"Invalid Annotation Object" error

[_Diane_Serafin_]

I'm using Windows XP Pro (SP3) on a 2.66 GHz, 2 GB RAM computer, and while working in an Adobe Acrobat 9 document, I had just saved the file (CTRL+S) and the document froze and I got a Windows error box that asked if I wanted to send an error report, which I did. When I opened Adobe again, it asked if I wanted to open the last file which didn't save correctly, which I did.

Then when I proceeded to work in the document and tried to highlight a sentence I was going to delete, I got an Adobe Acrobat popup box that said "Invalid Annotation Object. OK" but no matter how many times I clicked on "OK," the box kept popping up and wouldn't go away. I tried saving a copy of the document, but the same box was in it and wouldn't go away. I couldn't even work in the document to extract pages or anything else. Huge problem!

Does anyone know what can I do to resolve this problem? (This happened on a Saturday when Adobe phone support is not accessible.)

[_Appligent_Document_Solutions_]

You may want to try to run it thru Distiller.

[signature deleted]

[Allta Media]

If you're using Pro. you might try using the Document > Examine Document command to remove your Annotation and Comments.

[DePascalis]

Examine Document is now called "Remove Hidden Information" in Acrobat X, it's under the Protection tab.

http://www.pdfforlawyers.com/2010/12/removing-pdf-metadata-document-markups-using-acrobat.html

[_Steve8D_]

I had the same problem, but I believe it was because Adobe didn't close correctly the time before and the file lost some consistency. I had to delete the corrupted pages through the "Document" menu and start them over again. Hope that helps!

[Chantal38004374ixih]

How do I figure out which pages are corrupted?  I'd delete them if I could, but my document is almost 300 pages.  

[S. S]

Hi @Chantal38004374ixih,

Hope you are doing well. Sorry for the trouble, and the delayed response.

If you are still looking for a solution, you can try the below steps to identify the pages that have invalid annotation objects on them:
1. Open the PDF > Organize Page > Extract Pages and select "Extract Pages As Separate Files".
2. Set the destination to a 'dedicated' folder that won't contain any other files and click OK.
3. During the extraction, click OK in all the message boxes that appear.
4. After the extraction, look in the destination folder to see which pages are missing -- these will be the pages that have invalid annotation objects.

-Souvik

[_Roseo_]

I have had the same problem. For me, Adobe was closed normally on the last occasion; there is no corruption. I had spent over 3 hours adding my annotation and comments as that was the point of using this program...so I don't really want to revert to the original file as this has now happened four times, on each occasion that I have tried to annotate this.

Distiller...not sure what this is or how it will help?

I have tried emailing my document to another user who only had reader installed; they experience the same problem when trying to read it (I managed to save the document as after I press ok about ten times, the message disappears. It then comes up again when I start to move - scrolling up or down. As it's a ten page document....!!)

I have tried saving copies under new file names etc, etc, etc...

Are there any ideas on how to actually fix this without starting from scratch a fifth time - third time lucky didn't do the trick!!!!

Thanks in advance

[_zied_]

when I check to insert any pages in my pdf document, I get the error message :
"Invalid annotation object"
can you help me please for urgence !
thanks.

[_Roseo_ · Accepted solution]

I have researched this some...I have found a 99% solution, and will be in further contact with Adobe tomorrow.

The 99% solution...if Adobe crashes while you are working on a document (firstly, pray like anything you have saved it recently...) before working on your document again, open up a random PDF after the crash, then close adobe...so that it has closed normally, without crashing.

Now open your document. 80% of the time your document will not have corrupted if you follow this method. Unfortunately, if it does corrupt, you have to find the corrupt page or pages - easiest way I found was to navigate using the up/down arrows rather than scrolling. You then have to delete these pages, and re-insert clean ones.

You won't be able to reinsert until after all the corrupted ones have been deleted.

This is just my solution so far and not anything Adobe have told me, so if this is a fluke just for me I apologise.......

Good luck! I will be speaking to Adobe AT LENGTH re this tomorrow so fingers crossed....

[patricia_brennan55]

You're brilliant and a life-saver! I'm working on an extremely tight deadline and have spent the last frustrating hour with this problem -- and you fixed it!! Thank you!!

[The Other Sawdust]

I ran into this very problem today, and I was worried that the new fonts, that I had created and used, were causisng the problem.  Then I attempted to use your "solution," and it worked!

My annotations were saved, with the document without a problem.  Thanks!!!

