Adobe 9 Submit Forms

It all depends on how things are set up. Can you explain how you've set up your submit button?

How, exactly, are you attaching files to the document?

For what you want to work with Reader, the document has to be Reader-enabled, which means giving the document certain usage rights. This allows Reader to do things it normally cannot. You can Reader-enable a document with Acrobat (8/9) and this allows a filled-in form to be saved and the complete document emailed.

But there are licensing restrictions that come with Reader-enabling a document with Acrobat. In short, if you deploy an enabled (aka extended) document to more than 500 recipients, you may use data from no more than 500 returned forms (including hardcopies). If fewer than 500 recipients, you may use data from an unlimited number of returned forms.

You can also Reader-enable a document using Adobe's LiveCycle Reader Extensions product. This is a significantly more expensive option, but it does allow the setting of more usage rights than is possible with Acrobat, such as embedded files.

George

The original form was already in PDF format and I converted it so that it could be "interactive" or "fillable". I created the submit button in "edit" format using the "add/edit fields" in Adobe 9 Standard. It works fine for me when I tried it but didn't for my boss who tried it (clicking on the submit button).

That's my question - how do I set up the interactive form I created in Adobe 9 so that when they click on the "submit" button, the full Adobe form (not just the data) is attached AND they can attach additional documents along with the form?

My employer is a government entity so I have no control over purchasing products but I can tell you that the free downloadable Adobe Reader on our website is Adobe Reader 9.

OK, but what type of action did you specify for the button you added? For example, it may have been a "Submit a form" action where you specified a mailto type URL. If you did this, you would have to specify "PDF The complete document" as the Export Format.

To Reader-enable a document, you'd open the document in Acrobat the select "Advanced > Extend Features in Adobe Reader". Do this as the very last step before you distribute the form.Note that file attachments may be a problem. How are you currently doing that?

George

Sorry! Action is "submit a form" and then it's specified to a URL, our department's e-mail address. The export format is "complete PDF document".

Problem: I'm in the document now under "add/edit fields". Under "Advanced" I do not have the "Extend Features in Adobe Reader" available (it's grayed out). I've not distributed my form. Is that the problem I'm having then? Why is it able to work for me personally but not someone else?

We would like the person who is submitting the completed fillable form to attach their files when they reply and click on the submit button?

To enable the document you will need to exit the field editing mode. Click the "Close Form Editing" button in the upper-right.

It probably doesn't work for others because they are probably using Reader. It should work with Reader once you've enabled the document.

I haven't tested whether files that you attach as comments will work with Reader...

George

Do I still need to "distribute form" to enable it? Do I do that once I get out of editing mode or while I'm still in it?

We're hoping that the files they would attach would most likely in MS Word, or PDF format, JPEG's, etc.

I apologize for all the "goofy" questions!

Thank you for all of your useful information!

I thought I had done the "distribution form" process but I can try again. As far as attaching files goes, would "attach a file as a comment" work for what we'd like to have the end-user do or maybe an image field? However, I do not have Live Cycle Designer available to use and I think that is what I need to create an image field. In reading past forums, I came across one that said that attaching files in Adobe Reader is not an option?? Thanks!

You would need Designer to create a form that contains an image field, but it wouldn't work for the other non-image file types you mentioned (doc, pdf, etc.).

You do not need to use Acrobat's form distribution facility for this to work.

As I said, I haven't tested whether attaching a file as a comment will work with Reader. I do know the the "embedded file" is a usage right that Acrobat cannot apply, you need LiveCycle Reader Extensions for it. Maybe I'll run a quick test now...

And don't worry about asking any questions. That's what this place is for,

George

It looks like Reader users can use the "Attach a File as a Comment" tool with a Reader-enabled PDF to attach files, so you're in luck. But this will likely take a bit of user education.

George

Okay - so these are the steps I need to follow in order to enable it so it can be filled out and returned back to me

1. Edit form
2. Save or distribute form?
3. Distribute or save form? In this mode, when I come to the "To" section in "distribute" I'm assuming that the e-mail address I put in there is my department's e-mail address?
4. Post to website where it will hopefully work!!

If my steps are wrong, could you please verify what they need to be? Is there a way to "test" the form without having to make it "live" on our website?

If I were to give you the website to go to, where I would have it posted, and have you fill out the form and try it out, could you do that? It might be a good test.

Thank you!!!

