Deleting previously placed text in Fill and Sign

[juliae84157296]

How do I go back and delete something I typed into a text box previously in Fill and Sign? When I place the cursor over the text, it just creates a new text box.

[Josh_Corey · Accepted solution]

Hi;

If you are in https://cloud.acrobat.com/fillsign and have opened the filename.form file as opposed to a filename_filled.pdf file then the text fields previously added should be editable.

If however you are in https://cloud.acrobat.com/fillsign and have opened the filename_filled.pdf file as opposed to the filename.form  file then that would be expected, once the form is saved as a PDF the fields are "flattened" and no longer editable. 

This FAQ on "What is a .form file" may be helpful: What is a ".form" file?

Another option is that you are using Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader DC and you have Signed the form and Saved changes.  When working in Acrobat/Reader if you add a signature or initials to a form and then save the changes, the fields are flattened and no longer editable.

I hope this is helpful information, let me know if you have more questions.

Thanks,

Josh

[juliae84157296]

Thank you Josh! Yeah, I had done something stupid...downloaded page 1 with my filled in information, added a sheet, then hoped to edit what I'd typed on pg 1. Doesn't make sense. Thanks for your help with figuring this out!

[Lachrymose_Somnambulist]

Hi  Josh,

This didn't work for me.  The distiller did not save my form back to pdf for log.

Just to make sure you can help me, I was given a protected form by the office to fill in.  I filled in the forms and then added my signature.  Saved and filed.  Then a few days later, I needed to make edits to the information I filled in.  This time, it didn't not allow me to make any changes to my entries. 

I do not need to alter the form's questions.  Rather, it is my own answers that I need to change. 

I've tried to save the document as anything other than pdf and then convert it back.  It still didn't work.  I've tried to "print" it to pdf unprotected, but it still saved as a protected file.  it has a permissions pw, but i do not have it nor can i find out whose pw it was.

Help!

Thank you.

LS

[cloud1950]

Hi Josh,

Another option is that you are using Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader DC and you have Signed the form and Saved changes.  When working in Acrobat/Reader if you add a signature or initials to a form and then save the changes, the fields are flattened and no longer editable.

When you say that the text has been flattened, what is our option? Should we start over? Is there any way to edit it again?

I have been just starting over, but I don't know if that is the quickest route.

[Josh_Corey]

Yes, if you have signed the PDF and saved the changes it is flattened and you won't be able to edit so the best approach is to start with the original version of the PDF.  Ideally you would not save over the original when saving the changes so that you have it to work with again.

You can fill in fields and re-use the form as long as you do not sign it, but once signed it will be flattened so that when others receive the file they have some confidence that your answers had not changed since it was signed.

[carolm31076458]

You are talking to the wrong person--I haven't a clue what you're talking about.  Sorry and good luck.

Carol

[ryanl59896268]

Flattening the fields is so stupid, terrible parasitic feature.  I need to edit what I just filled in.  WTF

[AndyQ]

Exactly. I mean, WTF? You fill in a form and sign it. Oh dear! Made a mistake, I'll just change that telephone number.....nope. Can't even select it as a graphic, object, bitmap whatever and delete it. Why? WTF are were they thinking? How is this any better than pen and paper?

[eddieo35372991]

Totally agree, this is the stupidest feature I've ever heard of. I now have to go back and re-fill in an 18 page form, instead of simply changing 3 numbers. What a waste of time and energy. I may as well have printed it off, filled it by hand and posted it.

[iceph03nix]

Well this sucks.  Just spent a while creating a form, had it saved, and went to test it to see how the fill and sign worked out.  Now I have to redo the whole damn project because when I did the sign it saved over the orignal.  What shitty programmer thought that was a good idea.  I get protecting the form, but it should try to save as a different file name or something instead of defaulting to overwrite the orginal.

[Grumbleslops]

Yep, same here. I had a 39-page form. Took a day to fill out. I then "signed" it, and went back to make some changes to some fields a few days later. Wouldn't let me.

I am absolutely ******* beyond furious right now. You wouldn't believe how ******* angry I am right now. Adobe - you lot have cost me a lot of time and money.

[AkanchhaS]

Hi Grumbleslops

Signing is a final process, when you sign your document it gets locked. Signing makes document secure, once done then document becomes uneditable.

Its a document's designed behavior, not the application. Your document has certain security and its designed in a way that once its filled and signed it can not be edited.

Thanks,

Akanchha

[AndyQ]

That may be the way it's designed, but It's a ridiculous design decision that can only cause frustration. In the real world, I've never met a paper form that can't be edited/corrected, so why have a PDF form "locked" once you add a signature? Having to re-fill hundreds of fields again to correct a date, number or tiny details just because it was signed is a sure-fire way to upset PDF users. It's not like it helps security in most situations - the  document can still be edited manually as graphic objects, it can be deleted and filled again; most PDF security is pretty easily cracked etc. It just makes life frustrating for ordinary users. I would challenge anyone to fill out a complex form without making at least one tiny mistake, whether that be the data itself or the language (grammar, spelling, punctuation)

[Grumbleslops]

Doesn't make it any less an appallingly-implemented feature. I could argue until the cows come home that the software simply should not lock you out like this, under any circumstances. With the current behaviour, why did it not even bring up a dirty great confirmation box that WARNS the user that their massive 39-page form is about to become uneditable if they proceed? A bit of communication from the software about what was going to happen could have saved me from losing all of my work.

[AndyQ]

That's a good point. If you're going to lock the form permanently after signing you really should provide a pretty stern and strong warning and confirmation dialogue; that'd at least give people a chance to save a copy of the form before comitting. It should have flashing yellow skulls and bio-hazard graphics on it with an alarm siren sound going off and a hundred levels of confirmation.