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Missing Submit Button

Kessnick
Registered: Apr 12 2011
Posts: 10

Hi all,
 
I'm new here but hoping to get some assistance as I've spent the past few days researching this problem and can't find an answer (argh!).
 
I've created a form in Acrobat X and then used "distribute" to send it out so that I can collect the answers manually (by email). When staff that have Reader receive the email, they can open the PDF, answer the questions and there is a Submit button at the top right hand side (in the purple).
 
However, if the staff member has Acrobat, they do not see the Submit button in the purple area. I'm assuming that the PDF is thinking, hey you have Acrobat, you have permissions to change me, etc and isn't putting in the Submit button.
 
So, is there a way to make that Submit button appear for Acrobat users?
 
Any help would be hugely appreciated. (I have gone and put in a Submit button manually at the bottom of the document, however, the form doesn't automatically add to my tracker and doesn't keep tabs of who has responded, etc).
 
Thanks,
Nic

My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro 10.0, Windows
thomp
Expert
Registered: Feb 15 2006
Posts: 4411
What do you mean they have "Acrobat"? Is is Pro, Standard, Reader, A different version?

The distribute functionality works best if everyone is on the same version of Acrobat. It doesn't (or shouldn't) matter whether or not they are using Pro or Reader. The button you're talking about, on the purple toolbar, was added in Acrobat 9. It is an Acrobat feature and has little to do with the document itself. If you want your form to work with a variety of Acrobat versions and variations its always best to have a submit button on the document. The purple button will still display in later versions of Acrobat, but putting a button on the document means that people with other versions can still use the form.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
www.pdfscripting.com
Very Important - How to Debug Your Script

Kessnick
Registered: Apr 12 2011
Posts: 10
Hi Thom,

Thanks for replying.

By Acrobat, I mean they have Adobe Acrobat, not Adobe Reader (isn't that how you differentiate between the programs? Acrobat creates PDFs, Reader just reads them). So, if someone has Acrobat, that means they won't see the Submit button? That seems to be what is happening. Everyone that has Reader (regardless of the version) can see the button, it's just the Acrobat users that don't see the button. I thought maybe there was some permissions that needed to be set/changed since they have Acrobat and more rights for viewing the document that Reader people do.


Thanks,
Nic
thomp
Expert
Registered: Feb 15 2006
Posts: 4411
Actually, saying "Acrobat" is a bit confusing. It's a product family rather than a specific thing. Reader used to be "Acrobat Reader". And many people call both Acrobat Pro and Reader, "Adobe". I differentiate the products by saying Pro, Standard, or Reader. But the version is also important since there are sometimes large differences in how a particular feature works.

But regardless, if the form was setup for distribution then the purple button should be there, Reader or Pro. If it's not then there is something going on that is not immediately apparent. Hence the need for more information. Is the any way for you to post the problem form?

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
www.pdfscripting.com
Very Important - How to Debug Your Script

Kessnick
Registered: Apr 12 2011
Posts: 10
Yeah, that's why people are confused with Acrobat and Reader because they changed the name (like my staff don't know the difference between Windows and Office :-)

Can I send you the form privately?
thomp
Expert
Registered: Feb 15 2006
Posts: 4411
I'd prefer that the form was posted to Acrobat.com, then post the link here

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
www.pdfscripting.com
Very Important - How to Debug Your Script

Kessnick
Registered: Apr 12 2011
Posts: 10
How do I do that?
thomp
Expert
Registered: Feb 15 2006
Posts: 4411
go to www.acrobat.com and sign up for a free account.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
www.pdfscripting.com
Very Important - How to Debug Your Script

Kessnick
Registered: Apr 12 2011
Posts: 10
Okay, does this work?
https://acrobat.com/#d=XfNxNb8pXsxS8N4SDRAKPA
thomp
Expert
Registered: Feb 15 2006
Posts: 4411
The document is currently inaccessible. It needs to be published so that anyone can view it.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
www.pdfscripting.com
Very Important - How to Debug Your Script

Kessnick
Registered: Apr 12 2011
Posts: 10
Okay, think we got it .. https://acrobat.com/#d=XfNxNb8pXsxS8N4SDRAKPA
thomp
Expert
Registered: Feb 15 2006
Posts: 4411
This file has not been enabled for distribution. I think you sent me the original file, not the distributed file.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
www.pdfscripting.com
Very Important - How to Debug Your Script

Kessnick
Registered: Apr 12 2011
Posts: 10
Oh crap anyways. I set it to publish and copied the link. What am I doing wrong?
thomp
Expert
Registered: Feb 15 2006
Posts: 4411
I got the file you published. Downloaded and tested it. The file is a registration form. But it has not been enabled for distribution by Acrobat. When you ran the distribution wizard it asked you at some point to save the distribution form, possibly with "_distributed" appended to the file name? This is the file that the users should be filling out.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
www.pdfscripting.com
Very Important - How to Debug Your Script

Kessnick
Registered: Apr 12 2011
Posts: 10
Oh man, I must be having a blonde day or something. Sorry, here is the other file ... https://acrobat.com/#d=3uGlCaef7ZOAusZOTi1*aQ
thomp
Expert
Registered: Feb 15 2006
Posts: 4411
I'm seeing the purple submit button in both Reader and Professional X. In Acrobat 8 there is a submit button on at the top of the form, but no button on the purple (forms) toolbar.

What version of Acrobat Pro does this non-purple button user have?

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
www.pdfscripting.com
Very Important - How to Debug Your Script

Kessnick
Registered: Apr 12 2011
Posts: 10
It seems most of them are using Acrobat Pro 9.
thomp
Expert
Registered: Feb 15 2006
Posts: 4411
It appears that this is some kind of intermittent issue. I've heard about lots of different issues with cross version form distribution, but not this one. It could be that certain variations of Pro 9 just aren't doing the trick, and that it is not a fixable issue. Since there were changes in form distribution in Acrobat 8, 9 and X there are some built-in incompatibilities that cannot be overcome, but mostly these are on the receiving end of the form data (your end) and not with the users.

You need more information to figure it out. Try characterizing the issue to a finer granularity. Is it just 9 Pro? What dot version of 9? Is there anything unusual about the OS or systems the users are running?

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
www.pdfscripting.com
Very Important - How to Debug Your Script

Kessnick
Registered: Apr 12 2011
Posts: 10
Hmmm, so sounds like no fix eh? I've sent out the form 'as is' and just told staff that if they didn't see the Submit button, then to use the 'attach to email' instead. Seems to be working okay.

Something to try and figure out for next time. We've gone to centralized programs, etc by our IT department so everyone is pretty much running the same OS and version of Pro now (as we aren't allowed to install anything on our own :-)).

Thanks for your time and help though.