Acrobat guru shares 101 favorite tips, tasks as free eBook

by Kurt Foss, Editor, AcrobatUsers.com

Renowned author and Acrobat guru Ted Padova has taken to the next level his generosity for freely sharing with the user community his wealth of product expertise. In addition to routinely dispensing nuggets of PDF-oriented knowledge via his blog, in the Ask an Expert section and in the AcrobatUsers.com forums, he's now put together a compilation of "101 of my favorite tips and frequently used tasks in Acrobat, JavaScript and LiveCycle Designer" in eBook format, and is offering it as a free download.

The 55-page document is a follow-up from one of Padova's recent sessions at the Acrobat and PDF Central Conference, held recently in Council Bluffs, IA.

"Due to the popularity of a session on Acrobat tips," he says in a recent blog post, "I thought I'd put together a little document for all of you who couldn't attend the conference. It's a collection of some of the most frequent tasks I use when creating Acrobat PDF forms and LiveCycle Designer forms, from the design stage through adding JavaScripts."

101 Forms eTips
by Ted Padova
Download [PDF: 21.5 MB]  

Tips featured in the 101 Forms eTips document are divided into several sections, and include:

Designing forms

1. Breaking Page Borders
2. Changing Midpoints on Objects
3. Creating PDFs with Adobe PDF Layers
4. Adding Buttons to Layers
5. Adding Hyperlinks in Application Documents
6. Designing for Run Form Field Recognition
7. Replacing Pages
8. Replacing Pages in Tiled Views
9. Editing Text on a Form
10. Editing Images on a Form
11. Adding Document Properties
12. Flattening Fields

Working with Fields

13. Using Run Form Field Recognition
14. Scanning for Run Form Field Recognition
15. Creating Comb Fields
16. Creating Arbitrary Masks
17. Formatting Numbers
18. Adding Button Faces
19. Adding Rollovers to Button Faces
20. Duplicating Buttons Across Multiple Pages
21. Adding a Reset Button
22. Submitting Forms to eMail Addresses
23. Creating a Table
24. Managing Fields
25. Setting Appearance Defaults
26. Duplicating Fields
27. Adding an Address Block
28. Renaming Fields
29. Duplicating Check boxes and Radio Buttons
30. Adding Barcode Fields

Initial Views

31. Setting Initial Views
32. Opening in Full Screen Mode
33. Hiding the Cursor in FS Mode
34. Hiding the Navigation Panel
35. Viewing the Navigation Panel
36. Setting Custom Zoom Levels

Writing JavaScripts

37. Navigating Views
38. Creating an Application Alert
39. Dismissing Application Alerts
40. Adding Line Breaks to Alerts
41. Invoking Actions on Field Entry
42. Assessing Viewer Versions
43. Assessing Viewer Types
44. Assessing Document Information
45. Autotabbing Fields
46. Printing Pages Via JavaScript
47. Printing from the JavaScript Console
48. Eliminating Fields From Print
49. Printing with Annotations
50. Creating Document Actions
51. Date Stamping a Document
52. Summing Rows and Columns
53. Using Simplified Field Notation
54. Summing Data with JavaScript
55. Calculating a Sales Tax
56. Calculating a Shipping Charge
57. Importing Images
58. Showing/Hiding Fields
59. Resetting a Form
60. Setting Fields to Read Only
61. Deleting Fields
62. Deleting Zeros from Calculation Fields
63. Adding URLs to Text
64. URL Links in New Windows
65. Adding Annotations Using JavaScript
66. Adding Fields Using JavaScript
67. Determining x,y Coordinates
68. Changing Text Colors
69. Spawning Pages From Templates
70. Changing OCG States
71. Limiting Character Strings
72. Popup Menus for URL Navigation
73. Popup Menus for Page Views
74. Popup Menus for Opening Files
75. Emailing a PDF
76. Emailing Form Data
77. Checking for Empty Fields
78. Creating Fixed Response Options
79. Creating Application Response Dialog Boxes
80. Adding Data to Secondary Forms

Adding Menu Items

81. Counting Fields
82. Counting Page Templates
83. Listing Menu Items
84. Adding a URL to a Menu
85. Add a File | New Menu Command

Adobe LiveCycle Designer (Windows-only)

86. Changing the Default Template
87. Adding an Address Block
88. Adding Button Imports
89. Editing Backgrounds
90. Binding an XML Sample File to a Form
91. Testing the XML Data File
92. Creating a WSDL Connection
93. Enabling an XML Form
94. Distributing an XML Form
95. Adding a PDF Background
96. Converting a PDF Form
97. Using Transparent Images
98. Calculating Columns
99. Creating Tables
100. Adding a Total Field to a Table

In case you're wondering, tip 101 is a collection of other helpful resources (in addition to his own AcrobatUsers.com blog) that he recommends, such as:

• Samples in the Designer 8.0 folder: Open the folder inside the Acrobat 8.0 folder and open the EN (for English installations of Designer). Open the Samples folder and review the many sample files installed with Designer.

• FormCalc Manual: Open the Designer 8.0 | Documentation | EN folder and you'll find a manual for using FormCalc.

• Visit the Designer Home: Choose Help | Adobe on the Web. Your default Web browser opens and takes you to the LiveCycle Designer homepage.

• Visit the Developer Connection to find information, tips, and sample files.

• Visit the Designer Scripting Examples to find sample files.

• Visit Thom Parker's JavaScript Corner to find information, tips, and techniques on Acrobat and LiveCycle Designer JavaScripting.

• Visit Carl Young's AcroViews blog to find information, tips and techniques on working with LiveCycle Designer Forms.

Padova, author of the "Adobe Acrobat 8 PDF Bible," welcomes feedback about the tips collection on his blog.