adobe acrobat forms and commenting · 2011-05-11 ·...

Commenting & Forms with Adobe Acrobat

Copyright James D. Kramer design services. All rights reserved.

; 1

IntroductionAsyoubeginworkingwithAdobeAcrobat,itisimportanttounderstandthatAcrobatisnotadocu-mentcreator;it’snotawordprocessingapplication(MicrosoftWord),it’snotapagelayoutapplication(AdobeInDesign),it’snotadrawingapplication(AdobeIllustrator).AdobeAcrobatisadocumentshar-ing,commenting,andformbuildingapplication.Asweprogressthroughthelessonsinthisdocument,youmustrememberthatwewillbeusingotherapplicationstocreatethesource(PDF)files.

What Is a PDF?Acrobat’snativefileformatiscalledaportabledocumentformat(PDF).InordertoworkwithanyfileinAcrobatitmustfirstbeconvertedtothisdocumentformat.Thereanumberofwaysinwhichtoexe-cutethisconversion,however,mostapplicationswillhavetheabilitytoexportofprintaPDFdirectly.AlthoughAcrobathastheabilitytodothisconversionitself,wewillbecreatingthePDFfromwithMicrosoftWord,AdobeInDesign,andAdobeIllustrator.

acrobat VersIonsAdobeproducesfourdifferentversionsofitsAcrobatsoftware—eachcateringtospecificnicheofitsmarket;

Reader; mostpeopleareprobablyfamiliarwiththefreeAcrobatReader.Thisversionoftheapplicationallowscross-platformdistributionofaPDFfile.Thefreeapplicationislimitedinitsfunctionality,althoughreviewtools,abilitytosaveformsdata,digitalsignaturesandotheradvancedfeaturescanbeaccessedifthePDFcreator‘activates’thefileforthesefeaturesusinganyoftheotherthreeversionsofthesoftware.

Acrobat Standard; allowstheusertocreate,modify,andcommentaPDFfile,andalsotocreateanddistributePDFforms.ThisversionalsoallowsOCR(opticalcharacterrecognition)fromascanneddocu-ment,256-bitencryptionfilesecurity,findanddeletehiddenelementsinadocument,mergefilesfrommultiplesources,managementdocumentreviews,digitalsignatures,

Acrobat Pro; thisversionoftheapplicationcomesbundledwiththeCreativeSuiteapplicationbun-dles,andinadditiontothosetaskslistedabove,alsoincludestheabilitytoconvertotherfiletypestoPDFsuchasAutoDesk,AutoCAD,MicrosoftVisio,andMicrosoftProjectfiles.Thisversioncanalsocom-parePDFdocumentsandhighlighttheirdifferences,createdynamicXMLformsusingAdobeLiveCycleDesigner,preflightandcorrectPDFfilesforhigh-endprintdelivery,insertvideofordirectplay-backinReader.

Acrobat Pro Extended; inadditiontotheallfeatureslistedabove,theProExtendedversionconvert3DcontenttoPDFforcross-platformsharing,combinemultipleCADformatsandsaveasPDFusingAdobe3DReviewer,createPDFmapsusinggeospatialfilesthatincludemetadataandcoordinates.

Note Whencreatedproperly,afilegeneratedonWindows,MacintoshOS,Unix,orLinuxwillbeportabletoanyofthesesameoperatingsystems,andwilllookexactlyascreatedbythedocumentoriginator.


2 Commenting&FormswithAdobeAcrobat

about thIs courseAminimallevelofunderstandingwillbeassumedforthepurposesofpreparingthelessonscontainedwithintheprogram.ItisassumedthatthestudenthasatleastacasualexperienceusingthefreeAcrobatReaderapplication.Therefor,wewillnotspendagreatdealoftimediscussingtheapplication’suserinterface(UI).Wewillhowever,pointoutdifferencesbetweentheReaderUIandthefullversion(Pro)applicationUI.

