Newly downloaded PDF Locked after clicking title and changing name

Thanks for the reply! Unfortunately, as you can see in your image, the Locked check box is not only unchecked, it's also slightly greyed out. You cannot click it, till you tab or click out of the Name: edit box. However, once I do that, Preview pauses for a second and sets the file's status to Locked. I can then, presuming I clicked or hit return, click on the name again and unlock the file. If I pressed tab I can wait till the file is locked and then uncheck the box (The dialog box does not close). The purpose of this question is to find out if there's a way to not have to do this. I download a lot of files...and having to unlock each one is less effective. 🙂

As far as I can tell, the best option is to change the name, press 'tab', wait 3 seconds for the file to lock, uncheck the Locked box, and go on my way. I wish I could default to "not Locked," but that doesn't seem to be possible...

Thank you again for your help / thoughts!! Let me know if you have any other suggestions!

So I happened upon some further observations that have uncovered the issue, but not the solution:

If you edit the document before saving or renaming it, it complains and tells you that the original document cannot be edited, so a copy has been created. If you save the copy, no locking occurs. This suggests that the original is stored in some system location where it is write-protected.

If you attempt to move the file (Using "Move to..." from the File menu) before renaming it, it shows you where it's hiding (a somewhat random folder deep within /private/var/folders).

A ls -l of the files in that folder reveals that all are user-readable only, implying that they are locked the moment they're downloaded, presumably to protect the user/system, and that when you click the title to rename the file, the file is renamed (and moved), but the permissions are not changed. Whether this behavior is deliberate or unintentional is harder to tell, but I would presume it is unintentional--that upon moving/saving the file, it should be marked "read/write," instead of read-only.

But like you said, I can use Google or Firefox if I choose. 🙂 Thanks for looking into this!