Operation Manual

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Last updated 10/11/2011
Chapter 7: Forms
You can fill in forms using either Adobe® Acrobat® X Standard or the free Adobe Reader®. You can create static or
interactive forms in Acrobat or Adobe LiveCycle® Designer ES2 (included with Acrobat Pro 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.
Note: You can create or edit XML forms in Designer ES2 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.
Additional resources
For more information about forms, see these resources:
• Articles, tutorials, and tips about forms: http://acrobatusers.com/
• Forms gallery: http://acrobatusers.com/gallery/forms
• For a video on creating simple forms: www.adobe.com/go/lrvid_017_acrx_en
More Help topics
“Create online forms using FormsCentral” on page 155
About LiveCycle Designer ES2 (Windows only)
Designer ES2 is a graphical form design tool that contains advanced features and controls for creating advanced forms.
Designer ES2 is included with Acrobat Pro for Windows. You can use Designer ES2 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 ES2 to create forms that support industry-specific XML schema and data.
If you have Acrobat X or later, you can use the Distribute wizard of Designer ES2 to send PDF forms to multiple
recipients. The wizard is available from the File menu in Designer ES2. 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.