You need to enable the form for use with Reader. I gave the menu item to do this in a previous response. This should be the final change you make to the document before posting it on your web site.

I'd be happy to test it out, and you should be sure to test it out with Reader. You can test it out by giving it to someone who has Reader.

George

Thanks, George! Give me a bit of time to do my final editing, posting it to the web, etc. As soon as I have that completed, I will post instructions to find the form in my next post. I wont' be adding the "Attach a file as comment" just yet. I want to make sure that just having you/someone be able to submit it back to us works well.

Ok, George - my fillable form is up on the website. To find it, follow these steps:

1. Go to www.wdm-ia.com
2. Find the tab for "Your Government" and it will give you a drop-down list.
3. From that list, find "Development Services"
4. In the "Development Services" list, find "Online Development Center".
5. When you are in "Development Services" there is a menu on the left. Scroll down to "Development Applications" and click on it.
6. In this section, scroll down to find "Pre-Application Form Information Sheet (online fillable form).

That is the form I created. If when you finish filling it out and click on submit, it "should" forward to me and I will receive it in our department's e-mail box.

If not, then I'm still missing one step and will need to pull it off the website until I can figure out what that step is. Please let me know at your earliest convenience if it worked for you. Thanks!

I just tested it with Acrobat 9 Pro, using internet email. So I saved the complete PDF on my system and manually attached it to an email I sent via web browser. You will want to test it with Reader using a desktop email client, such as Outlook Express.

Once you have it working as you want it to, you should probably also add security to prevent folks from making unwanted changes.

George

You have not enabled this form for use with Reader, which means that Reader users cannot save the filled-in PDF and email it. So you will need to do this.

George

My younger brother e-mailed back saying that he was getting the error message, same as my boss was. I'm sooooo close, yet so far!!! Okay, back to the drawing board!

Ok, George~

This is where I'm at. When I clicked on "Distribute Form" after I made my changes, Adobe created two saved versions: an "distributed" and then a "response" form. The people I had test it did work but their "tests" came to my personal work e-mail and not the department's e-mail, which I had thought I had established. I'm guessing all I have to do is reset that and am guessing that I will need to "close edit form" and re-distribute as well?

George~

Under "Advanced" I do not have the option "Enable features in Adobe Reader" under any of the topics or drop-downs! I have "Extend Forms Fill-in & Save Adobe Reader". When the people I have had test it, it DOES come back to me in the PDF form that they've filled it out in.Regarding Security, what am I supposed to choose?

OK, use the "extend Forms Fill-in & Save Adobe Reader" then. I don't have Standard, so I was going by what Pro has.For security, choose password security and set it up to allow High Resolution printing and "Commenting, filling in form fields, and signing existing signature fields" under Changes Allowed.

George

I went ahead and did that. It works! As far as the security goes, we don't requre signatures for this specific type of form so I will talk with my boss and see if he wants to set the security on this. My next step now is to do the "add file as comment" but for now, I'm estatic that I was able to get it to work!! Thank you so much for all of your help! Don't be surprised if I contact you again if I have trouble with the "add file as comment" option.

I'm having issues with the "attach file as comment". It appears to me that this feature is if I want to attach a file, image, etc., to the online form that I created. What I'm hoping to do is when the user fills out our form online, they can add their own attachments to the PDF form they filled out and then submit it back to us.

For example, the fillable form I created is an application form. As part of that application, the user needs to include a sketch(es) with their form of what they're proposing to do. That is what I'm trying to figure out. The individuals fills out the form online, attaches THEIR sketches and then when they click on the submit button ALL the documents (the filled out application form and sketch drawings) are then sent to us to our department's e-mail mailbox.

That is what we would like to have happen. I've done some research looking through the topics and forums but most of them seem to relate to attachments I want to add to my created documents; not attachments I would like the end user to submit back to us.

Thanks!!!

The file you have posted on the web site does not have commenting usage rights enabled. When you Reader-enable a document using Acrobat Pro, it gives the document both forms and commenting usage rights. Apparently, Acrobat Standard does not, it's either one or the other. Since you need both forms fill-in and commenting, you'll need to get Acrobat Pro.

Then you'll need to explain to users how to get the "Attach File as Comment" tool to appear, and how to use it.

George

So, basically you're saying that because I have Acrobat 9 Standard and that's what I created the form in, they won't be able to attach their own files. I have to have Acrobat Pro to be able to do that. The only thing that I can do is have the end user be able to fill out the form and submit it using the button I created. Am I understanding this correctly, George? I appreciate the clarification.

