How To Create And Distribute interactive PDF Forms

One of the many uses of PDF files is to offer a way for people to gather information via an interactive form. Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional has some nifty features for creating such forms, distributing them and tracking 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.

The ability to create forms has long been a feature of Adobe Acrobat. However, Acrobat 8 Professional takes form creation to a new level in terms of ease and sophistication.

Instead of relying purely on other applications to supply its content, Acrobat can now create forms from scratch using a utility called Adobe Life Cycle Designer. It also includes some useful form templates such as conference registration, employee appraisal, etc.

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.

Traditionally, only a full version of Acrobat would allow you to fill out a PDF form and then save the form data to disk. With Acrobat 8 professional, if you click on the "Advanced" menu and choose "Enable Usage Rights in Acrobat Reader", people filling out your form with Acrobat Reader will be able to save their form data and email it back to you.

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.

When you have got back all of the completed forms, you can simply open the dataset where they have all been stored and then export the data in a neutral format. Just click on the Export button and choose whether you want to export as a .csv or .xml file both of which can be imported into a variety of programs for analysis or storage.

Article Source: http://www.rightbiz.com

The writer of this article is a developer and trainer with Macresource Computer Solutions, a UK IT training company offering Adobe Acrobat Classes at their central London training centre.

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