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D
Doug Lerner
Participant
May 22, 2020
Question

Can't sign a document with Adobe Acrobat Reader DC on my Mac

  • May 22, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 5281 views

A bank sent me a PDF document to fill out and it requires a signature.

The document won't open in Preview in MacOS which would be so easy. I could use the signature annotation feature there and be done.

I can't get what looks like the electronic signature feature to work. There's a pen mark in the top toolbar. If I click it it says "The author of this form has specified the fields which you can fill."

There is also a pen mark in the right toolbar, and if I click on it a "Fill & Sign" field opens at top, but it's grayed out and I can't enter anything there.

I generally hate Acrobat Reader. It's endlessly confusing to me.

Can somebody help me figure this out? Or tell me how I can save it in another format so I can open it up with Preview and just get it done?

I tried to print to save as PDF, but Acrobat Reader DC doesn't even use the standard OS print dialog.

Help would be appreciated! 

Thanks,

doug

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

D
Doug LernerAuthor
Participant
May 25, 2020

I figure out a way to save the PDF so I could open it in Preview on the Mac and do everything I need there, including electronically sign it.

 

(1) Send to Kindle.

 

(2) From Kindle on my iPad email it to me.

 

It then sends me a document I can actually edit easily.

 

doug

T
Test Screen Name
Legend
May 25, 2020

But does the bank accept it? I’d expect the bank handles your form automatically, and all the tricks you do will break it. Quite possibly, your form will appear empty and it will be as if you never sent a form at all. Inventive solutions for official forms can cause terrible trouble. For goverment forms, really deep trouble. 

A
Asher@
Participating Frequently
May 22, 2020

"The author of this form has specified the fields which you can fill." So can you find another field that you can add a signature on it? Also, what did Preview said when you tried to open the file with it? If you're in a hurry, you can use a free online PDF eSigner to try if you can add your signature.

D
Doug LernerAuthor
Participant
May 22, 2020

The banker told me I should sign the field specified.

If I try opening it up in Preview it says:

"Please wait...
If this message is not eventually replaced by the proper contents of the document, your PDF viewer may not be able to display this type of document.
You can upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader for Windows®, Mac, or Linux® by visiting http://www.adobe.com/go/reader_download.
For more assistance with Adobe Reader visit http://www.adobe.com/go/acrreader."

It never opened up, so I downloaded Acrobat Reader.

I'll take a look at the link you mentioned.

Thanks,

doug

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