PDF form calculations not working for some users

[aliasrick]

Hi All,

I'm new to creating fillable forms in Acrobat, but have been able to set one up (from a PDF created in InDesign, on a mac) and include some simple calculations e.g. Field + Field + Field = Total and all works fine when I open and test the resulting PDF in Acrobat...

But when I send it out to people, some of them are saying the calculations don't work.

If I look at it myself in Mac Preview they don't work...

Is this just the nature of PDF forms - for some users /PDF viewers they won't work?

Any tips / suggestions fro making mine more robust very gratefully received/

Thanks,

Rick

[Bernd Alheit · Accepted solution]

Not all PDF Viewers support this feature. The people should use Acrobat Reader.

[Amal.]

Hi Aliasrick,

Apologies for the trouble caused, as you are experiencing issues with the Interactive forms (PDF) with calculation, Are you/users using Adobe Reader? or any other application to view and fill the PDF forms.

As already suggested by "Bernd".

You need to have Adobe Reader (latest version) as non-Adobe PDF viewers may not support this feature.

Adding on to the suggestion:

To know more about the Adobe Reader you may follow the help articles in the links provided:
-Learn what all you can do with Acrobat Reader DC.

-Adobe Acrobat Reader Learn & Support 

Using Mac Preview will not help as you need Adobe Reader to view and fill the interactive forms.

Let us know if you need more help.

Regards,

Amal

[tricia5005]

Hi Amal,

I am also having the same problem. I created a PDF form in LiveCycle with a simple auto-calculation that works fine for me. However, I've sent it to others who open it in Acrobat, and the fields won't populate in the calculation portion. I can't find a solution. Any other thoughts on this?

Regards,

tricia5005

[Bernd Alheit]

Try the forum for Livecycle Designer.

[tricia5005]

I found an old post from 2011 in the LiveCycle forum, which stated users would see a yellow message telling them to enable JavaScript, but my form user did not get that message, and apparently there's no way the form creator can script it to make that happen.

However, I posted my question and am waiting for an answer.

[try67]

Are you 100% sure they're opening the file in Acrobat? If so, then it should work, but many people thing they use Acrobat (or Reader) when in fact they don't. Ask them for full-window screenshots of the file when they open it on their computer.

[tricia5005]

Hi try67 -

I had one user update the Acrobat Reader but that didn't help.

The auto-calc feature still works for me, but not for that person.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[try67]

Did you ask for a screenshot?

[tricia5005]

I did the first time, but not after they updated.

[tricia5005]

My users downloaded the latest acrobat reader and opened the form in that.

While searching online I found the following on https://helpx.adobe.com/sign/help/adobesign_calculated_fields.html

"Calculated fields are part of Advanced forms, and as such, are included only with the business and enterprise levels of service."

Makes me think the new acrobat readers are programmed to not work so well with forms made in earlier software so designers are forced to buy new software. I'm using LiveCycle 8. Although that doesn't explain why it works on my computer but not someone else's.

[try67]

No, it doesn't mean that. It means Adobe won't provide support for these issues, unless you pay for an expensive support plan.

[tricia5005]

It's my understanding support has been discontinued for this product. Just can't win here.

Thanks for your insight.

[try67]

Well, it was renamed to AEM (Adobe Experience Manager). Maybe they still provide support for that product... I can't say for sure.

[tricia5005]

Since I don't want my work on the cloud and don't want to be trapped into paying for an inevitably increasing subscription every year, I'll just have to find another way to produce the result I want on my form. Thank you.

[try67]

Then you'll need to create a new form, as no other application will edit this kind of file.