PDF file question

[tinpanalley]

Question about pdf files... A PDF was created by a government agency for a visa application and filled out and received by our lawyers. When we tried printing at Staples, it printed with none of the fields filled in. What causes this? It's important for us to know where the issue is. 

[Kobathor]

It's hard to know why this happened in your case, but in general I avoid this by printing the modified form-fill PDF as its own new PDF, then sending the new PDF to the printer. As in:

1. Receive form-fill PDF
2. Fill in form in PDF software (or web browser)
3. "Print" the filled-out form in the PDF software, use the "printer" called Microsoft Print to PDF (Windows) or Save to PDF (Every other OS, also Windows)
4. Take the new, filled-out PDF created in the previous step to the printer

Doing it this way, you can inspect the new PDF before sending it off to the printer to make sure all the fields are filled in.

[OddOod]

I'm far from an expert, but I know there are several ways you can make a PDF fillable and it's possible that Staples' print shop didn't correctly apply the filling layer. Kob has the right solution

[tinpanalley]

10 hours ago, Kobathor said:

Doing it this way, you can inspect the new PDF before sending it off to the printer to make sure all the fields are filled in.

We were trying to print from the tablet/display attached to the printer/photocopier at Staples. The screen showed the fields filled but wouldn't print them filled. What I did at Staples was jump on one of their computers and print the file to PDF to make a flattened one. That then printed.
But I'd really like to know what the cause of this was. Because we paid a lot of money to this service to help us with this application and I want to know if it was them that made/filled out this PDF wrong because we paid too much for them to not know this file management. Here's the Security Properties...

 

[Kilrah]

5 hours ago, tinpanalley said:

What I did at Staples was jump on one of their computers and print the file to PDF to make a flattened one

Did you have to fill the form again or were the contents saved and there when you opened it on the computer?

 

If the info was there it's likely that the printers/devices attached to them don't support the form feature correctly.

[tinpanalley]

11 hours ago, Kilrah said:

Did you have to fill the form again or were the contents saved and there when you opened it on the computer?

 

If the info was there it's likely that the printers/devices attached to them don't support the form feature correctly.

Ok, yes, once printed to PDF, Staples' photocopier's proprietary tablet/software was then able to print. So, I guess what happened here is that the document was made fine but that tablet and software (whoever they're manufactured by) have some third party PDF legibility that isn't as thorough as an Adobe authorised option.

This isn't the one we used here but teh setup is identical. So whoever makes that device is what we used: