Does the recipient of an Acrobat fillable form have to have Acrobat in order to fill it out?

[lorriec60821670]

I'm hoping to post fillable Adobe Acrobat forms on our website, but am wondering if those filling them out will have to also have Acrobat. Most if not all of them will only have Reader.

[AadeshSingh]

Hi lorriec60821670,

If the form is saved in 'Reader Extended PDF' format then it is not necessary for the person filling the form to have Acrobat installed on their system.

You can created forms using Acrobat on your computer & Save them using 'Reader Extended PDF' option , this will allow the users at the other end to fill the form using Adobe Reader & it won't be necessary for them to install Acrobat on their system.

Let me know if you still need any help, we will be more than happy to assist you.

Regards,

Aadesh

[lorriec60821670]

Thank you so much! And will the form be readable and fillable in all

commonly used browsers, and on both PCs and Macs?

On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 11:16 AM, aadeshs76610910 <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

[AadeshSingh]

Hi lorriec60821670,

Yes, you are absolutely correct. It will work on all the commonly installed browsers & on both Windows PCs & Macs. The only requirement is the Adobe reader installed on the computer & the plugins installed on the browser, and you don't have to worry about them as they get automatically installed once the user at the other end tries to view the PDF.

Is there anything else I may help you with?

Regards,

Aadesh.

[lorriec60821670]

On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 11:43 AM, Lorrie Clark <lorrie.clark.9@gmail.com>

[erical593018]

I disagree. I created a form and made it reader extended. I posted it online and opened it with a form without Adobe Reader. The form fields were not fillable, and the "Submit" button did not work. What am I missing?

[rochelle_6338]

How do you enable 'reader extended PDF. I don't see it as a choice

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi rochelle_6338,

Thank you for reaching out.

If you are using Acrobat, go to Menu > Save as other > Reader extended PDF. Refer to the screenshot attached below.

Feel free to let us know if you need any help.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[Test Screen Name · Accepted solution]

I must disagree. The form will not work properly in the majority of browsers now in use, because they do not (by default) use Adobe technology. In some cases the form won't be fillable, in some it might seem to be but ends up broken. This is a serious and growing problem.

By the way, your original question needs to focus on what you want to do with the form. In fact, Adobe Reader can always FILL forms. But then what? Now you have to ask the real questions. What do you want to happen NEXT?  Submit to a web server in FDF format (works)? Submit to a web server in PDF format? Submit by email (Really, really not recommended)? Print out? Save to disk?  Many of these don't just work, it's only the filling that does.

[lorriec60821670]

Thank you for your response. We are uncertain what we want to do with the form. We had thought that for now we would simply have recipients fill it out, print it, and return by mail. I see that you strongly discourage this idea. Ideally, we would be able to import the data from the form into a Filemaker database, or at least into an Excel spreadsheet (from which it could then be imported into the Filemaker database. Any suggestions?

[Test Screen Name]

What I really don't recommend is submitting by EMAIL. Printing and sending by MAIL (in an envelope) is fine.

Realise, though, that many people don't understand this idea and will look for a way to send a form electronically unless (or even if) you labour the point.  If the form contains personal information, you want to actively discourage email for legal and privacy reasons.

[lorriec60821670]

Thank you. So I guess the only problem is your first point, which is that the form doesn't work well in most commonly-used browsers. That's pretty serious, and you mention that it is a growing problem.

[Test Screen Name]

It's a growing problem because more and more browsers are either adding PDF support of their own -- without Adobe Reader -- or are changing so that, even though they once used Adobe Reader, now they aren't.

For instance Safari on the Mac and recently stopped using Adobe Reader even if it is installed, unless the user does something.

It's generally safer to recommend forms be downloaded then filled in. Unfortunately, many people don't understand this instruction.

[lorriec60821670]

Oh, got it. Thanks so much!

[Claudia20220101]

I'm tackling this same problem right now.  I have a fillable form that I want to have the user upload images and then click the submit button so that the form will submit via email.  So far every recipient has needed to download the Adobe reader onto their desktop, the web-based version isnt working.  Can I do anything to fix that?  Does the above reply of saving it in the Reader Extended PDF' option not work? 

[Test Screen Name]

No, there's nothing you can do except really emphasise your users need to use Reader. Many of them won't bother because PDF "seems to work ". Many others will install Reader, but keep trying to work in a browser, or email app. Reader Extended PDF won't help - it can't force users to use the right app. Even though some browsers might work for simple submits, image upload is a thing likely to need only Reader. Of course more and more people just don't have a Windows or Mac computer to use for this, and they are stuck. But, equally, uploading an image is a complicated or impossible thing for many mobile users... 

[Kristin38365233vw1h]

Is there still no fix for this? I am trying to have clients submit a form using the submit button which is linked to send an e-mail. I still can't get it to work without client downloading form which I don't want them to have to do.

[Tariq Ahmad]

Alternatively, you can try Acrobat Sign. 

~Tariq

[erical593018]

With signature, the same issues arise. The person must download the form. Open the form with the appropriate software and then sign and submit the form. 

[Afrikanprince]

Has Adobe fixed the issue....im trying to distribute the form but it seems to change certain formats of the fields (Calendar & digital Signature Fields) when it get to the recepients i.e. they cant have the calendar popping out to choose the dates & the Digital Signature field not clickable

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi Afrikanprince,

Thank you for reaching out.

Please try using Acrobat Sign to send a document for signature. The recipients do not require an account for that. The recipients will receive the link to the document via email, which they can click to open. For more information, refer to the following help document: https://adobe.ly/44NSwbg. 

Alternatively,  you may suggest downloading the PDF and opening it with Acrobat Reader (free version). 

As the form is not working, could you please confirm how the recipient opens it? Are they using a browser or any application?

Thanks,

Meenakshi