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Adobe Acrobat Forms Training – April 2019

● ● March 29, 2019 ● Additional Training Opportunities Software Training ● Comments Off on Adobe Acrobat Forms Training – April 2019

PDF vs MS Word

One of the problems with sharing documents made in Microsoft Word or other word processors is that when you share a file from one computer to the next, the formatting can prove to be very different. This can cause confusion, or make you look bad to your clients or colleagues. You can rest easier with the PDF format, that your document will be presented exactly how you layed it out. It’s also ideal for sending documents that are intended to be printed out. PDF is useful for making files available on the internet.

Common Issues with MS Word and PDF Forms

  1. NWTC Foundation Scholarship (PDF format) – https://nwtech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/NWTC-Foundation-Scholarship-App-Fillable.pdf .
    Type your name in the Name Field. Then Press Tab.
    Type the date in the Date Field. Then Press Tab.
    Type your address in the Address Field. Then Press Tab.
    Notice anything different than what you expected? I expected the cursor to move to the City, State, Zip field. So the Tab Order is confusing in the first section because it doesn’t exactly  move from left to right or top to bottom.
    Click in the text area for the first question (Please describe your future educational and career goals).  Type enough information in that text area to fill the entire text box.  Notice what happens if you type more information that the box allows?
    When you press Tab to  move from the first question text area to the second question (Please explain your need for assistance…) text area, where does the cursor appear?
    Start typing information into that second text area and type enough information that the answer will take multiple lines.  What happens?
    Start typing information into that third text area and type enough information that the answer will take multiple lines.  What happens?
  2. NWTC Foundation Scholarship (MS Word Format) – go to the NWTC Financial Aid page – https://nwtech.edu/student-services/financial-aid-tuition/ – then scroll down to the Additional Information section and click on the MS Word version link for the NWTC Foundation Scholarship.
    What happens if you just start typing?  Where is your cursor?
    What happens when you click in the Name box right before the grey box and start typing? Why isn’t the text bottom aligned in the cell? What do you have to do to get the text to appear right on top of the line?
    After you type information in the Name box what happens when you press tab? What do you have to do to type information in the Date box and have Date and the actual Date bottom aligned in the cell?
    What happens when you try to enter multiple lines of information in the Please describe your future educational  and career goals box?
    Save the Word File as a PDF and then open in Adobe Acrobat and try to create a form using this file.
    Does Adobe Acrobat correctly guess the text boxes to add to the form?  If not, what actions do you have to take?
    When you test the form, is all the text that you enter the same font and font size?  If not, how do you correct that issue?
    When entering information in the three larger text areas, does all the text appear as planned when entering multiple lines of text? If not, what actions do you need to take to correct that?
  3. NWTC Educational Assistance Application – https://nwtech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Educational-Assistance-Application.pdf – Open this application which is posted on the Staff page.
    Type information on the first line of the “Please list the expected time frame to complete your degree” section. What happens when you get to the end of the line?
    If you type information on the second line of that section what happens when you get to the end of the line?
    What happens if you want to go back and add information within the first line of that section after you have already typed information on the first few lines?
    What changes could be made to this form to make it more user friendly?
  4. Northwest Career Academy Application – If the link isn’t on the home page, go to https://nwtech.edu/student-services/student-organizations/ then click on Northwest Career Academy to expand that section.  Download the Northwest Career Academy Application in MS Word format.
    Using the MS Word version:
    What happens when you try to type in the name box area?
    What happens when you press the tab key to move from the name box area to the name you prefer to be called answer area?
    How do you add a check mark or select a size of shirt? Do you think middle school students and/or parents that have little computer knowledge will know how to do this?
    Do you know how to make this a “protected” Word form so users can tab from field to field and not access the rest of the document? Do you know how to access the Developer toolbar in MS Word? The steps are different on different operating systems and versions of MS Word but on the computers in Career Center select Preferences from the MS Word menu… then View then Show Developer Tab.  This option may be in a different setting depending on the version of MS Word you are using.
