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Dickerman

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 21, 2010
2
0
I've been trying to find out when Preview first added support, such as it is, for fillable PDF forms. I'm looking for which version number and when it was released.

I'm new to the Mac and am using Preview 5.0.3 on OS 10.6.5, and although it allows you to interact with form fields and save, it also corrupts the form in many ways.

If anyone knows of a resource that shows when the various versions of Preview has been released and the new features with each, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.
 

larkost

macrumors 6502a
Oct 13, 2007
534
1
I believe that all versions of Preview.app have been able to fill in form elements. But I don't believe any version (the on in 10.5.6) can save modified PDFs (other than the comments/hi-light features).

I wish that Preview.app would support just a few more form features (notably the JavaScript features), but Adobe has made things really complicated in that area because their main aim with PDF forms has always been to sell more of their document management server software, and so they don't like playing nice with others in this area.
 

Dickerman

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 21, 2010
2
0
I appreciate the reply. I've read that it hasn't always had support for forms, and the current version at least it can indeed save a filled-in form. The problem is the extensive damage it causes as a result.

FWIW, there are a number of third-party PDF viewers that have decent support for JavaScript and other interactive elements, including Foxit, NitroPDF, and Nuance, but none of these are available for the Mac yet. These allow saving too.

Also, Acrobat is able to apply the usage rights that allow Adobe Reader to save a filled-in form, but certain licensing restrictions can come into play if the form is returned to the creator for data extraction.
 
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