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Combining XML and PDF Files

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Level 4

Hi, I have a form created in Adobe LiveCycle, and I need to be able to take this form and merge it with some PDF forms.  When I go try to "Combine Files into PDF" It says the XML form cannot be combine.  Is there a way around this?  Using the "Create a Portfolio" is not an option.

I have Adobe Pro X

Thanks for any assistance you can give on this matter.

Connie Bretes

1 Accepted Solution

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Correct answer by
Employee

Hi,
to explain why you cannot combine the XFA PDF with others:
Assembling PDFs only works with the same "type" of PDF.
The most common form of PDFs is what I call the Print-PDF. That is what the majority of PDFs out there are.
Then there are special variants such as XFA PDFs. These need a plug-in in Adobe Reader or Acrobat to render them in their final form while being opened.
Because these two are so different, it is not possible to combine them in Acrobat.

You can "flatten" your XFA PDF (it will not be a form with editable fields afterwards) and create a Print-PDF. Then you can combine them.
To flatten them you could for example use the "Microsoft Print as PDF" (which probably works better than converting to Word).

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14 Replies

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Level 3
Level 3

Hi,

First transform xml based form to non-interactive form and then merge.

Thanks

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Employee

Dynamic Interactive Forms cannot be combined with other PDFs. You will need either LiveCycle Assembler or LiveCycle Output to flatten the interactive form, and then it can be merged with other non interactive pdfs.

If you don't have LiveCycle, one thing you can do in Acrobat is print the form to the Adobe Printer, which will create a non interactive version of your form, and this PDF could be combined with other PDFs.

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Level 1

Yes, as kjaeggin said, after you transfter it to a non interactive PDF, then you can merge that PDF with other PDFs using LiveCycle Assembler.

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Level 1

Easyest Way to do is Open XML file in adobe Pro and print as a PDF thats gonna transform automaticly to reg pdf file after it will allow you to compbine xml to reg pdf

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Level 1

What if you need the PDF to remain interactive after its merged?

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Level 10

You can attach the interactive forms to your regular PDF's, so you'll be able to keep the interactivity.

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Level 1

I have tried to do this to no avail.

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Employee

what type of interactive form are you trying to combine? The following document outlines the constraints and rules around combining Form based PDFs. See chapter 4 in this documentation here: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/livecycle/11.0/ddxRef.pdf for LiveCycle Assembler.

KJ

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Level 1

Thank you! I decided to just start over!

Sent from my iPhone

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Level 1

Yes, this does the trick. First, I just tried to SAVE the document as a (regular) PDF file and this does NOT work. But if you PRINT (the XML version) to a PDF file, this gets the job done.

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Level 1

I was able to figure out how to combine an XML "pdf wrapped" file and a regular pdf without losing the editable boxes. Open both files you want to combine. Highlight all the pages of the XML document, right click, and select "Extract Pages". Extract them all into a new document. Then just select the pages and drag them to the other pdf doc. Any editable form fields will still be there.

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Level 1

The XML pdf is blank when I add them to the regular PDF.

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Level 1

the easiest way that I found to do it was to export the xml wrapped pdf to a word docx. then save that as a pdf. you can now open it and insert/merge other pdfs into it...

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Correct answer by
Employee

Hi,
to explain why you cannot combine the XFA PDF with others:
Assembling PDFs only works with the same "type" of PDF.
The most common form of PDFs is what I call the Print-PDF. That is what the majority of PDFs out there are.
Then there are special variants such as XFA PDFs. These need a plug-in in Adobe Reader or Acrobat to render them in their final form while being opened.
Because these two are so different, it is not possible to combine them in Acrobat.

You can "flatten" your XFA PDF (it will not be a form with editable fields afterwards) and create a Print-PDF. Then you can combine them.
To flatten them you could for example use the "Microsoft Print as PDF" (which probably works better than converting to Word).