PDF FORMS ON MOBILE PLATFORMS

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1 PDF FORMS ON MOBILE PLATFORMS Jeanne Petty Project Manger

2 PDF FORMS ON MOBILE PLATFORMS AGENDA Why PDF? Identify Challenges Review Paths Forward Best of Both Worlds Solution

3 WHY PDF? POPULARITY OF PDF 75%+ of non-html document content online is PDF. Preserves document layout and format. Free Adobe Reader. Digital Signatures assure Document Integrity. Archival Format and ISO Standard.

4 WHY PDF? ADVANTAGES OF PDF FORMS Available Offline. Leverages existing PDFs. Data Extraction. Built in tools and features.

5 MOBILE DEVICES MOBILE DEVICE OWNERSHIP Tablets Smartphones Source: Pew Research Center

6 CHALLENGES ON MOBILE DEVICES PDF SUCCESS ON MOBILE DEVICES

7 CHALLENGE #1: SOFTWARE

8 CHALLENGE #1: SOFTWARE PDF VIEWER APPS

9 CHALLENGE #1: SOFTWARE RECOMMENDED MOBILE VIEWERS Adobe Acrobat Reader Mobile ios and Android FREE PDF Expert ios Only $9.99

CHALLENGE #1: SOFTWARE OPENING THE FILE Opens in Email

10 CHALLENGE #1: SOFTWARE OPENING THE FILE Opens in program viewer first. User must specify program. Automatic save.

11 CHALLENGE #1: SOFTWARE SHARING THE FILE Must be shared from the editing program. User presented with multiple options. is not an obvious selection.

12 CHALLENGE #1: SOFTWARE FORMAT OPTIONS Option only available on mobile platforms Flattened = Not editable Inconsistency

13 CHALLENGE #2: IMPLEMENTATION

14 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION PDF FORM FEATURES THAT FACE OBSTACLES ON MOBILE PLATFORMS XFA Dynamic Forms PDF Security Signatures Data Formatting Calculations Javascript

15 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION XFA FORMS Input fields adjust size. Table rows can be added and removed. Document reflows.

16 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION FEATURES OF XFA FORMS

17 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION XFA FORMS ON MOBILE DEVICES

18 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION FEATURES OF PDF SECURITY Control Access Protect Content Customize

19 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION SECURE PDFS ON MOBILE DEVICES Viewable NOT Editable Custom selections are not supported

20 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION FEATURES OF SIGNATURE FIELDS Standard Signature Field Digital Signature Applied

21 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION SIGNATURE FIELDS ON MOBILE DEVICES

22 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION SUBMITTING FORMS Send data directly to server. Parse data directly to a back end database. Avoid use of DropBox, FTP and other manual methods for collecting forms. Submitting Forms on Mobile Devices Reader Mobile - Submit ONLY PDF Expert - Supports Submit, Paid App, ios Only

23 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION STANDARD FIELD FORMATS Number & Currency Date & Time Percentage Zip Code Social Security Number Phone Number

24 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION CUSTOM FIELD FORMATS Javascript Regular Expressions Keystroke Events Populating common data throughout the form.

25 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION STANDARD CALCULATIONS Sums, Product, Average and Minimum/Maximum Supported by Reader Mobile CUSTOM CALCULATIONS Large Javascript API Limited support in Reader Mobile Additional support in PDF Expert

26 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION CUSTOM JAVASCRIPT CALCULATIONS

27 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION JAVASCRIPT CALCULATIONS ON MOBILE Calculations are not supported in Adobe Reader. These same calculations work correctly in PDF Expert.

28 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION OTHER JAVASCRIPT IMPLEMENTATIONS Show/Hide Fields Cascading Drop-down menus Required field validation Populate fields with common data Custom form submission SOAP calls PDF as stand-alone data gathering application

29 CHALLENGES #2: IMPLEMENTATION THE FORM AS APPLICATION

30 SO WHAT NEXT?

31 THE SOLUTIONS POTENTIAL PATHS FORWARD Wait for Technology to Catch Up Keep it Simple, PDF Design with Mobile in Mind Move to HTML The Best of Both Worlds

32 THE SOLUTIONS WAIT FOR MOBILE TECHNOLOGY TO CATCH UP? Applications like PDF Expert have shown that support for javascript can be included on a mobile platform Adobe s Free Reader has added support for additional features over time. There has been talk of adding javascript to the PDF ISO standard.

33 THE SOLUTIONS KEEP IT SIMPLE In many cases, PDF forms are still the best solution and can be deployed with mobile devices in mind.

34 THE SOLUTIONS KEEP IT SIMPLE Quick and easy. Access to field types, formats and calculations. Drawn signatures. Accessible Data. Leverage existing forms.

35 THE SOLUTIONS MAKE THE MOVE TO HTML Consistency among Browsers Adobe Experience Manager, Google Forms, JotForm, FormStack, DocuSign Consistent access internet access. Direct to database.

36 THE SOLUTIONS REMAINING CHALLENGES OF HTML Learning Curve Finding the Right Tool Hosting or Subscription Fees Reinventing the Wheel Loss of Standard Forms, Format, Documents

37 BUT I STILL NEED MY PDF FORMS

38 THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

39 THE SOLUTIONS HTML FRONT END AND PDF OUTPUT Advanced features of HTML front end. Database flexibility PDF Standards

40 THE SOLUTIONS STREAMLINE DATA COLLECTION Collect general data once. Avoid unnecessary questions. Guide the user

41 THE SOLUTIONS ADVANTAGES Accessibility. Mobile compatibility. Keep forms up to date. Leverage existing forms.

42 THE SOLUTIONS REMAINING HURDLES Not an out of the box solution. Multiple components to set up. Hosting fees or in house server and IT resources. Development time drafting pages to collect data.

43 THE SOLUTIONS APPLICATION DEMO

44 QUESTIONS? Jeanne Millet Petty Appligent Document Solutions

PDF. PDF Share Forms Cloud Making Office 365 forms smarter. Let Office 365 users manage the entire form life cycle on their own SHARE FORMS

PDF. PDF Share Forms Cloud Making Office 365 forms smarter. Let Office 365 users manage the entire form life cycle on their own SHARE FORMS Making Office 365 forms smarter Let Office 365 users manage the entire form life cycle on their own MADE FOR BUSINESS USERS It takes less than two minutes to integrate form to your Office 365 site and