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davidt27851725
Participant
October 19, 2020
Answered

How to lock form fields so signing is the only thing available?

  • October 19, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 5643 views

I have created multiple pdf forms in Acrobat Pro DC for a client. The forms are filled out differently for each of the clients customers and then sent for signing. However when the signee receives it they are able to edit all the fields of the form. Is there a way to lock the whole form so the only element they can edit is the signing field which is added within Adobe Sign?

 

Many thanks.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer davidt27851725

The work around I'm using now is to set each field as a prefill box then save the form as a template. You can then fill the form out yourself within Sign and when you send it the filled in fields can't be edited by the signer. It's a pain having to do each field individually but once you've done it and saved it as a template you don't have to do it again. 

1 reply

H
Here for Cats
Participant
October 20, 2020

I have the same problem - my forms are for cat adoptions but I'm having to click on every single line to mark as Read Only - I'm hoping someone can help us David as it's really a waste of time.

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davidt27851725AuthorCorrect answer
Participant
October 20, 2020

The work around I'm using now is to set each field as a prefill box then save the form as a template. You can then fill the form out yourself within Sign and when you send it the filled in fields can't be edited by the signer. It's a pain having to do each field individually but once you've done it and saved it as a template you don't have to do it again. 

O
Adobe Employee
One each Scott
Adobe Employee
October 20, 2020

Using templates (as David is suggesting) is the best method as it gives you full control of the content in the application, and allows for reporting against the template as it is used.

 

If creating a template isn't viable, and you are working from a PDF form, you can also "print" the PDF (using an Adobe PDF print driver) after you fill in the customer information and saver the generated PDF as a new file..

  • This will "flatten" the PDF, embedding all of the field level content into the PDF (and remove the field objects)

 

Then you can upload the newly generated PDF and add the signature field.

  • A bonus step here could be to add a Text tag ({{Sig_es_:signer1:signature}}) to the PDF template for the signature field, allowing you to skip the signature placement step
    • Adding a text tag to the PDF only works if you flatten the PDF (removing all fields).  PDFs uploaded with active fields will not parse Text tags

 

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