How to Make an Interactive PDF Form in Adobe Acrobat
Staying curious about new software as well as new features in beloved programs is vital to maintaining a productive workflow and how we stay relevant in the workplace. In a world of continual technological advancement, our knowledge is becoming outdated faster than ever. And if we’re not learning, we’re lacking. Whether the software you use helps to create stunning visuals, presentations, capture data or communicate with consumers, there will always be other — perhaps better — ways of going about a given task. Features, such as plug-ins and shortcuts, can make us more efficient creators.
Many new discoveries occur out of necessity, when hitting a roadblock and needing to problem solve. A recent project of mine was a digital publication that includes a checklist feature. Although the consumer could print the form and fill it out manually, considering the needs of the audience (i.e., a businessperson working in a fast-paced environment), it’s likely the content will exclusively exist digitally.
In my research, I discovered how to create an interactive form (or a Prepared Form) within Adobe Acrobat. By integrating features of interactive checkboxes and text forms, I’m able to make a more effective and user-friendly asset.
I created this video to share my learnings with coworkers and wanted to share it more broadly. I believe it’s important to both continue personal and professional learning, but also to share knowledge that can help us all become more effective visual communicators!
Open your designed PDF in Adobe Acrobat (Note: the Prepare Form feature may not be available in all Acrobat versions. I use Adobe Acrobat Pro DC)
In the top tab bar, go to Tools > Forms & Signatures > Prepare Form
Select the file you want to create a form within. (It will automatically scan the form to auto-populate potential form fields, but this may not work with more complex design files)
On the right-hand panel under ‘Fields’ select the page you want to incorporate form features into
Either using the top bar of icons or right-clicking, you can select the type of interactive feature you want to include (e.g., text forms, checkboxes, even drop-down lists)
Drag over the area of the page you want to incorporate the feature
In the Fields panel, right-click the element > Properties (here you can adjust color, type size, alignment and more)
Additional tips
If you already have checkboxes visually on your page, make sure to go into check box properties and make Stroke and Fill transparent
Make sure within the General tab of the dialogue box, Form Field is set to ‘Visible’
To create a text box that supports multiple lines of text, go to Properties > Text Field Properties > check box ‘Multi-line’
I hope you find this tutorial useful. Happy exploring!
