file with the 'combine files' tool.

This is obviously not great if you need the bad pages left in, but I've read elsewhere that you can extract and save them separately as TIFF files and then re-insert them into your new PDF.

Report · Apr 23, 2025

Had same problem (Windows 11), document that had previously saved no problem suddenly won't save with error 14 after adding some comments to it. None of the suggested solutions worked. However, saving to Word recovered a file with all of my unsaved comments. Reckon in future I will just automatically open pdfs in Word to avoid wasting time on bug 14.

Report · Apr 23, 2025

Hi joseph_5559,

Thank you for reaching out.

If the issue still occurs with the particular file, it could be a file-specific issue. The error appears when the file is potentially corrupted or there is an issue with how it was created initially. We would need the file in which the issue occurs to investigate this behavior further. Please share the file or sample file so we can check it on our end. Also, share the Acrobat and OS version numbers.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

Report · Apr 25, 2025

Edition Windows 11 Education; Version 23H2; Installed on ‎2023-‎04-‎04; OS build 22631.5189
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22700.1077.0

Are you asking me to go to Acrobat: Choose Help > About Adobe Acrobat Pro, click through the version information and manually type the information into this message (because it won't let me copy/paste the info)?

I will be happy to share the corrupted file with you. Please explain to me how I can send you a corrupted file whose corruption makes it unsavable. I can send you a copy of the file that was saved before I added the corrupting comments but, of course, by virtue of having been successfully saved, it's presumably not corrupted.

Report · May 05, 2025

Hello Joseph!

I hope you're doing well, and we apologize for the delayed response and the trouble.

You can take a screenshot of the Acrobat version details and share it with us here as an attachment. Please ensure you have the latest version of Acrobat installed on the machine: 25.001.20474 (Win) | 25.001.20476 (Mac), Apr 28, 2025. Check for any pending updates from the Menu > help > check for updates, install the updates, restart the app and the machine, and try again

You can add the PDF file here as an attachment, or upload to Acrobat Online, generate a share link, and add it here. Please collect the logs from the machine using the log collector tool. First, download the tool and run it, ensuring all log options are selected. Then, reproduce the issue and close the log collector tool. It will generate the logs, which you can then share with us for further investigation.

Thanks for your time and cooperation.

Anand Sri.