Fillable Fields Blank When Received in Email

[CalebJ055]

Hello All! Recently I've encountered an odd bug with Acrobat Pro DC. When I receive a PDF with fillable fields through email, all fields appear blank, despite the original file being sent with data. I've surfed around the forums trying all solutions that others seem to have luck with, but to no avail. Many users attribute this issue to Apple Preview or another non-adobe program being used to fill out the original form, but I'm certain that the user sending me the PDF is not using Apple preview. Some of the solutions I've tried so far:

1. Click in blank field -> Space -> Backspace
2. Export to text file and import back into blank pdf
3. Turn off browser previewing
4. Repair Installation
5. Checked for Adobe updates
6. Preferences ->Page Display ->Page Content ->Use Overprint Preview ->Always On

Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated!

[try67]

Even if you're certain, ask them for a (full-window) screenshot of the app they're using. Many times people swear they use one application but it turns out they're using another...

[CalebJ055]

Got it, thank for the info! I checked the file properties, and it looks like the application they used to create it was Adobe LiveCycle Designer ES 9.0. I'm running Acrobat Pro DC Ver. 2022.001.20169, are there any known compatibility issues? I'll reach out to the user in the mean time to see if they can provide a full-window screenshot.

[try67 · Accepted solution]

LCD forms are completely different from regular Acrobat forms, even though they are both PDF files.

Almost no application beside Adobe's can process such files correctly.

[CalebJ055]

That may be where the issue lies then! I thought they may have been compatible due to both being developed by Adobe, but it looks like I stand corrected. For all data to populate correctly, does it always have to be Acrobat -> Acrobat?

[try67]

Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader, yes.

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

How are they submitting the PDF form? Via a button that generates the email?

One workaround:

Have the user save the PDF to their computer (File / Save As), and then attach the file to an email.

[CalebJ055]

It's a form I requested from a state government agency, so I got an email from them with a link to their site, where it looks like they sent the form through Zix to my account on their site. It's a bit of an odd system, as I never actually received the form to my email client, I had to download the form through my browser. Sorry if that's confusing, I'm a bit new to this 😞

[Bernd Alheit]

What does you get when you export the form data?

[CalebJ055]

In Accessible .txt format, it has all the original form template data, with the string (text) underneath. In Plain .txt format, it has all the same template data, just with nothing underneath. Checkboxes in both are marked 'unchecked'. Rich Text format is just the original form, blank. I would try to explain the XML export if I understood what it meant, but I unfortunately do not 😞

[try67]

The only data format that can be used for LCD forms is XML, so something is off there.

[CalebJ055]

I reached out to the sender to see what software was used in the creation/sending of the form, so hopefully I'll have more info soon. Thank you all for the help thus far, it's greatly appreciated 🙂