An interactive PDF form is a great way of capturing information from a group of people and Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional makes the creation of these forms a breeze. It also has features for distributing the form and then tracking people's responses.
One of the main advantages of using PDF forms, as against, web-based forms is that the PDF will always look the same regardless of which operating system or web browser is being used.
There is also immediacy and flexibility of delivery. The form can be emailed to a group of users at the same time. The delivery of the form then becomes a single operation. PDF forms can also be distributed via CDs and DVDs.
Forms have been a feature of Acrobat since version 3. However, the forms features available in Acrobat 8 are a significant improvement on anything available in previous versions.
Forms can be now be created from scratch in Acrobat. Just choose Create New Forms from the Forms menu and choose one of the built-in templates. The form is then created using a utility called Adobe Life Cycle Designer then saved as a PDF file.
As before, you can use forms made in other software such as Word or QuarkXPress. However, now Acrobat has a feature for automatically recognising where fields need to be inserted and creating them for you.
You can also use a printed form as the basis for an interactive PDF form. Just choose the Scan From Paper option when creating your new form.
After you have created the basic form and perhaps had Acrobat automatically generate your text fields, you can add all the usual form controls, such as check-boxes, radio buttons and combo boxes. Then, to complete the form, you can add a submit button.
The advanced menu in Acrobat 8 Professional contains a new feature ("Enable Usage Rights in Acrobat Reader") which allows Acrobat Reader users to fill out your form and then save the form data. Normally, this can only be done with a full version of Acrobat Professional.
To send the form to group of recipients via email, just choose "Distribute Form" from the "Form" menu. A Microsoft Outlook address book can be used to generate a mailing list or you can just type or paste in a list of recipients.
Completed forms are emailed back to you when the user clicks on the submit button. When you open each returned form Acrobat prompts you to add it to what is termed a dataset, a repository of form data.
To complete your project, after you have received back all the forms you distributed, you simply open the Acrobat dataset and click on the export button to save it as a .csv file. You can then import this file into Microsoft Excel or Access for storage and/or analysis. - 16039
One of the main advantages of using PDF forms, as against, web-based forms is that the PDF will always look the same regardless of which operating system or web browser is being used.
There is also immediacy and flexibility of delivery. The form can be emailed to a group of users at the same time. The delivery of the form then becomes a single operation. PDF forms can also be distributed via CDs and DVDs.
Forms have been a feature of Acrobat since version 3. However, the forms features available in Acrobat 8 are a significant improvement on anything available in previous versions.
Forms can be now be created from scratch in Acrobat. Just choose Create New Forms from the Forms menu and choose one of the built-in templates. The form is then created using a utility called Adobe Life Cycle Designer then saved as a PDF file.
As before, you can use forms made in other software such as Word or QuarkXPress. However, now Acrobat has a feature for automatically recognising where fields need to be inserted and creating them for you.
You can also use a printed form as the basis for an interactive PDF form. Just choose the Scan From Paper option when creating your new form.
After you have created the basic form and perhaps had Acrobat automatically generate your text fields, you can add all the usual form controls, such as check-boxes, radio buttons and combo boxes. Then, to complete the form, you can add a submit button.
The advanced menu in Acrobat 8 Professional contains a new feature ("Enable Usage Rights in Acrobat Reader") which allows Acrobat Reader users to fill out your form and then save the form data. Normally, this can only be done with a full version of Acrobat Professional.
To send the form to group of recipients via email, just choose "Distribute Form" from the "Form" menu. A Microsoft Outlook address book can be used to generate a mailing list or you can just type or paste in a list of recipients.
Completed forms are emailed back to you when the user clicks on the submit button. When you open each returned form Acrobat prompts you to add it to what is termed a dataset, a repository of form data.
To complete your project, after you have received back all the forms you distributed, you simply open the Acrobat dataset and click on the export button to save it as a .csv file. You can then import this file into Microsoft Excel or Access for storage and/or analysis. - 16039
About the Author:
The author is a training consultant with Macresource Computer Solutions, an independent computer training company offering Adobe Acrobat training courses at their central London training centre.
