The following is done on a Windows 10 machine.
The new W4 statements [Form W-4 (2020)] you have to fill out were created with digital signatures, so when you look at permissions, you find:
Changing the Document: Not Allowed
Document Assembly: Not Allowed
So I wondered ... how do you unlock "signed PDF" files ... you can only input where they allow you to input ... pre-set form fields! Personally, I find this un-acceptable ... I have my signature in a pre-scanned TRANSPARENT PNG file so that (since I have Acrobat), I can drop in that signature so the form is complete.
In the past I just printed it to a PDF, but digital signatures retain the security of "NOT ALLOWED" ... sigh. Well, it took me a few hours to figure this out, and "technically" your not unlocking it ... but instead "re-creating it" (which, if I'm being honest, that is what I do when I PRINT to a PDF and then put in graphics and text boxes.
Anyway, to do this, do a PRINT to your standard printer, and you:
1) in the PRINT dialog, click ADVANCED
2) click the boxes PRINT TO FILE and PRINT AS IMAGE ... I choose 600 DPI
3) OK it and print it ... and it prints to a PRN file.
4) PRN is Post Script, so change the extension to .PS
Now, go to the web site: www.ps2pdf.com ... you don't need to install anything (but I was so impressed, I did install the CHROME extension) and you upload the PS file ... and in about 1 minute, I was able to download a PDF.
Once downloaded, open in Adobe Acrobat and do the RECOGNIZE TEXT function to turn it into something that you can more easily use. Once done, you can insert or edit away.
The new W4 statements [Form W-4 (2020)] you have to fill out were created with digital signatures, so when you look at permissions, you find:
Changing the Document: Not Allowed
Document Assembly: Not Allowed
So I wondered ... how do you unlock "signed PDF" files ... you can only input where they allow you to input ... pre-set form fields! Personally, I find this un-acceptable ... I have my signature in a pre-scanned TRANSPARENT PNG file so that (since I have Acrobat), I can drop in that signature so the form is complete.
In the past I just printed it to a PDF, but digital signatures retain the security of "NOT ALLOWED" ... sigh. Well, it took me a few hours to figure this out, and "technically" your not unlocking it ... but instead "re-creating it" (which, if I'm being honest, that is what I do when I PRINT to a PDF and then put in graphics and text boxes.
Anyway, to do this, do a PRINT to your standard printer, and you:
1) in the PRINT dialog, click ADVANCED
2) click the boxes PRINT TO FILE and PRINT AS IMAGE ... I choose 600 DPI
3) OK it and print it ... and it prints to a PRN file.
4) PRN is Post Script, so change the extension to .PS
Now, go to the web site: www.ps2pdf.com ... you don't need to install anything (but I was so impressed, I did install the CHROME extension) and you upload the PS file ... and in about 1 minute, I was able to download a PDF.
Once downloaded, open in Adobe Acrobat and do the RECOGNIZE TEXT function to turn it into something that you can more easily use. Once done, you can insert or edit away.
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