How to Create Forms With Acrobat 8 Tutorials

Creating the perfect form that can be easily filled out in Adobe's Acrobat is quite simple using Acrobat 8. The software, more commonly used for reading PDF documents, can be used to both create and complete forms, applications and other documents. There are two ways to create a form in Acrobat 8: start from scratch or create the form design in another Word document and add fields that the user can type in by importing it into Acrobat.

Instructions

Import a Design

1. Design a form in another application such as Microsoft Word. Include field titles (e.g.: "Name," "Date," or "Comments). Define the form areas by using the underline feature.

2. Export your document to a PDF document by clicking "File" then "Export" and selecting "Adobe PDF" in the format field.

3. Open Adobe Acrobat 8.

4. Choose "Smallest File Size" as your preset in the Export Adobe PDF dialog box.

5. Click "Save."

6. Open the new PDF file in Acrobat 8.

7. Click the "Forms" button at the top of the screen and select "Create New Form."

8. Select "Start with a PDF document" in the "Create a New Form" dialog.

9. Click "Continue."

10. Select the "Use the current document" option.

11. Click "Next."

12. Select the "Run Auto Field Detection" option to allow Acrobat to attempt to find your intended form fields.

13. Click "Continue."

14. Verify that the software found all of your form fields. If it missed a field, simply highlight the field, right click, and select "create field."

15. Click "Finish."

Create a Form From Scratch

1. Select the "Forms" menu at the top of the screen and choose "Create New Form."

2. Choose the "Select a Template" option.

3. Click "Continue."

4. Click "Continue" on the "Creating and Distributing Forms" page.

5. Choose the design template you wish to use in the "New Form Assistant" window.

6. Click "Next."

7. Fill in the information as asked on the next few pages. It will customize the template with your business name, address, logo, etc.

8. Click "Finish."

9. Customize the field titles ("name," "email address," "phone number," etc.) by highlighting the titles and typing over them.

10. Save your form by click "File" and selecting "Save."

Tips & Warnings

• Keep in mind that Adobe Acrobat 8 is the paid, professional version of the free Acrobat Reader. You cannot create or complete forms with Reader.

References

• Layersmagazine.com: Getting into Form with Acrobat 8
• Adobe.com: Using Form Templates