ThiscoursewillcoverfourbasicareasoftheAdobeAcrobatapplication;

●● Explore the user interface; again,we’llonlyspecificallydiscussthoseinterfaceobjectsgermaintothefollowingtopics.

●● Comment and mark-up tools; everycompanythatusesAcrobat’scommentingtoolsdoessowiththeirin-housestandards.Therefor,thesetoolsmaybeusedslightlydifferentlydependingonyourindividualsituation.So,we’llcoverthesetopicsfromaverygeneralpointofview.

●● Create a form template using three applications; asmentionedearlier,Acrobatisnotadocu-mentcreationtool.So,we’llbeusingMicrosoftWord,AdobeInDesign,andAdobeIllustratortocreatethetemplateofourforms.

●● Create form fields in Acrobat; we’llusetwomethodstocreateourformfields;automaticandmanual.Youmakeupyourmindaboutwhichmethodismoreaffective.We’llalsolookatsomesimplesolutionsaboutwhattodowiththeformresults.

Thelessonswillbeillustratedthroughoutwithapplicationscreencaptureswhererelevant.ThesescreenswillbeusingbothAcrobatPro9forMacintosh,andAcrobatPro8forWindows.Bothversionsinbothoperatingsystemsfunctionsimilarly,andotherthanafewcosmeticdifferencesshouldfunctionexactlythesame.WherefunctionsdonotmaketheversionandOSchangethesame,I’llindicatetheitemwitha‘Note’readeraidinthemarginofthetext.

Iwillavoidusinglongsectionsofnarrative,andwillinsteadusesuchnarrativesonlywherenecessarytoexpanduponagiventask.Thebulkofthematerialcontainedwiththeselessonswillinsteadbetask-focused,andkepttotheirmostessentialactions.

Conventions

Iwillusethefollowingconventionstoindicatespecifictypesofinformation.Userinterfaceobjectswillbeindicatedwithasemiboldfont,asintheinstruction,“ClickontheFilemenuitem...”Informationyouaretoenterintotheapplicationwillbeindicatedwithabold-redfont,asintheinstruction,“Enterthevalue5intotheformfield.”

Note Notalltaskspresentedinthisdocumentwillbepresentedintheclassroom


Lesson 1

User Interface

TheAcrobatProuserinterfacedoesnotvarygreatlyfromitsfreeReadercounterpart.Shownhere,theReaderUI(top)featuresasomewhatsimplifiedsetoftoolsfromwhichtheusermaychoose.Thoughitisnotshownhere,theusercanalsoactivateadditionaltoolbars,ifthePDFcreatorhadactivatedthefileforadditionalanalysisorformsuse.

ThesamefileopenedinAcrobatPro(below)includesseveralmoreoptionsascanbeseeninthemenusatthetopofthescreen.Wewillbediscuss-ingallthesemenusduringthecourseofthefollowingles-sons,butwillbeconcentratingprimarilyontheCommentsandFormsmenuitemsforthiscourse.



Task 1: Setting a Default Document View

Anoftenover-lookedtaskbymanyPDFcreators,istosetthedefaultviewfortheirdocument.Suchdefaultscanalwaysbeoverriddenbytheend-user.However,makingthissettingwillensurethatyourfileisalwayspresentedtheinthemannerinwhichyoucreateditwhenitisfirstopened.

1. OpenyourPDFfile,andselectFileProperties.ThisopenstheDocument Propertiesdialogbox.ClickontheInitialViewtabatthetopofthescreen.Withinthispanel,youcansetyourdefaultdocumentview.Thesesettingswillcontrolhowyourdocumentisviewedanytimeitisopened.

2. ClickOK.

Note IfyouclickontheDesciptiontab,youcanenterinformationabouttheauthor,title,subject,metadata,andcopyrightstatements.


Whetheryouarepreparingafileforcommentingbyothers,or,youarereceivingafilethatyouaretocommenton,donotforgetoneveryimportantfact;iftherecipientofyourdocument(oryou,ifyouaretherecipientofsomeoneelse’sdocument)isusingthefreeAdobeReaderapplication,thenthedocumentcreatormustactivatethedocumentforcommenting.ThisisaccomplishedbyopeningthedocumentinineithertheStandard,Pro,orProExtendedversionsofthesoftware,andclickingonAdvanced Extend Features in Adobe Reader...

