Expert: Ken Black - 7/7/2009

Question
Hi Ken,

I am new to acrobat and just finding my way around.

Is it possible in Acrobat 9 to convert completed forms (e.g. from scanner or Word) into a PDF form for collating data - or does Acrobat only create blank forms which must then be completed electronically?

I sincerely appreciate any advice.

Thanks,
Simon.

Answer
Hi Simon,

Yes, Acrobat 9 will "automatically" create forms that it can recognize from existing documents, whether from Word, other software or a scan.

Under the Forms menu, choose Start Form Wizard. Acrobat will give you two options, 1 - Start with a PDF document and 2 - A paper form.

For option number 1, you will need to a Word or other office software file to a PDF. In many instances, dropping the file into Acrobat will convert it to a PDF for you, in others you will need to export your document as a PDF from the application you are using. Once you have a PDF of the document you would like to use as a form, choose it from the Start Form Wizard and Acrobat will attempt to recognize the individual form fields.

In option 2, Acrobat will start your scan for you, so long as you have a scanner connected to your computer. This will create the necessary PDF file that Acrobat will use to generate your form. You have a few options for quality and OCR (optical character recognition). My experience has been favorable creating a High Quality document and using OCR. If you already have a scanned document that you would like to use without Acrobat doing the scanning for you, convert the file to a PDF and use option number 1.

Once Acrobat has created your new form, while it does a pretty good job most of the time, there may be some fields that are not properly formatted for your needs. To fix these or create additional fields choose Add or Edit Fields from the Forms menu. Acrobat will highlight the editable fields for you and enable you to edit their length, size and to some extent functionality.

Thanks,

Ken Black

www.bestprintingonline.com