Operation Manual

176
USING ACROBAT X STANDARD
Forms
Last updated 10/11/2011
Setting action buttons
About buttons
Buttons are most commonly associated with forms, but you can add them to any document. Buttons can open a file,
play a sound or movie clip, submit data to a web server, and much more. When deciding on how to initiate an action,
remember that buttons offer the following capabilities that links and bookmarks do not:
• A button can activate a single action or a series of actions.
• A button can change appearance in response to mouse actions.
• A button can be easily copied across many pages.
• Mouse actions can activate different button actions. For example, Mouse Down (a click), Mouse Up (releasing after
a click), Mouse Enter (moving the pointer over the button), and Mouse
Exit (moving the pointer away from the
button) can all start a different action for the same button.
Buttons are an easy, intuitive way to let users initiate an action in PDF documents. Buttons can have a combination
of labels and icons to lead users through a series of actions or events by changing as the mouse is moved. For
example, you can create buttons with “Play,” “Pause,” and “Stop” labels and appropriate icons. Then you can set
actions for these buttons to play, pause, and stop a movie clip. You can select any combination of mouse behaviors
for a button and specify any combination of actions for a mouse behavior.
Add a button to an Acrobat PDF form
1 Make sure you are in edit mode by selecting Tools > Forms > Edit, and then select Button from the Add New Field
list. Your curser becomes a cross hair.
2 On the page, click where you want to add the button to create a button with the default size. For a custom size
button, drag a rectangle to define the size of the button.
3 Double-click the button field, and then specify a name, tool tip text, and other common properties.
4 Click the Appearance tab, and then specify options to determine the button appearance on the page. Remember, if
you select a background color, you are not able to see through to any images behind the button. The text options
affect the label you specify in the Options tab, not the button name in the General tab.
Note: If Enable Right-To-Left Language Options is selected in the International panel of the Preferences dialog box, the
Appearance tab includes options for changing the digit style and text direction for buttons.
5 Click the Options tab, and select options to determine how labels and icons appear on the button.
6 Click the Actions tab. Specify options to determine what happens when the button is clicked, such as jumping to a
different page or playing a media clip.
7 Click Close.
If you’re creating a set of buttons, you can snap the object to grid lines or guides.
Add a submit button
When you distribute a form, Acrobat automatically checks the form. If it doesn’t find a submit button, it adds a Submit
Form button to the document message bar. Users can click the Submit Form button to send completed forms back to you.
If you don’t plan to use the Submit Form button created by Acrobat, you can add a custom submit button to your form.
1 Using the Button tool, create a button. Double-click the button and set options in the General and Options tabs.