Level 1

56 points

Disappearing Markups on PDFs

As i edit PDF documents on my iPad Pro using the Markup function, i find that the markups disappear when I reopen the document to add more markups or it randomly saves some markups but not others. It's frustrating as I invest 10-15 minutes filling out a pdf form and the entire document is blank when i send it or reopen it. I tried periodically closing it and reopening, hoping it would save all work at that point, but it's random as to whether it saves the work. It would be a great feature if it worked reliably. any suggestions ?

iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular, iOS 10.3.1

Posted on May 2, 2017 8:12 AM

Top-ranking reply

Timothy Simmons

Level 1

30 points

Posted on Jan 23, 2018 1:42 PM

This is a frustrating activity. I created a roster using Excel spreadsheet and saved it as a PDF on OneDrive. I opened the PDF roster, and had people signing next to their name as receiving a document. Well, there are no signatures to be seen on that PDF at all. What a waste of time. I would like to use the Apple iOS 11 version of markup, but seeing all the complaints/comments/notification about this problem, I am moving back to old faithful -- Readdle's PDF Expert. I can mark that up all day long with no hiccups at all. That is what I recommend until Apple gets their act back together. Sure do miss Steve Jobs.

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26 replies

KUDLDN

Level 1

4 points

May 20, 2018 7:43 AM in response to Gregory Rice

I have this problem too - killing iBooks and relaunching just makes the problem worse. Luckily I transferred most notes to a Word document now but I've lost at least two sessions' worth of notes. It's infuriating!!

jk371

Level 1

9 points

Dec 28, 2017 12:14 PM in response to Gregory Rice

Hi all,

just worked on a PDF for quite some time and now all my markups are gone.

I tried to create a new PDF with visible markups without success, but I realized that the actual filesize increased from 1MB to 40MB. So I think all my markups are still somewhere...

On the good side, I was able to reproduce this problem multiple times.

Opening a PDF, creating some markups on page 1, closing it and reopening it works perfectly fine.

Multipe iterations with markups on page 1 : no problem.

But as soon as I open the PDF, create markups on page 2 and close the file, all markups on page 1 are gone after reopening the file.

I was able to reproduce this with local files, files on iCloud and files on a different server.

If someone was able to resolve this issue in the meantime using iOS 11.3, that would come in very handy.

May 2, 2017 8:45 AM in response to Gregory Rice

When you markup a PDF as an attachment, it's intended for filling and then sending to someone.

The attachemnt will remain as it was received, see: Use Markup in Mail on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

If you want to markup and change a PDF to be saved with your markups, you need to make a copy of it from the attachment, and then mark up the copy.

Tap the PDF attachment in the email, tap the export button (square with arrow pointing up), then choose where you want to save the copy (import with iBooks, or Add to iCloud Drive or antoehr location of your choice.)

The markup the PDF there.

Jan 6, 2018 12:45 PM in response to Gregory Rice

So I can actually see the marks I’ve made when the pdf is reduced in size, back into the "shelf" but when I select it and it expands into full view they disappear. Frustratingly unusable...

Gregory Rice Author

Level 1

56 points

May 2, 2017 8:35 AM in response to Saifan Pilot

in apple mail - i open the PDF attached and click on the doctor's bag icon for markup. Then i spend lots of time editing the document and close it properly - the PDF icon reverts back to the email in reply format as an attachment and either the receiver tells me there are no edits or when i reopen and re-markup the document to add edits, some or all of my previous edits are missing.

Gregory Rice Author

Level 1

56 points

May 2, 2017 8:50 AM in response to Saifan Pilot

i get that - i received a PDF in apple mail, i mark it up using the markup function and it stays in apple mail ready to be sent to the sender of the original PDF. I'm not trying to save anything separately. Yet when i edit the document and it is ready to send to the original sender and i reopen it to add additional markups, it loses some or all of my original markups.

do you only get one shot at marking up a document ? Am i not supposed to re-open a marked up document ?

Gregory Rice Author

Level 1

56 points

May 2, 2017 8:59 AM in response to Saifan Pilot

that's my point - i do see the marked up version in sent email and it's missing edits. I can see that it's missing edits when i reopen the document before i send it. No point in sending it if i can see things are missing, right? I gave up and used adobe. More reliable. Thanks for your input. Much appreciated

Jun 8, 2017 6:30 AM in response to Gregory Rice

I recently ran across this problem trying to sign a PDF. It would not save the signature or create the return mail. I discovered this was caused by the fact that the PDF I was trying to mark up had security setting on it for read only. It was a vehicle registration that I wanted to sign and print but, because the DOT put security on it wouldn't work. Apple needs to have something pop up and tell you when a PDF has security restrictions on it. Hope this helps.

May 2, 2017 8:21 AM in response to Gregory Rice

Where are these PDF's you're editing? Are they an attachment in an email? In an app? If so which one?

May 2, 2017 8:55 AM in response to Gregory Rice

If you markup to send, you should be able to see the marked up version in the "sent" email.

Apr 15, 2018 10:53 PM in response to Brent Zionic

There is no Done button in iBooks. Many of the comments in this thread are about iBooks problems.

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Disappearing Markups on PDFs