    After “protecting” the application, what happens when you tab from field to field?
    To create a PDF version:
    Download the MS Word version (without being a protected form) and save as PDF but add your initials to the beginning of the file name.
    In Adobe Acrobat select the Prepare Form option.
    Does Adobe Acrobat add all necessary form fields?
    If not, do you  know how to add the form fields and check the settings or defaults for the fields?
    If you have to add text areas do you know how to make them multiline?
    What happens to the tab order if you add fields that Adobe Acrobat didn’t automatically add?
    Do you know how to add tool tips if needed or delete them if not needed?
    What happens if you want to add another question and section above the question What are you job responsibilities?  Does the PDF file automatically repaginate?
  5. Northwest Tech Tuition Waiver – From the Financial Aid & Tuition page – https://nwtech.edu/student-services/financial-aid-tuition/, download the Northwest Tech Tuition Waiver.
    What happens when you click in the “fields” to try to enter your text?
    How do you select one of the boxes for education level?
    What changes should be made to this form to make it more user friendly?
    Who possibly created this form and how would I know who sent it to me?
  6. Enrollment Processes Checklist – From the Enrollment Processes page of the website – https://nwtech.edu/student-services/enrollment-processes/. download the Enrollment Processes Checklist.
    Is that a fillable form? Is that confusing? What must a person do to complete the form?
  7. District Enrollment Form 2019 – From the Enrollment Processes page of the website – https://nwtech.edu/student-services/enrollment-processes/. download the Enrollment Application.
    Do you have any problems that arise when trying to complete this form?
    What steps would you have to take if you want to add three more larger questions or add a new section above “Completed by High School Applicants Only” section? What files would you possible need access to besides the PDF to accomplish this?
  8. Innovation Form – Select the Innovation Form from the staff page.
    How would the user indicate their selection of Professional Development, Equipment or  Other?
    What steps could be taken to make this more user friendly for the staff member with limited computer experience?
  9. Individual Strategic Plan Form – Download the Individual Strategic Plan form that is located in the Professional Development Forms section of the Staff page.
    What happens when the user enters their name? What should the user do? Leave the name as it appears after being entered or something else?
  10. SLC Application – Download the SLC Application – https://nwtech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/SLC-Application.pdf .
    Is the file name that appears in the browser window/title a good description of the file type?
    If you are given the responsibility of updating this application this Fall with different dates for deadlines, what steps would you take to do that?
    If you were told to add three more questions above the last question, what steps would you have to take to accomplish that?
  11. Adobe Acrobat Field Settings – Do you know how to specify the font to be used in a field in a form? Do you know how to specify the font size to be used in a form field?
  12. Creating a PDF from Scratch – If you were given the task of creating a survey that is to be posted on the website in a PDF format, what steps would you take to do that?
    Would you open Adobe Acrobat and and start with a blank file?
    Would you create the survey in another application? If so, what application would you use?
    What steps would you need to take to get the survey created and tested before sending to be added to the website?

 

Things to Keep in Mind When Creating Documents and PDFs

  1. Tab order matters in PDFs.  Be sure to test and set the tab order for the forms.
  2. Be sure to specify “Multi line” for a text area if the answer will contain more than one line such as a paragraph for an answer.
  3. Be sure to specify the alignment of a text area if you want the information to be aligned at the top of the box for the answer.
  4. Be sure to set the font and font size for text areas so there is consistency within the form.  If you don’t set the font and font size then the font size could change depending on the amount of text entered into the text area.
  5. Do you want certain text areas to remain a set height or do you want them to be able to automatically expand and possibly change the page breaks of the document when using a MS Word document?
  6. It is the responsibility of the person creating the form to be sure the form is in a user friendly PDF format before sending it to be added to the website.
  7. Add a footer or note at the bottom that includes your name indicating you created or edited the file and the date.  This will be helpful when trying to determine who sent the file to be added to the website.

Resources

 

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