Android - "This document cannot be modified because it is an attachment"

[caleb21766075wtcv]

I have a PDF portfolio with about 40 individual PDFs in it. This document has fill and sign fields on various PDFs. We are able to successfully Fill&Sign on a desktop, but not on mobile Android. When we open the document we are presented with the following error:

"This document cannot be modified because it is an attachment"

If you tap on the blue edit icon on the bottom right and select Fill & Sign, we receive the same message as above. I have downloaded the Fill and Sign application from the app store as well, but when I open the workbook with that app it tells me "For the best eperience, open this PDF portfolio in Acrobat X or Adobe Reader X, or later". So I'm not even able to access this portfolio on android with anything other than Adobe Acrobat.

My ultimate goal: to enable fill and sign functions within this workbook on android using the free Adobe Acrobat app.

I have already updated/installed the latest version of ALL apps. This issue is replicated on several different tablets. I have already granted full access to these apps on Android. Please help me understand this issue and how to fix it. Perhaps there are adjustments I need to make on the workbook to allow fill and sign functionality on mobile?

[Karl Heinz Kremer · Accepted solution]

The mobile versions of Reader lag behind quite a bit when it comes to support of different PDF features. This is one of the limitations you have on mobile devices. There is unfortunately nothing you can do about this (unless you are willing to look for a non-Adobe PDF viewer that might support this feature, but don't hold your breath, they all offer fewer features than the desktop version of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader). 

[caleb21766075wtcv]

Thanks for the reply Karl. I think I've figured out that Fill & Sign does not work with Portfolios on the mobile app. When I go to open a portfolio I get a message "unable to create a link for this file" - whatever that means. And then that message is immediately followed with the "unable to modify because it is an attachment". At this point I believe I've exhausted enough troubleshooting strategies to conclude: portfolio + fill & sign is not support on mobile. 

It's a shame that my hours of troubleshootnig could've been avoided if Adobe just supplied their own descriptions for errors instead of relying on the community to do it for them for free. Shameless plug for adobe alternatives: https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/hvpy13/adobe_alternatives_not_oc/

[Karl Heinz Kremer]

Portfolios are just fancy documents with attachments. The portfolio interface just hides the fact that you are dealing with attachments. That's probably where the error messager comes from. Ideally, the app should tell you "You cannot do this because you are using a mobile app". 

[harrisfj]

Gosh, this is so infuriating. Two years later and no fix. The whole point of using the portfolio for me is to quickly be able to modify documents on the go. 

[S. S]

Hi @harrisfj,

Reader Mobile only has support to view portfolio files but not edit them. 

You will need to use the desktop version of Acrobat to make changes to a portfolio.

Please feel free to share your feedback here: https://acrobat.uservoice.com/ to ensure your feedback reaches the dev team for review and future implementations.

-Souvik