Editing form fields You can move, resize, cut, and paste multiple form fields on the same page, across pages, or across PDF documents. For more information on modifying and copying individual form fields, see Setting form field options on page 151 and Duplicating form fields on page 158. To edit a form field: 1 Use the form tool to select the form field you want to edit. 2 To move a form field, do one of the following: Approximately position the form field by moving the pointer inside the selected form field, and drag the field to the new location.to constrain movement to a horizontal or vertical direction, begin dragging, and then hold down Shift while continuing to drag the selection. Precisely position the form field by using the arrow keys to nudge the selected form fields into position. Exactly relocate the form field to the center of the current view by choosing Edit > Cut, navigate to the desired location, and then choose Edit > Paste.The form field is pasted in the center of the current view. 3 To resize a form field, position the pointer over an anchor point of the selected form field.when the pointer changes to the double-headed arrow, hold the mouse button down, and drag to resize the form field.to resize multiple form fields, do one of the following: Hold down Shift, and press an arrow key to resize the form fields in small increments.to reduce or enlarge the form field widths, use the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key, respectively; to reduce or enlarge the heights, use the Up Arrow or Down Arrow key, respectively. Choose Tools > Forms > Fields > Size > Height to make all form fields in the selection the same height as the first form field. Choose Tools > Forms > Fields > Size > Width to make all form fields in the selection the same width as the first form field. Choose Tools > Forms > Fields > Size > Both to make all form fields in the selection the same height and width as the first form field. 4 To align form fields with the first form field, choose one the following commands from the Tools > Forms > Fields > Align menu: Left, Right,Top, or Bottom aligns all form fields with the respective border of the first form field. Vertically aligns all form fields along the vertical axis of the first form field. Using Help Contents Index Back 157
Using Help Contents Index Back 158 Horizontally aligns all form fields along the horizontal axis of the first form field. You must select a minimum of two form fields. 5 To center form fields, choose one of the following commands from the Tools > Forms > Fields > Center menu: Vertically centers the group of form fields with respect to the page s vertical dimension. Horizontally centers the group of form fields with respect to the page s horizontal dimension. Both centers the group of form fields in the page. 6 To distribute form fields, choose one of the following commands from the Tools > Forms > Fields > Distribute menu: Vertically distributes the intermediate form fields evenly between the topmost and bottommost form fields in the selection.this action disregards Snap to Grid. Horizontally distributes the intermediate form fields evenly between the leftmost and rightmost form fields in the selection.this action disregards Snap to Grid. You must select a minimum of three form fields. 7 To delete form fields, do one of the following: Press Delete, and select Yes in the confirmation dialog box. Choose Edit > Delete, and select Yes in the confirmation dialog box. If you are deleting a form field that has a duplicate, another dialog box asks if you want to remove all occurrences of the form field. Note: Holding down the Shift key when resizing a form field maintains the original aspect ratio of the form field. Duplicating form fields You can duplicate form fields on the same page or across pages.when you duplicate a form field, users can fill in one form field and have that information appear in all the form fields with the same name, no matter what page they are on.the copied form fields can be given different appearances, but they must have the same name and actions. Changing an action in a form field will change the action for all form fields with the same name, with the exception of mouse actions. Mouse actions are confined to a single field. To duplicate a form field on the same page: 1 Select the form tool, and select a form field. 2 Do one of the following: Approximately position the form field by pressing Ctrl (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), and drag the form field to the new location.to constrain the movement horizontally or vertically, hold down Ctrl or Option, begin dragging, and then hold down Shift while continuing to drag the form field. Exactly duplicate the form field to the center of the current view by choosing Edit > Copy, and then choose Edit > Paste.The duplicate form field appears in the center of the current view. To duplicate a form field across pages: 1 Select the form tool, and select the form field. Using Help Contents Index Back 158
