Interactive PDF Acrobat Reader error: You cannot save a completed copy of this form on your computer

[logozuu]

Hi guys

I have created an interactive form in Adobe InDesign 2023. The form opens to full screen and is designed to get the viewer to enter details in four steps/pages.

However, when the document opens in Acrobat Reader the error listed in the Subject appears on the screen. This happens when the PDF is opened on three different laptop computers running Adobe Reader. They can fill out the form to print it but cannot save the details. Every version of Reader is above 9.

I have checked solutions to the problem online but none of them seem to fix the issue.
Don't recall this happening when I generated interactive PDFs through InDesign 2021. Pretty sure I could fill out the form within any Acrobat reader.

The only other common thread that I can think of is that each client has a pretty old mac laptop running Catalina. Not sure if that is affecting the functionality in the Adobe Reader with newly created InDesign documents.

I have attached the Document Properties from the PDF within the reader of one of the Laptops.

One final thing: the PDF saves the data just fine on the latest version of Adobe Reader on my computer; the same machine that generated the Interactive PDF.

Let me know your thoughts.

regards
Bren

[try67 · Accepted solution]

They have to also use the latest version of Reader. Reader 9 is ancient, and not compatible with any current OS.

They need to install Reader DC.

[logozuu]

Thanks try67. I found one suggestion that mentioned I had to at least have Adobe Acrobat 8 for the form to work but I suspect that is now old news. Unfortunately, all of the computer operating systems are too old to upgrade the Reader. The file opens in Preview but without the tooltips to inform the user how to fill out the field.

[try67]

Be aware that Preview is a terrible PDF viewer. It corrupts PDF form fields just by opening the file!

[logozuu]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Got me out of a sticky situation at my last website workshop though, but yes, Preview is the last resort.

[Test Screen Name]

"Above 9" is really not saying much. Version 9 was released 15 years ago! A lot has changed. But version 9 can't run on Catalina either. Check out the specific versions.

[steve_k._7203]

Looks like they patched the "solution" highlighted for the thread.

I've found two other solutions. For the first one, using Chrome, navigate to url chrome://flags and enable PDF XFA support. Then open the PDF via the Chrome browser.

If the solution above doesn't work for you, the second solution it is an convoluted one that took me hours to figure out. I will tell you what worked for me on Mac.

If you don't have a printer connected to your computer, add a fake printer (aka one with dummy values like an IP address of 0.0.0.0). Not sure how to do on Windows, but for Mac, you go to Settings > Printers & Scanners > Add Printer, Scanner, or Fax... I'm sure there are tutorials on YouTube for both if needed.

Then on Adobe Acrobat, print the document to that printer. Open Terminal (Mac) or Command Prompt (Windows). Now this part if where it gets a little complicated. Enter the following command to see what print jobs have been issued:

sudo ls -lh /var/spool/cups/

You will likely be prompted for you password. After you type your password and press enter, you will see something like :

user@KW2CRGQYPL ~ % sudo ls -lh /var/spool/cups/

Password:
total 21904
-rw-------  1 root  _lp   2.1K Oct 20 21:57 c00001
-rw-------  1 root  _lp   2.4K Oct 20 22:58 c00002
drwxrwx---  9 root  _lp   288B Oct 20 23:15 cache
-rw-r-----  1 root  _lp   2.1M Oct 20 21:54 d00001-001
-rw-r-----  1 root  _lp   2.1M Oct 20 22:58 d00002-001

What you want to look for is the file that corresponds with the time that you pressed print that begins with the letter 'd.' To copy that file as a normal pdf to your desktop, enter the command:

sudo cp /var/spool/cups/d00001-001 ~/Desktop/file.pdf

Keep in mind to change the "d00001-001" value in the command above to the one that you actually want.

file.pdf should be in your Desktop folder.