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D
DGA Director
Participant
September 23, 2018
Answered

No longer able to edit a .pdf using Acrobat Pro DC??

  • September 23, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 2213 views

I have a simple IRS W9 form that I used to be able to add my signature as a graphic to when using Acrobat Pro DC.  Suddenly I'm given the window, "This form cannot be edited in Adobe Acrobat. Please use Adobe LiveCycle Designer to edit this form."  I have a MacBook Pro, for what it's worth.  Also paying over $50/mo for CC, so please don't keep taking and downgrading my apps while raising the price (bye, bye, Muse...).  Very annoying.

Why the change?  This used to be possible.  And all the editing tools are still available in Acrobat Pro DC.  Also, it appears that support for LiveCycle Designer (whatever that might be) was discontinued this past March, 2018.

Yes - my workaround is I simply printed the form, signed it and then saved it as a new .pdf using Adobe Scan on my iPhone.  But I shouldn't have to take the extra steps.

Thoughts?  Thanks in advance.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Dov Isaacs

Yes, in fact, the IRS switched to using LiveCycle Designer for most of its forms although those forms are static and really didn't require the dynamic features of XFA forms as opposed to the native Acroforms capability of PDF. Hopefully the IRS will switch back to Acroforms for the next (shudder) season of tax forms.

The response from Gilad D (try67 above, that the software for editing the XFA forms, LiveCycle Designer, was never available on MacOS is indeed true so in that respect, no, there has not been a downgrade in your applications in this respect.

          - Dov

2 replies

S
StorySeen
Participant
January 7, 2020

Just catching up to this --- the 1099 for 2018 was editable.
For 2019 it is not.

Does Adobe have some kind of workaround? (Aside from me filling in 5 pages of the same information by hand!)

thanks

 

S
StorySeen
Participant
January 7, 2020

PS Using Windows

try67
Community Expert
try67Community Expert
Community Expert
September 23, 2018

It was never possible to edit LCD forms on a Mac, since the software required to do it was/is only available for Windows, so there's no downgrade there. You can only fill in such forms and sign them, if the form's author added a signature field.

If they didn't, there's nothing you can do about it.

D
DGA DirectorAuthor
Participant
September 23, 2018

So you're saying the IRS apparently used LCD to create that form?  That wasn't the case previously.  Have other W9s for other entities that I easily added a signature (graphic) to.  Is there a way to tell definitively if a form was created in LCD or APDC?  And thank you!

Dov Isaacs
Dov IsaacsCorrect answer
Legend
September 23, 2018

Yes, in fact, the IRS switched to using LiveCycle Designer for most of its forms although those forms are static and really didn't require the dynamic features of XFA forms as opposed to the native Acroforms capability of PDF. Hopefully the IRS will switch back to Acroforms for the next (shudder) season of tax forms.

The response from Gilad D (try67 above, that the software for editing the XFA forms, LiveCycle Designer, was never available on MacOS is indeed true so in that respect, no, there has not been a downgrade in your applications in this respect.

          - Dov

- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)
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