Saving Fillable Form as non-fillable PDF

[Former Community Member]

I need some help with LiveCycle.



I've created a form that will be sent to several people to fill out. Once they fill it out, they will need to save the form as a non-fillable file (normal PDF?) and send on to others to be read-only. The form will not come back to me.



I cannot figure out how to enable the form to be saved as a normal, non-changeable PDF.



Also, the only option seems to be that the form is returned to me. I don't want that, either.



Thank you!

Tricia

[y_mamBo]

Hi, I have several Files I filled out on Adobe Acrobat and now need to distribute as LOCKED pdf files. there are only two fillable form fields on each file and I am completely ignorant as to the use and creation of the scripts... The forms Do not have ANY submit buttons or any buttons at all because they are distributed via email.

How exactly do i lock these forms?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

[Niall_O_Donovan]

Hi,

If you have existing forms completed, the best way would be to open the form(s) in Acrobat and then print to a PDF. This will allow you to create a static copy of the form, which will not have any fields or access to change the data. Does that make sense?

If you want a scripted button to lock the fields in a form, you will need to open the existing form(s) in LiveCycle Designer and add the script from Paul's example.

Hope that helps,

Niall

[y_mamBo]

I'm sorry, what do you mean by "Print to PDF"? (I have Acrobat X and

Livecycle)

[y_mamBo]

P.S

Thanks SO MUCH!

Best,

Yansy

[Niall_O_Donovan]

Hi Yansy,

If you are in a Windows environment, then if you open the form in Acrobat X you can select Print and select the Adobe PDF driver:

You will be prompted to select a location for the "flat" PDF version.

This is equivalent to a printed version of the form that can't be edited.

Hope that helps,

Niall

[y_mamBo]

Oh dear!

It worked!!

I've been trying to do this for EVER.

Thanks a ton Niall.

Best Regards

Yansy

[bztiger7]

may i get the script too please? bztiger7@gmail.com

[Niall_O_Donovan]

Hi,

Paul's great example is available on page 5 of this thread: http://forums.adobe.com/message/3168183#3168183.

Have a good look at it, because the loop in the function can be used for so many things.

Good luck,

Niall

[Former Community Member]

Hi Guys,

I am using Adobe Acrobat X and creating a Forms natively. We do not use LiveCycle.

So I have created a form with several fields, buttons a date picker - some of which I have found online.

The forms that I will be creating will be placed on the Intranet of the Organisation that I work for.

So what I need is for our users to fill out the form online. Press the Submit button. When they press submit the form must lock all the contents. We do not want to contents edited when it reaches its destination. The submit button will also call up the default email program, populate the TO: field with a specified email address and the Subject field with specified text.

Been stuck on this one for a while. I used some simple html with the submit button for a while and that mostly worked except the part about locking the form.

This might be tricky as the user will not have access to save the form online (I assume if the form contents is going to be locked it must be saved somewhere).

So if somneone can java me up a solution i would greatly appreciated.

I have tried a few of the solutions on the previous pages but they won't seem to work.

I add the Java as per link

]http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/9343/adobeforums.jpg

Many Thanks,

Nick

[radzmar]

Hi,

the JavaScript methods in Acrobat are different to those in LiveCycle, so your script needs some changes.

Use the this.getField() method instead of xfa.resolveNode() and this.submitForm() instead of event.target.SubmitForm().

[c-k-jensen]

Hi

I have the same problem as Nick using Acrobat X Pro.

I'd like to send a form by email so that the reciever gets a flat pdf.

I tried to fill in what you've suggested but I've never tried to do javascript before so perhaps it's just nonsense:

this.getField(button name).access ="readOnly";
if (choice == 1){

var mail;

var address = "email@email.com";

var ccadd = ccAdd.rawValue; //taken from a field placed on the form

var sub = "xxxx";

var body = "xxxxxx";

mail = "mailto: email@email.com" + address + "?cc=" + ccadd + "&subject=" + sub + "&body=" + body;
this.submitForm({

cURL: mail,

bEmpty: true,

cSubmitAs: "PDF",

cCharset: "utf-8"

});

}

I can't get it to work. I get a syntax error: "missing ) after argument 1" at line 2 (if (choice == 1))

Thank you in advance,

Charlotte

[Niall_O_Donovan]

As Radzmar said, this.getField() is not an XFA Form method (it is only applicable to AcroForms). This is what is causing the problem.

Niall

[c-k-jensen]

But I am using Acrobat X Pro. As I understood it, I should use this.getField() in Acrobat...

[Niall_O_Donovan]

Hi,

No that is not how it works. If you are developing your form in LC Designer, then it is an XFA Form inside a PDF wrapper. To the user the XFA Form opens up in Acrobat/Reader and they do not see any difference from a native PDF. But from a developer's point of view an XFA Form is completely different from an AcroForm.

this.getField() is an AcroForm method that will not work in script in an XFA Form. The equivalent would be:

ButtonName.access = "readOnly";

Hope that helps,

Niall

[dxstock]

I created a form and all the code works to 'lock all fields'.  When attached and sent via email, the file is not truly flattened.  Is there a way to ensure the form is locked that is received by anyone that has Reader or Acrobat without having to 'reprint' to PDF?

[Niall_O_Donovan]

Hi,

You are correct, the script does not "flatten" the form. It merely works through all of the objects, setting their access to readOnly. This has the same effect as flattening the form, as the user cannot change the content.

If in your case the form is received by email and when opened the objects are no longer set to readOnly, then it may be that the form is not set to preserve script changes. To check this open the form in LC Designer and go to the File > Form Properties > Defaults. There make sure that the "Preserve Script Changes" is set to "Automatic".

Please note that if the form is NOT Reader Enabled and the user is using Reader, then this solution will not work, as the user will NOT be able to save the form.

This is probably the best route for protecting the form, outside of the full LiveCycle Enterprise Suite.

Hope that helps,

Niall

[dxstock]

OMGosh! I have searched the web for three days! That fixed it. I cannot thank you enough – not only for providing the solution, but your reply was in record time! Thank you, again x100!

diana

[Niall_O_Donovan]

You're welcome!

[BjornStr]

Hi all,

This scrip works like a charm when doing this:

1. Open the form in Adobe reader

2. Fill it

3. Press the "lock" button

4. Save and close

5. Reopen in Adobe reader; the fields can not be edited

However, and unfortunately, some of the users of my form are opening the saved and locked form in PDF Exchange (not an adobe product), and are able to edit it. I havent tested it in other PDF applications, but I fear this might be true to more than PDF Exchange!

I am at a loss here. No idea how to solve this problem, and the viable ONLY sollution for this specific form is to lock it the way the script does it.

Any ideas?

Most gratefully

/B

[SJ3ff]

Looking at Paul's script is there a way to perform the lock and then email the locked form to in a one button click? In other words, the user fills in the form, clicks the Submit button that would lock the form and then email it to a user.

[y_mamBo]

Hey... how do i "print to pdf" on a Mac if i don't see the Adobe Pdf driver

on the menu of printers available?

Thanks!!

Yance