pdf with editable fields

**behzad** · 26 September 2017, 08:36 PM

Thanks seen that but client wants a nice redesign of page with fields not your ordinary ones. I thought I can design it in xara and then export as pdf and possibly then create the fields.

**gwpriester** · 26 September 2017, 10:01 PM

Not that I know of in Xara. You can do this in Acrobat though.

**behzad** · 26 September 2017, 10:22 PM

Yes acrobat pro apparently.

**mwenz** · 26 September 2017, 11:59 PM

There are other PDF Editors that can create form fields.

I wouldn't use PDF forms in this day and age, though.

**gwpriester** · 27 September 2017, 01:17 AM

Why not Mike? Just curious.

**siran** · 27 September 2017, 03:55 AM

Mike, could you name one or two that are not too expensive (reasonable price for a one time project)?

**Albacore** · 27 September 2017, 12:31 PM

I normally would recommend Adobe -InDesign/Acro Pro for these types of jobs. If you're looking for a free solution you should consider the following: Used LibreOffice which works well and your clients can download the programme, tinker with your design, then export as PDF. Works well with with a printable solution which can be attached to email. The other one that I have used a few years ago was AbleWord but this is aimed at Word users but as an all round PDF editor it will import all PDF's but maybe a pig to edit and might not quite have the same look as the original PDF.

**mwenz** · 27 September 2017, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by siran

Mike, could you name one or two that are not too expensive (reasonable price for a one time project)?

I use Acrobat. I've just seen some with the capability. I did a Google search and in the top hits saw this page. I suspect there are others as well. Take the word "free" in the title with a grain of salt.

https://pdf.iskysoft.com/pdf-form/fr...m-creator.html

Mike

**mwenz** · 27 September 2017, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by gwpriester

Why not Mike? Just curious.

For a few reasons, really.

The idea of a PDF form is the collection of data. Filling a form and having the data collection easy is something that a web page can do, regardless of the form factor (desktop, tablet, phone). A PDF is absolutely a fixed size sort of thing. Scrolling around on a mobile device (many don't have a tab key) and "clicking" into a form's field sucks. A well-designed web page that is at least adaptive for size if not responsive in nature makes the form filling easier. Many mobile devices cannot deal with a PDF form.

And as well, how does one get that data? One can usually get to the data via email (easier on a desktop), but then what? what does one then do with the info? Then there is the security issues. There has been a tightening of security and capability for PDF forms that has made it near impossible to use one's own server for processing and most/many mobiles will barf at sending the data properly.

The list goes on. PDF forms are just an inefficient means of data collection and further processing.

If one want to, they can buy PagePlus for $20 or so. You can make PDF forms with it. Even ID cannot deal with certain form issues and no matter what is used to create the PDF, it nearly always needs post manipulation in an editor. And while PP can include JavaScript actions attached to various form fields, it nearly always needs edited in Acrobat or whatever. And again, mobile devices don't like the running of JavaScript in a PDF.

It is faster and more assured to just build web pages. Hopefully in something that makes it easy to adapt to the user's device.