Thiswillactivatethedocumentforcommenting,forms,digitalsignatures,andsomeothertasksnor-mallyonlyavailabletothosewhohaveonethethreeversionsofthefullAcrobatapplication.

Lesson 2

Commenting



Task 2: Creating Comments

ClickonCommentsmenutoviewthelistoftasksyoumayuseforcommentingadocument,andclick-ingontheComment & Markup Toolsmenuitemtoviewthelistcommentingtools.

Ifyouwouldprefertokeepatoolbarofcommentingtoolsavailablewhileyouworkwithouthavingtogotothemenus,clickonView Toolbars Comment & Markup.

ThecommentingtoolsdisplayedontheCommenting&Markuptoolbararethemostcommonlyused,sowe'llconcentrateonthesefor.However,wecovertheotherbrieflyaswell.


Lesson2; Commenting 7

Stamp

Highlight Callout

Cloud

Text Box

Arrow

Line

Rectangle

Oval

Pencil

First,startbydockingyourtoolbaratthetopofyourscreensothatit’soutoftheway.Dothisbysimplyclickingandholdingonthetoolbartitleatthetop,anddragthetoolbarintotheheaderareaofyourapplicationscreen.Dropthetoolbarwhenyouhaveit‘docked’whereyouwantit.

Sticky Note; placesahighlightedwindowonthescreenthatisusedforinsertinglengthycommentary.ClickingontheSticky Notebuttonbar‘loads’onenoteintothecursor.Withthenote‘loaded’,clickany-whereonthedocumentyouwanttoplacethenoteanchor.Theanchorandnotewindowwillappear.

Note LikeallotherAdobeapplications,thedockabletoolbarsinAcrobarcanplacedinanyofthemarginsofyourapplicationscreen;top,bottom,left,right.Thepositionsofalltoolbarswillbe‘remembered’thenexttimetheapplicationisopened.

Note Thenotewindowwillalwaysappearontherightsideofthescreenbydefault.However,youcandragthistoanyplaceonthedocumentwindowyouwish.Thecanalsobedraggedifitneedstobemoved.

Note NoticeintheStickyNotethatdynamicspellingisenabled,andformattingwithinthenoteisalsoenabled.Dynamicspellingwillbehighlighted(withtheredsquigglyunderscore)whileyouareactivelyeditingthenote.



ThecoloroftheSticky Notecanbechangedtodenoteaspecificperson,orworkgroup,tomakeiden-tificationoftheindividualwhomadethenotecanbequicklydetermined.ThecommentcanalsobeminimizedbyclickingontheMinimizebuttonintheupper-rightcorner.

Text Edits; whenyouclickonthistool,adialogboxopensupthatexplainswhatyoucandowiththetool.Asdescribed,therearethreetasktoexecutewhenusingthistool;insert,delete,andreplace.

Whenindicatingtoinserttext,youmerelyplacethetextcursoratthepointwherethenewtextistobegin.Acommentwindowwillopen,andyoutypethetextthatistobeinserted.Whenindicatingtodeletetext,highlightthetextwiththetextcursor,andhitthedeletebutton.Thiswillplacearedstrike-throughoverthetext.Whenindicatingtoreplacetext,highlightthetexttobereplace.Acommentwindowwillopen,andyoutypethetextthatistobeinserted.

Rubber Stamp; Acrobatcomesawideselectionofstandardstamptypes.Clickingonthedown-arrowontherightsideofthestampexpandsthemenulisttodisplaythestampcategories.

Note Noneoftheseactionsactuallyinserts,deletes,orreplacestextinthePDFdocument.Recallthatwearemerelycommentingthedocumentatthispoint.Whenwe’redonewithit,itwillgoofftotheappropriateproductionstafftohavetheeditorialchangesactuallyimplemented.



