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A
Anonymous
June 30, 2020
Answered

How do I edit an editable PDF?

  • June 30, 2020
  • 3 replies
  • 2984 views

I need to complete some official Italian government forms. They're supplied as PDFs and they're expecting them back electronically filled.

When I open them I see a message at the top of the screen with a button "Enable Editing". I click that. However the form is not editable. The mouse does not change from a hand when passed over form fields.

I wondered if it was because the language of the PC needed to be changed into Italian to match, but it's not that. Is this a bug or am I missing something obvious here? Thanks.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Bernd Alheit

The document doesn't have form fields. But you can use Tools > Fill & Sign.

3 replies

try67
Community Expert
try67Community Expert
Community Expert
July 1, 2020

This kind of thing really irks me. If they had just bothered to add form fields to the file they could have made it much easier to fill in AND to process when they got it back from the users. Instead, now you (and everyone else) has to bother around with the cumbersome commenting tools to fill it in, and when you send it back someone will have to go over it manually and probably type what you entered into a different system (opening the door to mistakes), or maybe even print it out and file it as a non-searchable scan, instead of being able to simply export the values to a text file and then import them directly into a database with 100% accuracy. Such a waste of time and effort...

T
Test Screen Name
Legend
July 1, 2020

Yes, it isn't like governments to make people do a lot of unnecessary work...

A
Anonymous
July 1, 2020

The Italian government is trying to move a lot of things online with varying degrees of success in their implementation. What doesn't help is that different regions have different policies so there's no single top-down set of rules.

For example in Italy there's a type of email address called a PEC which is authenticated email - users at both ends are authenticated to be who they say they are, and the receiving server issues a receipt. These emails have the same legal standing as a letter.

The web page says to send the forms to the PEC address and the email I have from Immigration says not to use the PEC address.

It's a bit like the way in which UK GP surgeries all have their own websites following no particular model and many of them are a total shambles.

It's all good fun. I can laugh at it. Later..

Bernd Alheit
Community Expert
Bernd AlheitCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
June 30, 2020

The document doesn't have form fields. But you can use Tools > Fill & Sign.

    A
    Anonymous
    June 30, 2020

    Aha - that seems to work. It wants to upload the document somewhere on saving, but it looks like I can just save it and cancel out of that leaving the file on the PC which I can then send via email. Will give it a try.

    T
    Test Screen Name
    Legend
    June 30, 2020

    It does look like a fault in the forms. Are you able to share a link to the form so we can check if it is made fillable? Also, a link to where it says they expect them to be electronically filled (we can translate the page with Google, I imagine it will be in Italian).

    A
    Anonymous
    June 30, 2020

    Thanks - I just edited the original post to include the PDF.

    The instructions say to download the form and send it via email:

    -

    SCARICARE E COMPILARE IL MODULO IN PDF DENOMINATO: “DICHIARAZIONE DI RESIDENZA”, SEGEUNDO LE ISTRUZIONI DI SEGUITO RIPORTATE, CHE DOVRA’ POI ESSERE INVIATO ALL’INDIRIZZO E-MAIL  sportelloimmigrazioni@comune.bg.it UNITAMENTE AI DOCUMENTI RICHIESTI.

    --

    DOWNLOAD AND FILL IN THE FORM IN PDF NAMED: "DECLARATION OF RESIDENCE", FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW, WHICH SHOULD THEN BE SENT TO THE E-MAIL ADDRESS sportelloimmigrazioni@comune.bg.it WITH THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS.

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