Form restrictions

[scottlin63]

I didn't see a forum for Adobe Acrobat Pro DC so I guess I'll ask here.  Is there a way to only allow a form to be printed after it has been filled out correctly?  Thanks

[Bernd Alheit]

Not possible.

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

Another thing to consider: AcroForms (as opposed to XFA forms in the PDF file format) don't print the content of the form fields, only the visible parts of the form (instructions, labels, empty form fields).

This is a limitation of AcroForms.

[Bernd Alheit]

Why did you post this wrong information?

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

Because when a user fills in a form, then attempts to print it (File / Print), it's a gamble whether or not the form field data will print. Especially problematic when working with accessible forms with the FORM tag.

[Test Screen Name]

I have never heard of accessibility settings having any effect on printing. Nor have I ever heard of Adobe software failing to print form contents - except where the form is wrongly made or corrupted e.g. by Preview.

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

It doesn't appear that you would see this in accessible PDFs: that's all we do at my firm, accessible PDFs, office documents, and forms. The inconsistent embedding of the form field content into a printed document (or print-to-file) is baffling.

But that doesn't mean it isn't there.

It's also inconsistent: the variables we see regularly are

1. No field data is printed.
2. Data in some of the fields is printed.
3. Some of the data in some of the fields is printed.
4. And all data in all fields is printed (but this is the least-likely outcome).

And the outcome varies from user to user, file to file...pure randomness.

[try67]

No, but you can force the printed copy to not contain any of the values entered into the fields (although there are several ways around that, too), using a script, like this (paid-for) tool I've developed: http://try67.blogspot.com/2011/12/acrobat-validate-fields-before-printing.html

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

"Forcing" the printed copy to contain the data doesn't work in these instances. You either get part of the data or none of the data, rarely all of the data. Rarely. There's a severe bug in this process somewhere!