🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <fmmck-50D2DA.21422308112008@nntp.aioe.org>,
 Fred McKenzie <fmmck@aol.com> wrote:

> Justin-
> 
> I'm guessing that you started out Saving-As from Preview, and subsequent 
> attempts to use Adobe Reader on that saved copy were unsuccessful.
> 
> After all the discussion, no one mentioned that they tried downloading 
> Schedule M-1.  So I searched the IRS site and found f1120fm1.pdf.  That 
> was the only "Schedule M-1" I could find there.
> 
> Guess what?  It DOES have saving enabled.  But only "Save As" from Adobe 
> Reader.
> 
> Then I tried opening a filled-in copy using Preview and was able to edit 
> it further.  But the Saved-As copy from Preview had all the entered data 
> deleted.  Then I opened this newly emptied copy in Adobe Reader, and it 
> no longer would let me save changes.
> 
> Moral:  DO NOT use Preview to fill out your tax forms!  It is too late 
> to help you with your assignment, but this little lesson will definitely 
> save me some grief come tax time.
> 
> Fred

It's a joy to read a post that reports some careful, specific, detailed 
testing, and clearly reports the results of that testing.

It's also instructive in bringing out some of the complexities that are 
apparently associated with PDF files and printing and with saving them 
from different programs.  

[I often make master copies of presentation slides as excessively large 
PDF files containing embedded image files that are much higher 
resolution than is needed for the slide itself, and with Illustrator and 
other re-editing capabilities left turned on,  because I want to keep 
these as the master copies of all that information.  Then, to get 
reasonable sized copies of these slides for working use, I've been 
testing three or four different ways of down-converting copies of these 
slides to smaller PDF files -- and it's quite dramatic how different the 
results are using different tools.]

It's my guess, for example (I'm not an expert), that the PDF format 
probably includes multiple kinds of internal security settings that can 
be included by the original authors of a PDF document for controlling 
what can be subsequently be done with a PDF document, a PDF form, the 
data entered into that form, and so on, by way of subsequent editing, 
saving and printing.  

I can also envision useful reasons for doing this, like, for example, a 
document that contains some internal security coding installed by its 
original creator (the IRS, a bank, etc) which allows you to Save As or 
Print to PDF an "image" or file copy of that form with your data, but 
only with the security coding removed, to make it harder for some hacker 
or counterfeiter to alter or mis-use the original document or form.

Anyone know of a not too technical "PDF for Dummies" type write-up that 
might explain some of these PDF complexities?

And wouldn't it be nice if the documentation for the Apple Finder, 
Preview, and other programs that enable Save As or Print to PDF for PDF 
files would include at least a small warning that the Saved or Printed 
copy might lose some of its editing and re-editing features?