Message Received to re-save file as a "true PDF" file

I'm having a similar problem.  I'm trying to upload a file into the SEC's EDGAR filer system.  It is the Form ID and attachments, which give you access and other codes which, in turn, allows you to make your filing.  The instructions to Form ID say that you cannot have any "active content" in the pdf being uploaded.  I'm working with Adobe Acrobat Pro XI on a MacBook Pro with retina display (late 2013) and with Sierra 10.12.09 as my operating system.  The weird thing is that I have made these filings before with fill-in forms that the SEC provides and that I scanned along with attachments on a ScanSnap scanner.  The difference this time is that I received the fill-in form (originally made available from the SEC) from another person.  That other person scanned the form with attachments that were originally Word docs.  I have gone so far as to re-enter the data in the fill-in form made available by the SEC and then insert the scanned pdf attachments as pages to the overall file.  Nothing seems to work.  I get error messages saying: 

ERR:  INVALID_PDF_TAG

MSG:  In form_id-poasignnotaryopt.pdf: found an invalid PDF tag (PDF Form Data

      FOUND).

LOC:  LINE NUMBER: 0

To me, that suggests that the problem is with the fill-in form.  Karl, do you or Test Screen Name have any ideas? 

Most of them.  Now I'm trying the "Save As Optimized" file to see if that takes care of issues such as "embedding" and "multiple layer flattening."

Ok, that's a lot of rules. How many of these have you checked? Probably the easiest one to check is the file size.

Here's the parameters.  Not trying to be overly verbose but I've tried changing several parameters, i.e. renaming, re-scanning at 300 dpi, and more, to no avail.  Does anything else jump out as something else I should try?  Thank you.

PDF Requirements

The PDF file must satisfy the below.

       -be a valid PDF format. It is NOT sufficient that the file simply be named using a PDF extension (.pdf), because that does       not

     by itself create a valid PDF file.

-be version 1.3 or newer.

-have an overall size under 5MB. While no page limit exists, each PDF file cannot exceed 5 MB.

-NOT contain security settings (e.g., self-sign security, user passwords, and/or permissions) that would prevent the USPTO from opening, viewing, or printing the file. All security settings must be deactivated (e.g., encryption, master passwords, and/or permissions) prior to upload. 

-NOT contain any embedded scripts and/or executables, including sound or movie (multimedia) objects, prior to upload.

-NOT contain any multimedia (e.g., sound, video, animations, slideshows); 3-dimensional models; or multi-page objects (e.g., Excel spreadsheets), prior to upload. While the overall PDF file would upload, the other internal object will be "stripped" out of the file, and will not be viewable.

-be named properly. The file name can consist of any upper or lower case letters or numbers, but must end in .pdf. It can also include the following: _ , -, and . [excluding the commas shown here]. No spaces are allowed in the actual PDF file name, but spaces are permitted in the file path. The name can be up to 256 characters long, including the .pdf portion; however, you are encouraged to use the shortest name possible. [NOTE: Similarly, for JPG files, while the name can be up to 256 characters, including the .jpg portion, you should use the shortest name possible, as that helps ensure a successful upload].

-use one of the following formats for any images within the PDF file: GIF, BMP, TIFF, JPG and/or PNG. No other image formats are supported. However, the image may include black-and-white, color, and/or grayscale.

-use one of the following fonts, to ensure proper upload:

Courier (Regular, Bold, Italic, or Bold Italic)
Times (Roman, Bold, Italic, or Bold Italic)
Helvetica (Regular, Bold, Italic, or Bold Italic)
Symbol
Zapf Dingbats

-NOTE: Fonts not listed above must be embedded within the PDF document, and the fonts listed above should be embedded. In addition, all fonts should be set to "subset."

-be free of worms, viruses or other malicious content. Files with malicious content will be deleted.

-be "single layer." Documents with multiple layers must be flattened prior to submission, to convert all overlapping areas in a stack of transparent objects into a collection of opaque objects. Any invisible layers will be lost when processed.

-NOT contain any active hypertext links, or any internal/external links. While you may textually reference a URL as a disabled link, it cannot be presented as an actual hyperlink.

-be saved at 300 DPI.

-be no larger than 14 x 14 inches. If any page within the entire PDF file exceeds this size limitation, the entire PDF file will be blocked from upload.

Which site are you uploading to? Do they have a list of requirements for acceptable PDF files? I am aware of a number of US government web sites that accept PDF files, but they usually also specify exactly what type of files they are willing to accept. For example, you may have to embed all fonts, or limit the file name to certain characters, avoid security settings, ...

You may want to make sure that your document complies with all requirements.

Correct - I need to Upload a file.  Yes, I can open it in all of my pdf programs (reader, DC, etc.).  I made it by scanning at 300 dpi and the file is comprised of text (MS Word) and pages from other documents (books, etc.).

Do you mean that you need to UPLOAD the file?

Are you able to open this file in Acrobat?

How did you make it?