Created form in AEM Designer - Users can't edit/save using Reader or can't electronically sign

[KahluaO]

Hello,

I created a form using AEM Designer 6.5.0.20190320.3.935878.  Some users only have Reader and we found that they could not save the file without using Print to PDF.  That won't work as additional information is added to the form just prior to release.  I have the ability to lock fields as signers approve, but removed the locks in the attached file. 

After researching this, I found old threads where people had the same problem and Enabled Reader.  However, that prevents users from electronically signing.  I am not finding any more recent (last 3-4 years) where this has been resolved.  I apologize if this was answered earlier, but I haven't found it.  Has this issue been resolved or are we stuck with forms that cannot be edited, saved and electronically signed by Adobe Reader users?

Thank you in advance.

Craig

[jeffm70816839]

Open in Acrobat not Reader 

Save as Other

Reader Extended PDF

Enable More Tools

[KahluaO]

Thank you for the reply, Jeff.  Unfortunately, when this is enabled, the ability to electronically sign is lost unless the user first prints to PDF.  At which point, the ability to add the required notations by the Document Control department is lost.  With forms that were made several years before I started working for the company, we were able to have dynamic forms that allowed electronic signatures AND editing.

[jeffm70816839]

FYSA, I had no issues digitally signing the test doc with CAC. 

[KahluaO]

Thanks again, Jeff.  I haven't heard of CAC before, so I did a Google search.  It appears to be a DoD signing process which utilizes a CAC Card.  This is not something that we currently have.  Most of the people that sign our documents are engineers that only have Reader because they never edit PDFs.  Only a limited number of people have Acrobat.  So, a solution needs to work with Reader. 

As I mentioned, it was done before when dynamic forms could be created with (I think) Acrobat long ago.  Then, Adobe took it out and created Live Cycle and eventually AEM Designer.  Now, when we update the forms, we do not have dynamic sizing of the fields, so information is cut off when printed or viewed (need to use the scroll arrows).  At the same time, we need Document Control to be able to amend the form with release information.  We cannot simply use Comments as the amount of data entered varies by request.  The field still needs dynamic sizing.

It sounds like we need to create our forms in Acrobat and have very large field height to support our largest amount of data.  Not ideal by any means.  But it's better than having information cut off when viewed/printed. Such a money grab by Adobe to force people to upgrade to Acrobat.

[MohammedHi]

Hello, I having a similar issue and would need your support on this.

I'm using AEM 6.5 and developed the dynamic form and when opened using Reader its not allowing me to save the document but only lets me print it. I tried to save as Other > Reader Extended PDF > Enable More Tools but it fails with the below error

"The document could not be Reader enabled".

I need your urgent help on this

[radzmar]

This happens if the file is used by another process so saving is blocked or when you're using an older version of Acrobat like 9, X oder XI. Try to save the file with another name, when applying the usage rights. In case you're using such old version of Acrobat, you can't reader enable the PDF anymore since the certificate required for this operation has expired in 2023. 

[MohammedHi · Accepted solution]

Hello radzmar,

Thanks for your reply, I had tried the suggested solution but that didn't fix the issue.

I had to purchase the adobe package and update adobe pro, this fixed the issue immediately.