[Allta Media]

>Then when I proceeded to work in the document and tried to highlight a sentence I was going to delete, I got an Adobe Acrobat popup box that said "Invalid Annotation Object. OK" but no matter how many times I clicked on "OK," the box kept popping up and wouldn't go away.
>
Are you using any 3rd party annotation tools?

[_Roseo_]

Hi...as I said I would update this, I thought I'd better...

I have spoken to Adobe who have asked us to work through their troubleshooting guide to rule out all other errors...

http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb401589

As we have this problem with a couple of users at my workplace we're going to see how this works out and then speak to Adobe again if it doesn't resolve the problem!!

PS - I know it wasn't at me, but we're not using any 3rd party annotation tools...

[Bill Kulsrud]

1/16/09 I have had the exact same problem and tried everything and nothing works. Looks like I will have to get a fresh file and start again. I worked on that file the entire day and lost it all.

[_Diane_Serafin_]

Bill: I have had it happen to me more than once. The only way I've in some ways "resolved" it is to have a business associate of mine take the file and open it in a Mac format and extract the pages and clean up the file for me to start over in. He suggests saving all files with a new name every now and then (every half hour or whatever) as you work in them. So, now that's just what I do. Apparently Windows has more problems with these types of issues than Mac. I might have to go Mac next computer. (sigh)

[_Rob_Forrest_]

A work around I found for a 476 page book was to simply page through until you found the offending page then extract all pages (select save as individual pages) then recreate the file. Hopefully you have a clean file that you can use to insert the missing or offending pages. This was the only way I could a file that became corrupted while the author was inputting edits to the layout. The Author was using the free reader version so the "enable for commenting in reader" function had been used. The file would not allow me to save it in any way.
In my scenario it worked...good luck.

[_PUCK_96_]

Does "Advanced PDF Repair" work?

[_PUCK_96_]

found another, free, repair program but it found "no errors". It seems that I have 3 related problems:

1."The document could not be saved. There was a problem reading this document (14)."

2."Invalid annotation object."

3."The document could not be printed." &
"There were no pages selected to print."

[Allta Media]

Are these files created using an Adobe product or a third-party tool?

In the Preflight tools for Acrobat 9 Pro. there is a fixup tool to "Repair damaged document" -- it's for minor repairs. In the Preflight menu select the Profiles tab and then select "Single Fix Ups". It's listed under the Document row.

[Guest]

Hi LoriAUC,

Do you know which is the equivalent for "single-fix ups" in Acrobat 10?

I ran the syntax analysis and it found these issues (screenshot below):

I'm not sure though if these are just trivial problems or the ones that could be the cause of the Error 14.

It did, however, seem to have gotten rid of the Error 14 for now, but when I try to extract pages I still get the "bad parameter" error.

Regards,

Jay

[Bill Kulsrud]

I had the same problem and lost a full day of work.

All of my documents have been created with Acrobat 9 Pro running Windows XP. I continue to have the problem (invalid annotation object) so I just save often and save under another name. I haven't found a successful fix. I have found that 9 Pro is a very unstable product when compared to the previous version (with which I never had a problem). It is constantly crashing.

Bill

[_Holger_Wulf_]

Acrobat>
Edit>
Preferences>
Commenting>

Uncheck the following boxes:

Enable text Indicators and tool tips

Ensure that popups are visible as the document is scrolled

OK>

Select the "Select Object Tool" on the "Advanced Editing" toolbar and then delete the comments on the problem pages.

[davidsdomingo]

Here is a technique for identifying all the pages that have invalid annotation objects on them:

1. Document > Extract Pages ...

• Select the checkbox for "Extract Pages As Separate Files"
• Set the destination to a 'dedicated' folder that won't contain any other files -- that way, you can simply delete the folder when this process is done.
• Click OK.

2. During the extraction, click OK in all the message boxes that appear.

3. After the extraction, look in the destination folder to see which pages are missing. Those are the pages that have invalid annotation objects.

From this point you can try to delete the objects, or simply delete and replace the pages, or implement a different solution. Hope this helps someone.

[brennao]

There are at least two posts here with ideas on how to actually fix a file with this problem. Thank you!  I will be trying these in the future.

I just finished fixing a 332 page file with this problem by extracting groups of pages, then saving the extractions.  The ones that would not save had bad pages in them.  I did this for 45 minutes, narrowing down my groups until I had the 4 offending pages/annotations.  Then I combined all the extractions.  This method worked, but the others listed here seem less time consuming!