Ascanbeseeninthescreenabove,Dynamicstampsgatheruserinformationaspartofthestamptoindicatewhodidthereviewing,andwhenthereviewingwasexecuted.ClickingontheStampbuttonitselfloadsthelastusedstampimageintothecursor.Thestampsthemselvescannotcontainanycomments.CustomstampscanalsobecreatedbyclickingontheCreate Custom Stamps...menuitem.

Note Ifyouwanttodeleteastampimage,right-clickonthestamp,andselectDeletefromthecontextualmenu.

Note Youmayuseseveralformatstoimportasstamps,including;PDF,BMP,GIF,HTML,InDesign,JPEG,JPEG2000,PCX,PICT,PNG,PostScript/EPS,Text,andTIF.TheexampleusedhereisactuallyanIllustratorfile.However,sincethenativefileformatforIllustratorisPDF,theStamptoolwasabletoconverttheimage.



AfterselectingthefiletobeconvertedasaStampimage,theCreate Custom StampdialogwillaskyouplaceitintoastampCategory(youmaycreateyourown,ordropitintoanexistingCategory),andtogiveitaName.

Yournewstampimage,andstampCategorywillnowappearintoyourlistofavailablestamps.

Nowyouonlyneedtoclickintoyourdocumenttoplaceyourniftynewstamp!

Highlight Text; thistoolworksjustlikeahighlightingmarker.ClickontheHighlightTexttool,andthensimpledragitoverarangeoftexttohighlightit.Releasingthemousebuttonrevealsthehighlight.Afteryouhighlightthetext,double-clickonthehighlightedstroketoopenupacommentwindow.

Note Downsamplingreducesthebytecountoftheimage,butitalsoreducestheresolution.Downsamplingcanhavesomeveryunexpectedandundesirableeffectsuponyourconvertedstampart.Sousethiscarefully.



Callout; thistoolcreatesatextboxwithanattachedarrowheadwhichcanbeusedtopointoutaspecificelementonapagebeingreviewed.Touse,simplyclickonorneartheobjecttobecalledout,dragthetextframetoaconvenientlocationonthedocument,andstarttyping.Theboxwillexpanditselfasyoutype.Onceyouhavecompletedyourcom-ment,theboxcanbemoved,whilethearrowheadremainslockedinplace.

Text Box; functionsexactlythesameastheCallouttool,exceptthereisnoleaderlineattachedtoit.

Cloud, Rectangle, and Oval; allthreeofthesecommenttoolsfunctionthesameway;theyareusedtoencompassagivenportionofadocument,orelementonthepage.Oncedrawn,double-clickingthecommenttoolwillopenacommentwindow.

Arrow, Line, and Pencil; areallusedtocreatelines.Again,double-clickingoneofthesecommentstoolsafterthelineisdrawnopensacommentwindow.

Note Thecolorofthehighlightcanalsobecustomizedtoindicateapersonorworkgroup.Thisstrategyprovesveryeffectiveinlargedepartmentswheremanyresourcesareresponsibleforcommentingandreviewingdocuments.

Note commentsintheCallouttoolwillnotbeidentifiablebyuserastheHighlightandSticky Noteare.

Note theRectangleandOvaltoolsaredrawnbyclickinganddraggingtheobjectintheplacetobordered.TheCloudtooliscreatedbymakingaseriesofindividualclicksonthepage.ThelastclicktoclosetheCloudisbackontheoriginalclick.



Show; thismenulistallowsyouviewcommentingdataabouttheuser,commentstatus,dateadded,andsoforth.

Viewing your list of comments

Youcanaccessalistofallthecommentswithinadocumentacoupleofways.YoucanclickonComments Comments List,or,clickontheView Commentsbuttonatthebottom-leftoftheapplicationscreen.

Show Comments

Note right-clickingonanycommentwindowwillopenacontextualmenuwithadditionaltasksthatcanbeexecutedonthecomment.Thesetasksinclude;



TheCommentsListagoodtoolfortrackingactionablecommentsthathavebeenaddressed.ClickingthecheckboxnexttoalistingwithintheCommentsListcanindicatewhethernotanindividualitemhasbeenaddressed.