Using Help Contents Index Back 159 2 Do one of the following: Choose Tools > Forms > Fields > Duplicate, select All or type in a page range, and click OK.The form field is duplicated across the specified page range and placed in the location (x and y coordinates) of the selected form field across the entire page range. Choose Edit > Copy, and then choose Edit > Paste. Position the duplicate form field in the new location. Go to each page (on which you want the form field to appear), and repeat these actions. Changing the appearance of form fields You can change the appearance of multiple form fields simultaneously by setting the options in the Field Properties dialog box. For information on how to change the appearance of a field using a JavaScript, see Using custom JavaScripts in forms on page 164, or choose Help -> Forms JavaScript Guide to display the Acrobat JavaScript Object Specification. Note: The Field Properties dialog box generally displays only the Appearance tab when multiple form fields are selected. If all the selected fields are of the same type, the Options tab is also displayed. To change the appearance of a form field: 1 Select the form tool, and select the form fields you want to change. 2 Choose Edit > Properties to open the Field Properties dialog box. 3 Select the options that you want to change. For information about the available options, see Setting appearance options on page 151 and Setting form field options on page 151. If a particular property differs among the selected form fields, the property setting will either be blank or contain a dimmed check or question mark.you can change the marked option and apply the new property to all form fields in the selection, or you can keep the existing properties. 4 Click OK. Setting tabbing order You can determine the order that a user tabs through form fields on a single page.the default tab order is the order in which the form fields were created. To set tabbing order: 1 Select the form tool. 2 Choose Tools > Forms > Fields > Set Tab Order. 3 The form fields display the tab order currently set. Select from the following: To reorder the tabs, click the form fields in the order that you want them numbered. To start at a number other than 1, press Ctrl (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), and click the form field numbered one less than you want to start with.then click the form field you want to renumber. 4 Click outside a form field, or switch tools to exit Set Tab Order. Using Help Contents Index Back 159
Using Help Contents Index Back 160 Working with the Fields palette and context menu The Fields palette in the navigation pane lists all the form fields (in a hierarchical structure) that you have created in your document.you can jump to a particular form field by double-clicking the field s icon in the Fields palette.you can sort, rename, delete, lock, unlock, and set properties for form fields using the Fields palette context menu and the palette menu. To show or hide the Fields palette: Do one of the following: Click the Show/Hide Navigation Pane button, and click the Fields tab. Choose Window > Show Fields. To choose a command from the Fields palette menu: Position the pointer over the triangle in the upper right corner of the palette, hold down the mouse button to open the menu, and drag to the command you want. To choose a command from the field context menu: 1 Right-click on the field in the Fields palette. 2 Choose the command you want: The Go to field command selects the field in the form. The Rename field command allows you to type in a new name for the field. The Delete field(s) command deletes the selected field and any of its child fields. The Lock command locks the field so that no modifications can be made to it until it is unlocked.to unlock a locked field, click the Unlock command. The Properties command brings up the Field Properties dialog box, where you can edit the properties of the field just as you did when creating it.
Filling out forms You can fill out forms in Acrobat and submit them across the Web if you are filling them out from inside a Web browser or using Acrobat Web Capture. For information, see Converting Web Pages to Adobe PDF on page 69 and Viewing PDF documents on the Web on page 211. With Acrobat, you can also print the form or export the form data to a separate file. Exporting form data allows you to save the existing data, or to transport it with an alternative method such as e-mail. To fill out a form: 1 Select the hand tool. 2 Position the pointer inside a form field, and click.the I-beam pointer allows you to type text. The arrow pointer allows you to select a button, a check box, a radio button, or an item from a list. 3 After entering text or selecting an item, check box, or radio button, do one of the following: Press Tab to accept the form field change and go to the next form field. Press Shift+Tab to accept the form field change and go to the previous form field. Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS) to accept the form field change and deselect the current form field. In a multiline text form field, Enter or Return goes to the next line in the same form field. You can use Enter on the keypad to accept a change and deselect the current form field. Press Escape to reject the form field change and deselect the current form field. If you are in Full Screen mode, pressing Escape a second time causes you to exit Full Screen mode. 4 Once you have filled in the appropriate form fields, do one of the following: Click the Submit Form button, if one exists.the button may be named differently. Clicking this button sends the form data to a database across the Web or over your company intranet.this button works only if you are viewing the PDF document from inside a Web browser, or you have Web Capture. Choose File > Export > Form Data to save the form data in a separate FDF file.the form itself is not saved.type a filename, and click Save. Opening the Forms Data Format Using Help Contents Index Back 170