Only form field of fillable PDF will print

[default3kt7jqph9yoq]

I have completed a fillable PDF and tried to print it, but only the form fields will print. The "document and stamps" box is selected, and I have not had issues printing these PDF's before, until today. Is this an Adobe issue or an issue with my printer?

Shawn.

[try67]

It might be that the contents of the file are located on a non-printing layer.

You can verify if that's the case by looking under the Layers panel on the left-hand side of Acrobat.

[default3kt7jqph9yoq]

There is no layers panel.  Below is a screen cap. Im using Adobe Pro XI.

[try67]

"left-hand panel"

[try67]

Anyway, since the file is secured there's probably not much you can do about it. You can try printing it to the Adobe PDF printer when you're done, and maybe that will generate a file that contains all the data.

[Bernd Alheit]

Printing to Adobe PDF is not possible when the document is password protected.

[try67]

Ah yes, that's true...

[default3kt7jqph9yoq]

Sorry. My bad. There are no active layers, but I do have the option to apply print overrides, or apply layer overrides.

Also, I did print to PDF, but it still only prints the form fields, which makes no sense at all.... It's also doing the same with my cell phone bill (which has may graphical "fields". Honestly, I have no idea why some things print normally and others are printing in this manner...

[Bernd Alheit]

Can you share a sample file?

[default3kt7jqph9yoq]

Sure. See attached. I get the same issues with these.

[Bernd Alheit]

I can print both documents without any issues. 

[default3kt7jqph9yoq]

Right. Then that answers my original question - the problem is with my printer. Still... it really makes no sense...

[Bernd Alheit]

Both files doesn't have fillable form fields. The first file is a scan of a document.

[steve_k._7203]

I had the exact same problem and found two solutions to this. On 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, I did find a another solution (although 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!