Youcanalsosettheitem’sstatususingtheSet Statustool.

ThereareadditionaltoolsnotincludedontheComment & Markuptoolbar.Theseinclude;

Underline text tool; functionsliketheHighlighttool,howeveritjustprovidesanunderlinebelowthehighlightedtext.

Cross Out Text tool; functionsliketheHighlighttool,howeveritjustprovidesstrikethoughoverthehighlightedtext.

Attach a File as a Comment; allowsyoutoattachafiletothedocument

Record Audio Comment; allowsyoutoattachverbalcommentarytothedocument

Polygon Line tool; anotherlinetoolsimilartotheArrowandLinetools.

Polygon tool; anotherclosedobjecttoolsimilartotheCloud,Rectangle,andOvaltools.

Pencil Eraser tool; allowsyoutoeraseportionsofaalinedrawnwiththePenciltool.



Ifyouwanttoaddanyofthesetools(orothertoolstoothertoolbars,youcanright-clickonanyoftheopentoolbars,andclickontheMore Tools...optionatthebottomofthecontextualmenu.

IntheMore Toolsdialogboxthatopens,justlocatethetoolbaryouwanttocustomize,andturnon/offthetoolsyouwantbyclickingonthecheckboxtotheirleft.


RememberingthatAcrobatisnotadocumentcreationtool,you’llneedanotherapplicationtomactuallycreatetheformtemplatein.Theonlyrequirementoftheapplicationusedtocreatethetemplateisthatitmustbeabletoexport/printaPDFfile.

SomeapplicationsmaynotexportdirectlytoPDF.InthesecasesyoumayneedtoprintaPostScriptorPRNfile(Windowsonly),oryoumayneedtoexporttoanEPS(encapsulatedPostScript)file.Inthesecases,you’llneedtodistillthefiletocre-atethePDF.

Forexample,youcouldcreateaPRNfilefromWordbyopeningthePrintdialogbox.

Print to File

OnceyouclicktheOKbuttoninthePrintdialog,thiswillopenthePrint to filedialogbox.ThisisidenticaltoanormalSave as...dialog,sosimplelocateadirectoryappropriatetosavethefileto,andprovideafilename(notethatthereisnoextensionprovidedyet).BelowtheFile name:field,thereisaSave as type:field.MakesurethatPrinter Filesisselected,andclickOK.

Note mostapplicationscanexportorprintaPDF-compatiblefile,somostimportantly,yourchoiceoftemplatecreatorsoftwareisonlylimitedbywhatyouarecomfortableworkingwith.

Lesson 3

Creating Forms



Nowyouneedtodistilltheprintfile.LocatethefileyoujustcreatedinyourWindows Explorer.Notethatthe.prnextensionhasbeenaddedtothefile.YoumayalsonotethatWindows Explorerdoesnotknowwhatkindoffilethisisbyitsicon.

IfyouhavetheafullversionofAdobe Acrobatinstalled,whenyouright-clickthefiletoopenthecon-textualmenu,youwillseeConvert to Adobe PDFasoneoftheoptions.YoumayalsoseeanoptiontoOpen with...Ifso,chooseAcrobat Distillerfromthelistofavailableapplications.

ThiswilllaunchAcrobat Distillerinthebackground,andgenerateyourPDF,andautomaticallyopentheresultingfileinAcrobat.


Lesson3; CreatingForms 17

Task 3: Forms Creation

Onceyourformtemplateiscreated,openthefileinAcrobat.ThetwowaystocreateanewformfromaPDFfile;automaticanddoingittheold-fashionedway...byhand.We’lltrytheautomaticmethodfirst.

Automatic Form Fields Recognition

Toautomaticallycreateaform,clickonForms Run Form Field Recognition.Thiswillopenadialogthatadvisesyoutosavethecurrentfile.Youcaneithersavewithnewfilename,orsimplysaveoverthecurrentfile.



