Help! Errors Opening PDFs in Adobe Acrobat Reader

Are you getting error messages when opening PDFs in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC? There could be an issue with your Reader Extension certificate.  

What are Reader Extensions? 

Reader Extensions are a mechanism for enabling additional functionality in the free Adobe Reader by signing the document with special certificates.  The types of operations that are supported for a document are listed in the Document Extensions are within Reader’s sidebar and can include QR barcodes, fillable forms, digital signatures, comments, signatures and attachable files. 

Fixing Expired Reader Extension Certificates  

Certificates used to reader-enable PDFs have long life spans but do eventually expire. These certificates are tied to an Adobe Root certificate embedded in Acrobat. If you have an older version of Adobe Reader and the PDF was signed with a newer certificate, you may get the following error: 

Error 1: “The document has been changed since it was created...” 

The good news is, the document has not changed, but that older versions of Adobe Reader (such as Reader 10 and Reader 11) were released before the new Adobe Root certificate came into existence. If the new root certificate is not embedded in the software, Reader is unable to establish trust from the information presented in the PDF and is shown as invalid. 

The easiest solution for this issue? Upgrade to a current version of Adobe Reader. 

Error 2: “The evaluation period for extended features has expired” 

If you have documents that were reader-enabled with an older certificate, you will see a warning that your “evaluation period for extended features has expired” when opening in Adobe Reader: 

 The solution for this error is to reader-enable the original PDF document with a current certificate, which Datalogics provides as a service. No software downloads or programming is required.

Contact Us to learn more about updating your Reader Extensions certificate. 

      Read our blog Reader Extend PDFs: Enable Forms, Barcodes & Automation    

     Watch our videos Reader Extending PDFs With Adobe Experience Reader Extensions and How to Edit XFA Forms.