# Is there freeware for OSX to save PDF forms?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-freeware-for-osx-to-save-pdf-forms/293333>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 7, 2005, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-freeware-for-osx-to-save-pdf-forms/293333 "2005-03-07T09:05:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tyrrell_mcallister/32/16772_2.png) [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-freeware-for-osx-to-save-pdf-forms/293333/1 "2005-03-07T09:05:27Z")

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Many forms from government agencies such as the IRS can be downloaded in PDF format. Using Adobe Acrobat Reader, one can often fill in the entries of these forms before printing them. However, if you want to save a filled-in version of one of these forms to a disk, Acrobat Reader won’t let you. Adobe uses that ability as a hook to get you to purchace the full version of Acrobat. They even go so far as to disable the print-to-file option that OSX offers in just about every application with print ability.

I know that there are several freeware applications for viewing PDFs. Does anyone know of a freeware application for OSX (perhaps via Fink and X11) that will also save filled-in forms?

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**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-freeware-for-osx-to-save-pdf-forms/293333/2 "2005-03-07T13:47:41Z")

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Which version of Reader are you using? I’ve _heard_ that the latest _will_ allow you to save form data.

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**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-freeware-for-osx-to-save-pdf-forms/293333/3 "2005-03-07T14:54:03Z")

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A possible workaround would be to do a screen capture:

Command-Shift-3 captures the whole screen.

Command-Shift-4 lets you select a rectangular region to capture.

This puts the screenshot on your desktop as a PDF named Picture 1. Do it again and it creates Picture 2, etc.

Not what you asked for, exactly, I realize, but I thought I’d throw it out there.

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**Author:** ![Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tyrrell_mcallister/32/16772_2.png) [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-freeware-for-osx-to-save-pdf-forms/293333/4 "2005-03-08T09:39:34Z")

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> [@Balthisar](#):
>
> Which version of Reader are you using? I’ve _heard_ that the latest _will_ allow you to save form data.

I’m using version 7.0 for MacOS X. I think that that’s the latest version, but it doesn’t let me save form data.

**Podkayne** , thanks for the tip, but, as you say, that is not exactly what I’m looking for. I’m looking for something that will let me fill out part of a form, save the data, and then return later to resume filling things in.