Acrobat Pro: How to Allow Data to be Saved into a Form-Based PDF

I create a lot of PDF forms and one of the things that can get tricky with Acrobat Pro is that when you save a form as a .PDF, often times it won’t save the file so that someone can actually save their entered data.  If this is the case, when you open the PDF in Acrobat Reader you will get a warning that your data can only be printed and cannot be saved.  Here’s how to get around that problem.

Allowing Users to Save Entered Form Data in a .PDF

1. Once you are done editing the form, you need to save the .PDF file in a particular way to allow people to save their entered form data.

2.  Go to File -> Save As -> Reader-Extended PDF -> Enable Additional Features

If for some reason “Enable Additional Features…” is greyed out, make sure that you are not still in the form editing mode.  Under the tasks panel (usually in the right-hand column) click the “Close Form Editing” button and it should solve your problem.

 

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