Edit 2024-10-27: still have not figured out how to prevent it other than not using the signatures option. Will continue trying (occasionally) and hopefully I remember to do another update.

Edit 2024-10-30: tried it again today to see if I could pinpoint the cause, but it allowed me to sign and save it! I didn’t do anything so hopefully it was just a glitch originally.

I’m back again! I don’t know if anyone is actually here but I’m going to ask my question anyway.

Last time, I was having issues running FoxIt Phantom PDF on Fedora. I got it going and have been able to create a few fillable PDFs since then. However, today I was trying to create a fillable from someone else’s PDF and then fill it in (medical paperwork).

When I saved it, it saved the first few pages correctly but the rest of the pages was missing the original text and only showed what I added. Upon closing and reopening, it corrupted further into random letters on the first page with my added text remaining correct. I emailed it to myself and on my Android phone it showed a bunch of character boxes and nothing else.

Any ideas on how to prevent this from happening again?

Some additional info:

  • It seemed to get mad when I saved the document, applying 2 or 3 signatures to the PDF.
  • The PDF is 6 pages, all text except for the clinic logo at the top of each page.
  • I used a mix of text boxes, date fields, checkboxes, and highlighting when completing the paperwork. I also used the option of basically pasting the signatures under the fill & sign tab rather than doing a proper digital signature.
  • FoxIt Phantom PDF Version: 10.1.9.37808 (for Windows, installed using wine, see prior post for details)
  • Fedora Linux 40 using KDE Plasma Version 6.1.5
  • Laptop: HP ENVY x360 Convertible 15m-bp1xx
  • Phone: Pixel 8 running Android 14
  • Emailed through Gmail in Firefox for Fedora version 131.0.
  • Downloaded to phone using the FairEmail app version 1.2236a. Opened with Xodo PDF reader version 9.4.5.