Q: Cannot change original document in Preview

Preview continues to be a viewer and annotation tool, but it is not a PDF editor. You can add multiple annotations, and save the PDF on itself, and quit Preview. When you open the document again, you can edit your annotations.

I can open a PDF form, enter some content into the form fields with Preview, and then save it onto itself again. On reopening it in Preview, I can edit the content previously entered in the form fields. Still no offer to duplicate the PDF.

Can't duplicate your issue with Preview 9.0 and macOS Sierra 10.12.0 (16A323).

Not using Evernote.

I am having the same exact problem. My workflow pre-Sierra was to open a PDF from Evernote in Preview, do some highlighting, and then save... but now I can't do that as when I try to save my highlights in Preview I get "The original document can't be changed, so a duplicate with your changes has been created."

I am not seeing this either.

Maybe there is a permissions issue.

Where is the pdf stored? Does it happen with another pdf, not coming from Evernote?

Looks like you don't have permission to write on that folder.

Select the folder in the Finder anf do command-I to open the Get Info window.

Do you have read and write permissions?

As everyone has mentioned, it seems to be a Permissions issue. However, you're saying if you have the permissions.

I'd recommend Repairing Disk Permissions through Terminal (if you're comfortable):

sudo /usr/libexec/repair_packages --repair --standard-pkgs --volume /

Else, I think you'll have to wait for an answer from Evernote.

Am having this same problem.  Very frustrating.

If I have two pdf documents open in Preview, select some pages in one document, & drag them into the other pdf document,  pre-Sierra behavior was for the selected pages to be added to the target document without any kind of copy being made (& why is one needed, I have to ask?) .  Sierra behavior is to add the dragged pages to the target document, but to announce by a bubble up above that "could not edit the original document, so a copy has been made" which simply multiplies old & new copies of one & the same.  Requiring more steps in the work flow to locate the original to delete it; & also any copies made sequentially in a normal pdf concatenating process,  to locate & delete all the intermediate steps.  Am not seeing the "Sierra difference" here in a very positive light.

Am not understanding the sudden total reverence for "originals" preserving them (for posterity?  for a mind-blowingly encyclopedic time-machine "versions" backup of epic proportions?  for what, please?) with every intermediate step.

Closing the app after what should be a simple added-a-couple-pages-to-an-existing-document brings on a series of decisions about the fate of each and every one of the intermediate-step copies of the same blasted thing I opened because I wanted to change it.  If I wanted the original, I wouldn't have added pages to it.  I wanted the original plus the pages I added.  I am a simple man, trying to do simple things.  (insert imoji here)

Also, the deletion behavior of the "source" pages (source of what was dragged into the target document) seems to have changed. 

Also, the selection behavior of pages in documents open in Preview has changed (specifically, select two pages in a pdf document, rotate them, & then drag them into another document, (pre-Sierra) the two selected pages remain selected after rotation & can be both dragged; (Sierra) rotate two pages, one page remains selected after being rotated, user has to go back & reselect the 2nd page to drag or do whatever else.  And who knows what all else has changed. 

Tempted to revert to my clone backup immediately, before discovering other changes in behavior in a basic OS app which I use frequently.  I mean really.

FWIW, The only time I see this happen is if the PDF is listed as Password Encrypted in Get Info. I only have 4 such files out of 150. Might be something Evernote is doing while saving. I couldn't say because I don't have Evernote installed.

lopock wrote:

 

Am having this same problem.  Very frustrating.

 

If I have two pdf documents open in Preview, select some pages in one document, & drag them into the other pdf document,  pre-Sierra behavior was for the selected pages to be added to the target document without any kind of copy being made (& why is one needed, I have to ask?) .  Sierra behavior is to add the dragged pages to the target document, but to announce by a bubble up above that "could not edit the original document, so a copy has been made" which simply multiplies old & new copies of one & the same.

 

No, Sierra behavior is the same as previous systems.

This happens because Preview is not able to make changes to the pdf - some permissions issue, as discussed.

Like dialabrain, I don't have evernote to test, but it looks like something with that application and the way it manages the pdf files. Just try doing this with other pdf files and you might find that it works.

THank you for responding, but my use is not connected w evernote at all, just standard preview.app work w files from my h d.  Have already reverted to yosemite.

MY use of preview.app is quite repetitive, & already on level of muscle memory so that when i rotate a 2pg file & only p 1 remains selected, I know it immediately.  moreso when i'm grtting a "we kept your original & created a courtesy copy to serve you our user still better" notice bubble & i have to decide what to keep, & not; this is totalky different behavior in a process i have done hundreds of times

same thing when @ lion (maybe) upgrade apple wanted to integrate ios annotatoon behavior in preview.app, & actual functionality was lost in the process.  that's when i understood that upgrades could not be so for me.

also it seemed like my battery life was being affected adversely after the upgrade.

so that was enough for me, for lopock, a simple man of repetitive use of this very important to me app

i NEVER post on firums like this, by the way.  lopock must be driven to this.  "composed on my iphone"

thank you Luis, see above.  blessings