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"Fill In The Blank" PDFs

 
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"Fill In The Blank" PDFs, Creating PDFs with fields users can populate
MadPlumber
7 Oct, 2008 - 05:57 PM
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A month or two ago, I applied for a job at a college using a PDF application form that the college's website supplied. Interesting for me, the PDF featured "fields" that I could type in data and then print out the form. However, I was very unimpressed with the formatting of the fields and I ended up putting the PDF through Illustrator so that I could fill in the data with text more to my liking and also be able to e-mail the PDF back populated. I attached the PDF for those seeking a better explanation of what I'm talking about.

My question is: how can I create PDFs that not only feature these fields but also allow the user to populate them and still save the document? You'll notice that the PDF attached to this post prohibits saving. Is what I seek possible with the Adobe CS3 compilation I possess (Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, etc.)? Is there a simple tutorial that just gets me started in the direction?

Thank you.


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Attached File  Suppst_Maint_Application.pdf ( 400.04k ) Number of downloads: 26
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modi123_1
RE: "Fill In The Blank" PDFs
8 Oct, 2008 - 11:26 AM
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Acrobat full (writer and reader) is what you need.
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jemagee
RE: "Fill In The Blank" PDFs
19 Oct, 2008 - 03:18 PM
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Acrobat Full won't help with the 'save' portion I've found...You need something obscenely expensive to allow users to save after they fill out a form.

However, you can have them 'submit' the form to you via email after they fill out the fields, and they can also print it out.

This is an issue I've run into at work as well...and I haven't been able to find a way to save without 'lifecycle' or something like that.
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modi123_1
RE: "Fill In The Blank" PDFs
20 Oct, 2008 - 10:25 AM
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I disagree. Acrobat full should allow you to do that.. create one as a template.. disseminate as needed. The user opens it up and fills in the rows and when it needs to save it goes to a 'save as' and the saved pdf contains the inputted data in a read only format. At least that's how it worked the last time I used it..
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jemagee
RE: "Fill In The Blank" PDFs
20 Oct, 2008 - 11:32 AM
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QUOTE(modi123_1 @ 20 Oct, 2008 - 11:25 AM) *

I disagree. Acrobat full should allow you to do that.. create one as a template.. disseminate as needed. The user opens it up and fills in the rows and when it needs to save it goes to a 'save as' and the saved pdf contains the inputted data in a read only format. At least that's how it worked the last time I used it..


If anyone gets that to work, please let me know, because my success rate has never worked like that.
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Jayman
RE: "Fill In The Blank" PDFs
20 Oct, 2008 - 12:20 PM
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In order for the data to be saved, the user who entered the data must have the full version of Acrobat installed. Then the data will be saved.

If they are using Acrobat Reader then the data will be discarded (cannot be saved). The user will be presented with a message indicating this fact. (See screenshot of message displayed)


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ccrasherdeb
RE: "Fill In The Blank" PDFs
24 Oct, 2008 - 09:46 AM
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The only way to fill out a .pdf is if the user has acrobat professional on their computer. Reader is what it says, only a reader. If you create a nice HTML form, then anyone can fill it out, print it, read it, save it etc. Anything created with higher level programs can be hard for a user if they dont have the proprietary software installed except for HTML which can be read or filled out by any computer with any OS.
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LoveSquid
RE: "Fill In The Blank" PDFs
29 Oct, 2008 - 02:34 AM
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PDF is actually an image format, hence it was never intended for "fillable" & "savable" forms. Head over to the Adobe forums and look around. Doc's work better for this, just lock the fields you don't want altered.
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