How do I get Adobe Acrobat to see/print pdf forms I've filled out in Preview

Question

How do I get Adobe Acrobat to see/print pdf forms I've filled out in Preview

I've been working in Preview and filling out Adobe Acrobat created forms according to instructions from the help in Preview. However, whent these filled forms are submitted to someone and opened in Adobe Acrobat, they can neither see what I've filled out nor can it be printed (all that comes out is a blank form). How can I properly fill out the forms so that Acrobat can see and print the filled out forms.

OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Mar 7, 2013 8:57 PM

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Answer 1

gumsie

Level 4

2,179 points

Mar 7, 2013 9:10 PM in response to Tropical_Alaskan

Can you tell us what form you are filling out so we can try stuff for ourselves?

Also what version of Adobe reader is being used and is it on Windows, Mac or both?

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Answer 2

Mar 7, 2013 9:10 PM in response to Tropical_Alaskan

This may be a silly question, but are you saving the changes in Preview? If so, are you able to print the PDF to another PDF (use the small "PDF" menu in the print dialogue window), or use the Export function in the File menu to save the PDF as another one with the filled fields?

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Answer 3

Mar 7, 2013 10:22 PM in response to Tropical_Alaskan

That's because Preview simply does not play well with AcroForms. You need to be using Adobe reader if you want the forms designer to access your data.

I hate Preview if only for this reason.

http://get.adobe.com/reader/

It will make your forms designer happy. He/she will actually be able to extract and use the data instead of just seeing an image.

Clinton

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Answer 4

Mar 8, 2013 11:52 AM in response to gumsie

I'm filling government forms. The most recent is the DD Form 1351-2 fillable form. Those reading it are using Windows and Acrobat Pro version 9.

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Answer 5

Mar 8, 2013 11:55 AM in response to Topher Kessler

I've saved them both in Preview and exported them to PDF. Both to no avail. I've thought about the printing to PDF but If they need to make changes, they need access to the form which the print option would not give them.

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Answer 6

Mar 8, 2013 11:57 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

I'm strongly leaning that way Clinton. However, Preview was able to do this at one time and I believe somewhere in the updates (whether with Mountain Lion or simply 10.8.2) there was a subtle shift that caused this.

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Answer 7

gumsie

Level 4

2,179 points

Mar 8, 2013 12:14 PM in response to Tropical_Alaskan

Something funny is going on. I've filled in with Preview too and opened in Windows 7 with Acrobat Pro XI. The document opens and the fields I filled are there but not visible.

Not until I select that field as per the below image, (field 13 where it says Anywhere);

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Answer 8

Mar 8, 2013 1:06 PM in response to gumsie

You now see the problem. The question is, is it just the interface between Preview and Acrobat or have I missed checking a box somewhere?

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Answer 9

gumsie

Level 4

2,179 points

Mar 9, 2013 12:09 AM in response to Tropical_Alaskan

I don't know yet. I've been adjusting some prefs on Acrobat but not managed to see any changes yet.

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Answer 10

Mar 9, 2013 12:22 AM in response to Tropical_Alaskan

Just as I suspected, Preview is mucking up the DD Form 1351-2 form. I filled it out, saved it in Preview and opened it in Acrobat Pro and the fields were blank. If I open it in Reader, I can fill out the form, save it, and open it in Acrobat Pro just fine, all data intact.

I don't know why Preview does such a bad job with forms - I just know that as an AcroForms designer, I always suggest using Reader to fill in forms.

BTW, I also tried it in Windows 7, using Reader and Acrobat Pro, and it worked as expected.

Clinton

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Answer 11

Mar 11, 2013 2:15 PM in response to gumsie

I've been trying options as well but no luck. The "best" luck I had was to use Text instead of Text Selection (I think that was it). In Adobe, I could see the text behind the field with that but no luck otherwise.

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Answer 12

Mar 11, 2013 2:17 PM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

Clinton, I'll agree that the best is to use like products, but at one time, Preview filled out forms fine and they could be opened in Adobe with no problem. I haven't had to do that for a while (read a few years) so this seems to be an instance where Adobe or Apple did something that caused problems on the other end. That's where the aggravation sets in.

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Answer 13

gumsie

Level 4

2,179 points

Mar 11, 2013 4:42 PM in response to Tropical_Alaskan

I've drawn nothing but a complete blank also.

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