LiveCycle form/can't delete comments in Acrobat

[JCAOC]

I have a workflow that requires the development of forms in LiveCycle (using Designer ES2) - but in the review process also requires highlights to the specific words/items that have changed. We save the LiveCycle form as static PDFs, and then we highlight the relevant items in Acrobat X. You can open the marked-up version in LiveCycle, and even though you get a warning the highlights will remain. Today's problem was:

Worked on form in LiveCycle

Saved as static

Highlighted relevant items

Oh, no, discovered an error - opened marked up form in LiveCycle

Made changes, incl. moving previously highlighted text to new location

Saved again as static

Opened form in Acrobat

Could NOT DELETE previous highlight to account for replacement of text. Had big comment field with no text where it had previously been placed. It would look like we deleted it, but when we saved, closed, and opened the form again in Acrobat - there it was again.

The ultimate work-around was to open the form in LiveCycle, save as dynamic (and thereby removing all higlights), open again in LiveCycle, save as static and then reapply all highlights in Acrobat.

This has not been a problem before. Any suggestions? Also, any suggestions for a more efficient workflow that includes highlights?

[dcidev]

I see your issue. I've never worked with static PDFs (let alone ones with comments) but the fact that Designer warns you that they will be removed and they aren't says to me that there is a glitch in Designer. Just like Reader extensions and embedded files, annotations should be removed when editing the PDF in Designer.

The fact that you can't delete them in Acrobat after saving in Designer is just a residual effect of the glitch in Designer.

I use to print my PDFs to the PDF Printer to make them static then the client would use that to comment on. The actual PDF that goes to production, no one should touch but the developers.

Is there a reason why you would have to use the PDF that they commented on to edit and not just a copy that you use JUST for editing?

Kyle

[JCAOC]

A couple of things: A form is developed by staff, and then reviewed by the sponsoring committee – changes need to be highlighted for the committee. Once the committee finalizes the form, the end result – with all changes highlighted – is sent to internal review. Once that level finishes the form, the final version is sent for a period of public comment – also with all changes highlighted. This whole process is repeated after the comment period, and then the final form that will become the form posted for statewide use is sent for approval, again with all changes highlighted.

There would be a fairly high risk of omitting a relevant highlight if we had to start from scratch each time (ie, printing to PDF and highlight). Therefore, since it was possible to revise a marked-up version in LiveCycle we could simply keep using that version, either overwriting it or keeping each deliverable. It does not seem like we can do that anymore. The work-around of course is to keep the previously highlighted version until you set up the next one. But that’s a work-around, not a solution. Having shaded boxes overlap text and/or fields in LiveCycle is just too unwieldy.

Camilla Kieliger