How to Convert Adobe PDF Noninteractive Forms to Interactive Forms

Convert a noninteractive PDF form to an interactive form using Adobe Acrobat.

You can make portable document format (PDF) files into interactive forms, often used for electronic applications that recipients can fill out on their computers instead of printing them out on paper. To create such a form, you need Adobe Acrobat. In Acrobat, you can create forms from scratch or convert existing documents to make them interactive. This feature is quite useful, especially if you receive a form you need to fill out and it turns out the form is noninteractive. If you scroll over fillable text fields and your mouse pointer does not change, you'll know the form is noninteractive.

Things You'll Need

• Adobe Acrobat

Instructions

Create Interactive Form

1. Open Adobe Acrobat.

2. Click the "Forms" menu. Select "Start Form Wizard."

3. Select "An Existing Electronic Document."

4. Click "Browse" to select the noninteractive PDF document you want to convert.

5. Click "Next" in the form wizard onced the file is uploaded. Proceed through the remainder of the wizard by specifying the prompted options.

6. Select the option for auto field detection. This will allow Acrobat to detect the form fields that you already have in the noninteractive form. Click "Next."

7. Wait while the document is created into a new form. Click "Next." Click "Done" to complete the form wizard.

8. Check over the document carefully to make sure Acrobat properly detected all the necessary fields. If you need to manually add new fields, go on to the next section.

Add Additional Form Fields

1. Click the "Forms" menu and choose "Add or Edit Fields."

2. Click the "Forms" menu, then "Form Tools." Select a tool you want to use to create the first form field. Each tool corresponds to a different type of field entry, such as a text box, check box, radio button or list of items.

3. Click an area on the page where you want to insert a field. Click and drag to draw a rectangle for the field.

4. Enter a name for the field in the "Field Name" box.

5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for any additional fields you need to add. Click "File, Save" to save the document.

References

• Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Help: Create a Form
• Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Help: Create Form Fields