Chapter 7: Forms; Forms Basics - Adobe 62000236 Using Manual

Chapter 7: Forms

You can fill in forms using either Adobe® Acrobat® 9 Pro Extended or the free Adobe Reader®. You can create static or
interactive forms in Acrobat or Adobe LiveCycle® Designer ES (included with Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended
for Microsoft® Windows®). Interactive forms streamline the process of filling in and collecting data.

Forms basics

About forms
You can use Acrobat to create forms using one of the following methods:
• Convert an existing electronic document (for example an Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word, or Excel document) to a
PDF form.
Note: In Mac OS, you can only create a form using an existing PDF file.
• Scan a paper form to convert it to a PDF form.
• Create a form from scratch or from a template using LiveCycle Designer ES. This option is only available if you have
Designer ES or Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended for Windows.
Note: You can create or edit XML forms in Designer ES but not in Acrobat.
After you convert an existing document to a PDF form, you can add fields to it to convert it to an interactive form.
An interactive form can be filled out on a computer and submitted through an Internet or local network connection.
For more information about forms, see these resources:
• How to lay out form fields on a grid:
• Articles, tutorials, and tips about forms:
• Forms gallery: http://acrobatusers.com/gallery/forms_gallery/
About LiveCycle Designer ES
Designer ES is a graphical form design tool that contains advanced features and controls for creating advanced forms.
A stand-alone application, Designer ES is included with Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended for Windows. You can
also purchase it separately. You can use Designer ES to create dynamic forms that adapt to accommodate varying
amounts of data, or to user interaction. For example, you can create a form that calculates the proceeds of stock sales.
As the user enters names of stocks and quantities in the Sell field, it expands to accept the user entries. When the user
enters number to be sold, the Net Proceeds field is updated automatically. You can also use Designer ES to create forms
that support industry-specific XML schema and data.
If you have Acrobat 8 or later, you can use the Distribute wizard of Designer ES to send PDF forms to multiple
recipients. The wizard is available from the File menu in Designer ES. The wizard certifies the identity of the form
originator and encrypts the data that the recipients submit. It also adds usage rights to the form so that recipients can
save the form in Adobe Reader.
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Last updated 9/30/2011
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