How do I enable saving of filled-in fields on a PDF form?

Question

Some PDF forms can be saved, including all filled-in field data:

Some others can not be saved, and all filled-in field data are lost:

How do I enable saving of filled-in fields on my PDF form?

I've discovered that these restrictions can be bypassed by *printing* to a file instead of saving. — McLovin, Sep 05 '14 at 22:47

score 32 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 11 '14 at 15:32

32

Open your PDF in Google Chrome. Edit the PDF as you want. Hit ctrl + p. Save as PDF to your desktop.

answered Jun 11 '14 at 15:32

Shardul

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The PDF you get will save the filled info but will not have fillable forms anymore. – hexicle Feb 17 '16 at 21:33
works well - you can then use "fill and sign" in acrobat on the resulting document but you can't delete and of the text that you put in during the first step, so I recommend that you err on the side of filling out just a bare minimum prior to doing the "save as PDF" step – aldorath Apr 09 '18 at 03:59
@hexicle There now exists an experimental flag #pdf-form-save that allows saving PDFs with filled forms, although I haven't tested it yet – Stardust Feb 29 '20 at 18:06

score 11 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 26 '14 at 17:47

11

When you use Acrobat 8, or 9, select "enable usage rights" from the Advanced menu. This adds about 20 kb to the pdf.

The other possibility is to use CutePDF Pro, add a submit button and have the XFDF data submitted to your self as an email or to a web server. The XFDF data can then reload the original PDF with your data.

edited Jan 26 '14 at 17:47

Quentin

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answered Mar 15 '09 at 04:07

Graham Chiu

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Adobe Reader XI allows form data to be saved. – Damienknight Aug 29 '13 at 15:26
In what way? I have Adobe Reader XI, and you can't save many forms. It depends on whether the form publisher enabled it: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/acrobat/X/pro/using/WS58a04a822e3e50102bd615109794195ff-7e0d.w.html – Achal Dave Oct 13 '13 at 16:37
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In Acrobat 8, you go to the advanced menu, and select to enable usage rights in Adobe Reader... – yougotiger Oct 17 '13 at 00:14
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Where is "Advanced" menu? – Nowaker Aug 28 '15 at 12:59
I can't find the "Advanced" menu in Acrobat Reader DC 2019.010-20098 – Aaron Franke Mar 19 '19 at 02:19

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 14 '12 at 18:38

8

If you are using Adobe Acrobat X to make the form, set all the fields as you want them, then click File, Save As, Reader Extended PDF, Enable Additional Features. The resulting PDF form can be saved when filled in, if opened in versions of Adobe Reader before XI.

answered Dec 14 '12 at 18:38

Alistair Cannon

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And for those with Adobe Reader XI and above you need Adobe Acrobat XI and newer? – Martijn Pieters Dec 14 '12 at 19:05
This works. In addition, Adobe Reader DC on Mac behaves like an old Adobe Reader on Windows. (Why?) – Franklin Yu Oct 29 '16 at 05:15

score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 24 '11 at 19:26

6

In Acrobat, click on the "Advanced" tab, then click on "Enable Features in Adobe Reader." This should do the trick.

answered Feb 24 '11 at 19:26

user632947

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Milhous · Answer 5 · 2009-03-12T19:20:51.273

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You can use the free foxit reader to fill in the forms, and if you pay a little you can design the forms that way you want.

You can also us iText to programmaticly create those forms.

There are free online services that allow you to upload a pdf and you can add fields also.

It depends on how you want to do the designing.

EDIT: If you use foxit reader, you can save any form that is fillable.

edited Mar 12 '09 at 19:20

answered Mar 12 '09 at 19:14

Milhous

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I have used foxit, and it does not have the ability to enable saving of filled-in fields on my PDF form. – eleven81 Mar 12 '09 at 19:16
We use version 2.3 at work and it allows our customers to save the fields. – Milhous Mar 12 '09 at 19:18
You are correct that foxit cant "enable" saving for users using Adobe, but for foxit it works. – Milhous Mar 12 '09 at 19:19
Shame there is no Mac version of Foxit :( – Caltor Feb 28 '15 at 19:18
Foxit Reader allows you to fill in the forms, and the form will still be fillable after you save the info on the forms. But when you open it in Adobe Reader you will still be unable to save data on the form, it will just show you what info you saved using Foxit Reader. – hexicle Feb 17 '16 at 21:37
I use Foxit reader for .pdf form saving as follows: fill out form, export form (menu -> form -> export), then import form data when i want to continue with the exported data. For the final version of the form, using "print" function. – TaiwanGrapefruitTea Apr 16 '16 at 15:49

kaleb · Answer 6 · 2013-03-14T23:21:33.733

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In Acrobat XI, (Close Form Editing if open) File > Save As Other > Reader Extended PDF > Enable Additional Features

edited Mar 14 '13 at 23:21

answered Mar 14 '13 at 23:16

kaleb

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This is a very relevant answer for those using Acrobat XI professional. – Firee Nov 05 '14 at 07:34
If you use Acrobat XI Professional, this is the correct answer. – Vinc 웃 Sep 18 '17 at 17:33

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Feb 28 '13 at 19:44

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With the latest version of Adobe Reader, Adobe Reader XI, it seems that you can save the form.

From their webpage: Type your responses right on the PDF form, or click through and fill in the form fields. Then save and submit

answered Feb 28 '13 at 19:44

iikkoo

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Again, this only works if the form was created in Acrobat 8+ (or LiveCycle Designer) with the extra "usage rights" enabled. If not, no version of Reader can save form info. – SilverbackNet Mar 04 '14 at 22:48

NotMe · Answer 8 · 2009-03-12T23:06:32.150

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There is a setting inside the PDF file that turns on the allow saving with data bit. However, it requires that you have a copy of Adobe Acrobat installed to change the bit.

The only other option is to print it to a PDF print driver which would save the data merged with the pdf file.

UPDATE: The relevant information from adobe is at: http://www.adobeforums.com/webx?13@@.3bbb313f/7

edited Mar 12 '09 at 23:06

answered Mar 12 '09 at 19:16

NotMe

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I have Acrobat 6.0 Professional installed. Where is that setting? – eleven81 Mar 12 '09 at 19:46
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Dead link, can you find a new one? – Alex Hirzel Jul 17 '12 at 20:28

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Apr 01 '16 at 20:08

0

On linux use cabaret stage:

https://www.cabaret-solutions.com/download/caba-lin-64

You can fill and save cleanly

answered Apr 01 '16 at 20:08

albfan

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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Feb 22 '11 at 18:45

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Preview in OS X seems to be able to do this out of the box. Adobe Reader shows the doc as "data typed can't be saved" but Preview was able to save my changes without hassle.

answered Feb 22 '11 at 18:45

Trenton

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Preview has a nasty habit of letting you close without prompting to save. At least that is my experience in Yosemite. – Caltor Feb 28 '15 at 19:19
I have just found from http://khkonsulting.com/2013/06/preview-app-killer-of-pdf-files/ that you can enable the prompting by enabling Ask to keep changes when closing documents in System Preferences > General. – Caltor Feb 28 '15 at 20:04
This solution indeed works and you don't have to worry about adobe reader's version. This is definitely a good approach to save PDF in OSX. – Pikachu Jun 20 '15 at 01:46

How do I enable saving of filled-in fields on a PDF form?

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