Our client wanted a PDF to be returned to the processing department with the filled out data much the same way as it would be received if filled out by hand and faxed. XML is a great way of storing electronic data but not immediately that user friendly when received by e-mail.
The form can be printed as normal if opened in older versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader and saved as a completed/part completed form in more recent versions.īy default the submit email button in LiveCycle Designer sends an XML attachment of the form data via the users default e-mail client or gives instructions on how to save the form and attach it to a web based mail service like Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo Mail. Using Adobe LiveCycle Designer included in the Adobe Creative Suite it is possible to create a fillable form that allows the applicant to fill out the form and submit it electronically either directly to a database, see Stefan Cameron’s blog post for more information, or by e-mail. The document may be sent back electronically or printed and sent back by traditional mail or facsimile.Ī PDF is the preferred choice for distributing documents via the web however until recently was limited in the ability to send information electronically. Our client supplied an application form as a MS Word document that was to be downloaded and filled out by an applicant, saved and sent back for processing. Having encountered problems producing fillable forms using Adobe LiveCycle Designer and needing to find a solution to send them back as PDF documents this article offers the solutions that worked for me. It has been archived and will no longer be updated, comments are closed and the page is provided for reference purposes only.
The new version of LiveCycle Designer (ES4) allows for the first time forms to be deployed in HTML5 format, so they can be used on a wider array of devices (page sizes can adjust to smaller screens) and in a wider range of software systems (no special reader or plugin needed to use them, just a Web browser).Adobe LiveCycle Designer: Creating Dynamic PDF and HTML5 Forms for Desktop and Mobile Applications shows design strategies as well as the technical underpinnings of PDF and XFA (Adobe XML Forms Architecture), the tools necessary to create intelligent forms.The contents of this article may be out of date. Forms created with LiveCycle Designer automatically expand to accommodate different amounts of data and report that information back to a database. LiveCycle Designer lets form designers create more compelling and dynamic documents than is possible with Acrobat or Microsoft Word. It offers a digital handshake between the graphic designer and the data programmer. Plus, forms need to be designed well to eliminate confusion and entice completion by the user.As shown in this book, LiveCycle Designer addresses the many objectives of forms creation. Dynamic forms also have to work seamlessly with the database that collects customer information. Interactive forms that respond to data entry by the user require some programming. Forms have to present critical information in a compact format. Creating intelligent forms can be challenging.