Theresultingfileshouldhavealavendar-coloredheader,andapanelontheleftsideofthescreenshouldhaveopened.ThisistheForm Field Recognitionreport.

ThesectionofthereportentitledDetected Form Fieldsisthelistoffieldsthatthetoolhasdeter-minedexistonyourform.Toseethefieldsthatthetoolhasadded,clickontheHighlight FieldsbuttonatthetoprightofyourPDFfile.Thiswillhighlighttheformfieldsinblue.

However,beforewegettooexcitedabouthoweasythatwas,scrollthroughtheDetected Form Fieldslist.Attheendofeachbulleteditem,therewillbeanidentifierinsquarebrackets.Notethateachoftheseis[Text Field].Whattheformsrecognitiontooldidwasinsertatextfieldformfieldineachspaceit



determinedtobeaformitem.Italsoinsertedfieldswherewedon’twantorneedthem,anditmayhavemissedareaswhereweneedafield.Obviously,there’sallotofclean-upthatwillneedtotakeplaceonthisformbeforeitisreadyfordistribution.

However,notethatthismethodofcreatingaformintheWindowsver-sionofAcrobatactuallysavestheformstructureasLiveCycleDesignerstructure.ThismeanstheformwillnolongerbeeditableinanyversionofAcrobat,andcanonlybeeditedthereafterinLiveCycle.

LiveCycleDesignerisaveryflexibleandpowerfulformscreator,andoffersmuchmorecontroloverthebehavioroftheformandthefields.However,forthepurposesofthiscourse,wewillnotbecoveringthosetopics,andwillbeconcentrat-ingonunderstandingAcrobat’sformscreationcapabilities.IfyouworkinWindows,andhavemasteredAcrobat’sformstools,youcanalwaysopenyourformsinLiveCycleDesignerandlearnthoseadvancedtools.JustrememberthatifyousaveaforminLiveCycleDesign,youwillnotbeabletoedittheforminAcrobatanylonger.

Manual Form Fields Creation (Windows)

Tocreateformfieldsbyhand,openyourformtemplatePDFfile,andthenclickonView Toolbars Forms

Manual Form Fields Creation (Macintosh)

Tocreateformfieldsbyhand,openyourformtemplatePDFfile,andthenclickonForms Add or Edit Fields...

Note LiveCycleDesignerisnotavailableforMacintosh.Soifyouneedtokeepyourformeditableinbothenvironments,makesureyouonlyuseAcrobat’sformstools.



Sincenoformfieldscurrentlyexitsinthisfile,analertdialogwillaskusifwewishtohavetheapplica-tionautomaticallydetectformfields.ClickNo.

Acrobatwillenteritseditformfieldsviewasshownbelow.TheAdd New Fieldbuttonontheleftcon-tainsalltheavailableformfields.ThePreviewbuttonwillenterapreviewmode.TheDistribute Formbuttonontherightwillsendtheformthroughemailusingadistributionlistyouprovide.Whenwe’redoneeditingtheform,we’llclicktheClose Form Editingbuttontomaketheformactive.(seethefol-lowingpage)



Tomakeaddingtheformfieldseasier,we’llclickonAdd New Field Show Tools on Toolbar.

Thiswilladdalltheavailableformfieldsontothetopofourapplicationwindow.



Aftercollapsingtheformfieldlistintheleftpanel,ourWindowsandMacintoshformviewslookprettysimilar.I’llcollapsetheformattingandnavigationtoolbarsintheWindowsversionjusttomaketheapplicationwindowslookevensimilar.

Task 4: Populating the Form Fields

Toaddaformfield,simplyclickonthetypeoffieldneeded,andclickintothepositionyouneedittobe.Intheexamplebelow,IhaveaddedaTextFieldbelowtheformtitle.Thisfieldwillbeusedtospecifyforwhatcompanytheformfillerisapplyingforemployment.

