Pdf reader requirements for forms designed in Livecycle

[Former Community Member]

HI guys,

I have designed a few dynamic pdf forms that was developed using Livecycle Designer ES. These forms are online fillable forms and I will be uploading these on my site so my users can open these forms in their browsers, complete the form online and print it out for their personal use. These forms are more like online tools for the users. For this, I also have to provide a Troubleshoot guide to my users so they can refer to this if they are unable to open the forms or having trouble viewing the forms properly. So right now I am working on creating this Troubleshoot documentation and I dont want to give the wrong info to my users so I have some clarifications and some doubts and wondering if you guys can help me out..

1) From what I understand, I think the users need to have atleast a v.8.0 of Acrobat Reader in order to fill these dynamic forms that was designed in livecycle designer ES. This is right? I think so based on my memory since I believe I read this somewhere. Would you be able to clarify this? Have I got the right version?

2) Also, further to this I understand that the users need to have an Acrobat reader browser plug-in in order to open the pdfs in their browsers. So, I will be adding a list of various pdf plug-in download links for various browsers.

3) I was wondering, what happens if the user doesnt have acrobat reader installed in their computer? What are the common other pdf readers that various users use? I know there are tons out there but I am trying to understand the common ones that majority of the people use other than Acrobat Reader. I mean users having mac or other OS. Will these forms also work in other pdf readers? Is there are a list of various pdf readers & the versions requirements in order for these livecycle forms to work?

4) Other than the above points, do you think if I need to mention anything else in the troubleshoot documentation? Any points I may have missed?

I am sorry..this is the first time I am uploading these online forms and I am trying to understand the requirements so I may be able to assist my users if they do experience any problems. So any help is very much appreciated!

Thank you..

[Former Community Member]

Update: I found this that answers my question 1 from this link. From what I understand from this link, I think my user would need atleast v8.1 to open the forms I've created. : http://help.adobe.com/en_US/livecycle/8.2/target_version_reference.pdf

If someone the clarify my other doubts I've posted above would be great..

Further to that, I was also wondering if there is a way to hide the form objects hierarchy, form structure and its scripts for users having livecycle designer too?? I mean, if my user have the livecycle designer in their computer, I dont want them to open my forms in livecycle and view its structure, its scripts and its functions etc...In that case, they will be able to change or edit my forms. Is there a way to put a limitation to this document so no can view or change it even if they have livecycle designer or Acrobat pro?? How can I do this??

[Former Community Member · Accepted solution]

You can set a permissions password on the form template using Adobe Designer (File > Form Properties > PDF Security).  If you set the permissions to "not allow changes" you will need to supply the password to open the PDF in Adobe Designer.  The end users filling in the form will not need to enter a password to open it for filling with Reader.

Regards

Steve

[Former Community Member]

HI Steve, thank you for that...Thats exactly what I was wondering about. Awesome!! I will set the permission so the forms are not accessible from adobe designer.

Also I have just finalised the troubleshoot documentations for my users as well. I just mentioned it there that they need to have adobe acrobat reader v.8.1 atleast and have also provided all the links to various support that Adobe already have in this website to download the reader and to set-up plug-ins etc... Hopefully that should solve it. This is just for the end users who have no idea about pdf plug-ins..

[Former Community Member]

Some users are having problems viewing my forms I created using livecycle:

1) I have a created a few dynamic forms designed using livecycle designer ES..In order for my users to open these forms, they need to have atleast Adobe acrobat / reader version 8.1 or higher to view these dynamic files. However, quite a few of my users are saying that they are still unable to open these forms directly from their browser although they have downloaded the latest Acrobat X version and the browser plug-ins in their computer. It happens to both windows and mac computers. But they are able to download these files and open it directly from their adobe reader though. It happens with all browsers for them...some of them have even called up mac support as well as adobe support and they were advised that it could be a problem with my forms that I find hard to believe since it opens in my computer and opens for a lot of other users. Its only a few users still having this difficulties and I can't understand why! They have also tried enabling "Adobe Reader" as a default problem to open pdf files by opening the adobe reader. They also have tried uninstalling and re-installing the readers and still the same problem. These LC files just dont open inside their browser for them.

2) Also, I recently uploaded a dynamic file in acrobat file sharing. I noticed that when I click on this file sharing link, it also shows the message that I dont have the latest reader installed (something similar to what my users say about my forms), Why am I getting the below message when I have the latest adobe installed? I am able to open other dynamic xml forms in my browsers..why does this happen? I wonder if other user's problem who open my forms from my site is similar to this problem I have with acrobat file sharing...not sure... (example url: https://acrobat.com/#d=fs-E6Bqml8r0FWI8aMu09g )

To view the full contents of this document, you need a later version of the PDF viewer. You can upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader from etc...etc...etc..

What can be the problem when the adobe version is already updated and also the plug-ins are updated too?? I have read a lot of links in adobe site itself which suggest various methods to test out the forms, browsers, plug-ins, etc..and I also understand that it doesnt work for iOS & Android devices, but this problem still happens to some users even after trying out these troubleshoots. Can someone plz explain if there are other limitations or solution for these users?