When I try to save an imported pdf file, that I have opened in an external editor (Adobe Acrobat) to add highlighting and notes to the file, it will not let me save the document. Warning message says the file is open in another program.
Adobe Acrobat (not Reader) opens a file for editing since that is it’s main purpose. So if you import an open PDF into Scrivener and try to edit it in Scrivener, the warning message is expected. Close Acrobat to get access to the PDF.
(Acrobat Reader may also open for editing, but I don’t have it to test that. I use the Sumatra reader instead of the Adobe reader.)
BClarke Thanks for the quick response. I should have been clearer in explaining the problem. I have already imported a pdf file int Scrivner. Afterwards, I have opened it to review and to edit with highlighted text and comments. The default external editor I use is a full version of Acrobat, not the reader. When I try to save the pdf file after editing it, I receive an error message that states, among other things, that the file is open in another program and that I must save the edited PDF with a new file name. I should also have pointed out that I do not have this problem when the external editor is a reader like Microsoft Edge. I can solve my problem by associating all pdf files with Edge, but I would rather not do that because I do a lot of work with pdf files, so I prefer to open them with Acrobat. I am wondering whether anyone know how to get around this particular problem. All the best, AG00000
I don’t have Acrobat so I couldn’t test with your setup, but I did try a PDF after setting Sumatra to be the external editor and couldn’t duplicate your problem, but since Sumatra is only a reader, that makes sense because it would open the file in shared mode and only for read access.
I also imported an Excel spreadsheet and I could edit without problems.
Did you have the PDF open in a Scrivener editor window when you opened it in Acrobat? That is one circumstance that might cause a file sharing conflict.
Hi Bob, I think you got it right. When I edit the file and it is still open in the Scrivner Editor, I get the error message and cannot save. But if I close the editor by clicking on another “text” file, which switches the editor to a different document, Adobe will allow me to save the document with the changes I made.
It is an easy work-around. Thanks for making the time to solve the problem.
All the best, AG00000