How to disable "Lock Document After Signing" so that signers can't lock PDF

[seanmcgu]

Hello. How can I disable the "Lock Document After Signing" option so that signers can't lock a PDF when signing?

Thank you.

[try67 · Accepted solution]

Not possible. The user has a right to lock the document after they sign it, to make sure its not edited in a way they didn't agree to.

[seanmcgu]

That's too bad, as we have many documents where multiple people need to sign and there's always one person who thinks they're helping by checking that box and then stop the signing process dead in it's tracks. (We have a high turnover rate in the field and training each one - who may only last a couple of weeks - has been very problematic. Nothing should get locked until it comes back to me, where I then lock and post it on our intranet.)

Thank you.

[try67]

In that case create Digital Signature fields and set them up not to lock

the other fields in the file. I don't believe the user can override that...

[seanmcgu]

I do use the digital signature field but in the Properties for it, I can't find an option to "not lock other fields". Am I looking in the wrong place? Where/how can I set this up? It sounds like that's exactly what I'm looking for.

Thank you.

[George_Johnson]

That option is normally only available if there is not another unsigned digital signature field in the document. If you're able to preconfigure each document that will be signed, it would be possible to add a signature field that only you can sign and any other user won't be able to lock the document.

[seanmcgu]

Thanks, George. Yes, I'm able to pre-configure each document that will be signed, as I'm the one creating and routing them. Could you point me to instructions on how to "add a signature field that only I can sign and any other user won't be able to lock the document"?

Thank you.

[margueritek]

Seed value: /LockDocument false

but I don't remember in which version of Acrobat this first appeared.

[Albert218789263ovz]

What I did was to save the pdf as MS Word, then back to pdf. The fields that still needed to be signed were active again. The next thing to remember is to never use this product again.