Note Acrobatversion9addedaKeep Tool SelectedbuttonintheFormstoolbar.Clickingthiswillthecurrentformtoolactive.Otherwise,youmustreturntothetoolbartore-selectthedesiredformfieldeverytimeyouwishtoplaceoneintothelayout.



Tore-sizetheformfield,selectthearrowtoolfromthetoolbar,andstretchtheformfieldasneeded.Nowwe’llneedtospecifyourfield’sparameters.Dosobydouble-clickingthefield,whichlaunchestheForm Field Propertiesdialogbox.Thepropertieswe’llconcernourselveswithintheGeneraltabaretheNameandTooltipvalues.Forpurposesofthisform,thenamecanbeanyuniqueidentifier.Here,IhavecalleditCompanyName.TheTooltipwillbethetextthatgetdisplayedwhentheformuserholdstheirmouseovertheformfield.Thoughnotnecessary,fullytippedfieldsareusuallygoodideawhenplanningforthecommondenominator.

TheAppearancetabdeterminesthevisualattributesofourfield.Sincethisformisalreadypopulatedwithbordersonallthefields,we’llnotbeneedingtoaddthemhere.Ihaveselected10pointforthesizeofthetype,butyouselecteitheroneofthepre-populatedsizesfromthelist,orenteravalueofyourown.Also,AcrobathasanAutovaluethatwillsizetextaslargeorassmallasitneedstobeinordertofilltheavailablespace,orfitallthetext.Ihavealsoselectedbluetext,althoughyoucanselectfromanyvaluewithinAcrobat’spalette.



TheOptionstabwhilecontrolhowcontentbehaveswithinthetextfield.Thiscase,Iwantonlyasinglelineoftext,andnolocalformatting,soIhavedisabledalltheoptions,butmadesurethatthetextwillbecenteredonthelinesothatalignswiththeformtitleabove.

Forthisfield’spurposes,noneoftheothertabs—apply,soI’llignorethosehere.ClosingtheField Propertiesdialog,myformnowlookslikethis...



SinceIhavecreatedoneTextField,andIknowIhavemanymore,andthatthey’llprobablysharemanyofthesameformattingandbehaviorattributes,I’lljustthefieldIjustcreatedandpasteasIneeditforthefirsttwolinesofcontent(whichareallTextFields).Inthesefields,IchangedthetextalignmentontheAppearancetabtoLeft.

Note whencopyingandpastingfields,youmustmakesuretochangetheirNamevalue.Otherwise,thefieldswillduplicateeachother’svalue...andthatisseldomdesired(thoughsometimesthathasitspurposes).



TheSocial Security Number,Zip Code,andPhone Numberfieldshavespecificformattingconstructstoensuretheirdataisinputconsistentlyandaccordingtopossibledatabaseneeds.InthecaseoftheSocialSecurityNumber,IhaveclickedontheFormattabintheField Propertiesdialog,selectedSpecialfromtheSelect format category:list,andappliedtheSocial Security Numberformat.

Nowwe’lladdacoupleofradiobuttonsinthecitizenshipandfulltime/parttimefields.ThekeytrickhereistoensurethatallradiobuttonsthataretobemutuallyexclusivehavethesamefieldName,butthateachofthebuttonshaveadifferentButton Value.Therefore,theevidenceoflegaleligibilityfieldsIhavenamedbothLegalEligibility.TheYesbuttonhasavalueofYes,andtheNobuttonavalueofNo.

Inthepositiondesiredfield,itislikelythatyou’llwanttorestricttheapplicationtoselectingasingleposition,sointhisspacewe’llplaceaCombo Box.

Note thedifferencebetweenListBoxandaComboBoxformfieldsisthattheusermaymakemultipleselectionsoftheitemspresentedinthelist,whileaComboBoxrestrictstheusertomakingasinglechoice.



