Adobe Reader XI doesn't allow the editing of fields in a document after it's been edited?

Question

One of the users at our company has a *.pdf file she received from the state of Pennsylvania.

The version of Adobe Reader she is using is Adobe Reader XI 11.0.3.

She uses this pdf file to send in a report.

Her workflow goes like this:

1. She makes a copy of the file.
2. She opens the file and the file displays in purple at the top:
   • Please fill out the following form. You can save data typed into this form.
   • Highlight Existing Fields
3. She fills in the specifics by entering values into the form fields.
4. A few weeks later she returns to the same pdf document and can no longer edit the fields, instead she gets the following message:

"This document enabled extended features in Adobe Reader. The document has been changed since it was created and use of extended features is no longer available. Please contact the author for the original version of this document."

She's also running Windows 7 and I've been told that the issue was once fixed by setting compatibility mode on Adobe Reader XI to Windows XP SP3.

Answer 1

I had the same problem. I tried changing the compatibility mode (among other things) and that didn't solve anything. It seems that once a document starts showing that message, it can no longer be filled in by Adobe Reader.

The solutions seem to be to either use:

• Adobe Acrobat or
• Foxit Reader

I opted for Foxit Reader since it's free. It seems to continue to allow filling in documents that Adobe Reader won't.

Answer 2

I believe I was forced to purchase Adobe Acrobat Pro and re-save the file to get this to work.