WithinthefieldPropertiesdialog,youwillpopulatetheitemscon-tainedwithinthelistontheOptionstabbyenteringtheinformationintheItemvalue,thenclickingontheAddbutton.IfavalueotherthanwhatyouenteredintheItemvalueisrequiredwhentheformresultsareexported,youcanenterthevalueforthelistitemintheExport Valuefield.Otherwisetheitemnamewillbeuseduponexport.TheSort Itemscheckboxwillforcethelistitemsintoalphabetical(ornumeric)order.TheAllow user to enter custom textwillpermittheusertotypeintheirownvaluetotheformfield.

TheWage/Salary DesiredfieldishandledasaText Field,butitmustcontainanumberintermsofUSDcurrency.So,weneedtohandleitsformattingaswedidfortheSocialSecurityNumber.

Note whichlistitemisselectedinthefieldPropertiesdialogwillbethedefaultitemintheform.



Wewillcontinuealonginthismannercontinuingtopopulatetheformwiththeappropriatefields.However,atthispointIwouldliketodiscusswhattheuserdoeswiththeformdataonceitiscompleted.Sonowwewilladdabuttonwhichwillemailtheformtoauser,abuttontoprinttheform,andinthecasewhereausermuststartalloverfromscratch,abuttontocleartheform.

Tobegin,we’llselecttheButtontool,andplaceabuttonatthetop-right,andoneatthetop-leftcor-nersofthedocument.

Thetop-leftbuttonwillbefortheemailfunction,sowe’lldouble-clickonthattoopentheForm Field Propertiesdialog.I’vegiventhisbuttonthenameemailForm.OntheOptionstab,Ihaveentredthevaluee-mail FormintheLabelfield.Thisisthetextthatwillonthebuttonitself.Youcanalsospecifyagraphichereifyouwouldlike.TheLayoutlistitemspecifieswhatkindofcontentyouwouldliketoincludeonthebutton’sface.Ourbuttonwillonlyincludethelabel.



OntheActionstab,IhaveselectedtheMouse UptriggerandSubmit a FormfromtheSelection Actionmenuitem.TheMouse Uptriggermeansthatwhenauserclicksonthebutton,theactionindicatedwillexecutewhenthemouseisreleased.

Forourform,wewanttheformdatasubmittedtoanemailaddress,sonowwe’llclickontheAdd...button,whichcallsuptheSubmit Form Selectionsdialogbox.TheEnter a URL for this link:fieldisintendedforawebsitelinkwhereyoumightsenddataasatextfilewhereitisretrievedbyadatabase.However,sincewewanttheformdataemailedtous,we’regoingtoenteramailto:command.

Inthecaseofourform,we’resendingthedataresultsasanFDF(formsdataformat)file.OncetheemailrecipientreceivestheFDFfile,theycanimportthefileintotheirowncopyofthePDFform,orparsetheinformationasatext-onlyfileintoadatabase.Andsincewe’reonlyinterestedintheformresults,Ihavetoldtheexportnottoincludeanycommentsor,changesinthePDF.Also,whiletheresultsasanHTML

Note theSelectActionmenucontainsanumberofbuildingblocksyoucanassigntothebuttontomakeprogrammingthebuttonverysimple.IfyouareskilledinprogrammingVisualBasic,C#orsimilarlanguage,youcanalsoprogramthesebuttonswithanumberofotherexecutableactions.



pagewouldbesmalltoemail,adatabasemaynotbeabletoparsetheinformation.AndXFDFisaspe-cializedformatthatincludesstructuremuchlikeanXMLfile.AndincludingtheentirePDFfilewouldbeunnecessarilylargeforemailing.So,sendingtheFDFfilesmakesthemostsenseforthisuse.

ThePrintbuttonwe’llhandleinasimilarfashion,exceptontheActionstaboftheForm Field Propertiesdialog,we’llselecttheExecute a menu ItemoptiononMouse Up.

ThePrintbuttonwe’llhandleinasimilarfashion,exceptontheActionstaboftheForm Field Propertiesdialog,we’llselecttheReset a FormoptiononMouse Up.ThisbuttonI’llplaceatthebot-tomofthepageintheleftcorner.

adobe acrobat forms and commenting · 2011-05-11 ·...

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