Yes, that appears to be the case. I have not had a chance to work with Acrobat 9 Standard so am not aware of all of its capabilities and limitations, otherwise I would have warned you sooner.

But to clarify something you said, it doesn't matter what you created the document with, just what you Reader-enable the document with. So if you get Pro, you can Reader-enable the document you created with Standard.

George

Well, I guess that by the user being able to fill in the form and submit back to us is better than what we had before. I have no idea if I'll be able to get Pro. Thank you, George! I appreciate all your help! Don't be surprised if I contact you some time in the future with another problem I have with Adobe 9 Standard. I will also continue to use the forums and such.

George~

I have some clarification for you. After I set up the online form for submitting back to us, my boss did a test and he WAS able to send an attachment with it. What occured was that when he clicked on the "submit application" button an e-mail format popped up indicating that his form was being sent to a specific e-mail address (in our case, the department's e-mail box). Within that format, was an attachment feature. So, he attached a file (business card) with the form and I received BOTH the completed filled in form and the attachment. In a sense, someone can attach a file. However, I'm not sure how it shows up on their end, depending upon their e-mail system. Anyway, I thought you might be interested in knowing this. I've not had anyone outside our network try this but could.

Let me be sure I understand your explaination. I have a web store which requires someone to complete a form before I can preform a service for them. You are saying that this form can be only completed and submitted 500 times without an extended license? Is this per form? What would prevent me from replacing the form periodically and starting the count over again? If I have more then one form is this 500 per program or form?

Beararms,

It all depends on what type of data gets submitted. If submitting form data from a PDF that's being viewed within a browser, there is probably no need to Reader-enable the document, and the licensing restriction doesn't come into play. But if the entire modified PDF is being submitted, then it does if it has to work with Reader, since the document would have to be Reader-enabled.

If yo give more details about how you have things set up and who your users are, we can be more specific.

George

Could I ask you to goto www.beararms.com and open the form on the right side of the screen in the yellow box "Firearms Transfer Form" and advise me. We use one other similar form in out checkout.

After re-reading your answer I believe it would have to be reader enabled as I need to be able to print out the entire form with customers data. If this is the case what does the original license get me. I refer back to orignal message.

How is the person filling in the form intended to return it to you?

George the Acrobat Guru,

I made a form for the company that I work for. By using our intranet we can transfer data by fdf, great. But I need to know is, is there a way to make sure that all the fields or most of them are filled out before sending. Meaning, if they click on submit or on email, it stops them and tells them to finish the form before sending.

JKozma37,

Please start a separate thread for this question. Also, you should find some ideas with a search here. Use "required" as one of your search terms.

George

Ideally open pdf enter data print for there records and submit to us via email entire form with data so we can read, print if needed, use and save copy.

I would suggest that you set up the form to submit just the form data to a web server. This will be more reliable and you won't run up against any licensing restrictions. The web server can do the job of saving the form data on the server and/or attaching it to an email. You can use Acrobat to import the form data into a blank form that you can then print and save. An advantage to this approach is that the data transmission can easily be made secure by using SSL. A major disadvantage to using email is its general lack of security, which is likely a concern for some of your users.

The server would have to be programmed to receive the form submission and do something with it, such as saving it as a file on the server, storing the data in a database, or forwarding it along via email. This can be easier than it may sound, but the particulars depend on your web server and what's available (e.g., Perl CGI, ASP, PHP, JSP, etc.)

If you decide to set it up so that the entire PDF is submitted, you will need to add usage rights. You can do this with Acrobat, but will be subject to the previously mentioned licensing restrictions. Or you can use the Reader-enabling service provided by FormRouter, who for a reasonable fee will enable your document without the 500 returned form use limit.

George

I have an isse that I need some assistance with. The online form that I created I need to edit the
e-mail properties for my submit button. What I'd like to do is add a second person to my e-mail options so that when someone uses this form, it's e-mailed to our department mailbox as well as a particular person. However, when I double-click on the button itself or on the "Add or Edit" option, I get a pop-up that says to "Select E-Mail Client". If I choose "OK" it takes me to a blank e-mail message of where I've set it up to go to. In this case, it's to our department's e-mail box. Is the reason that I can't get it to change is because I've already "reader enabled" the form? In order to make the changes that I need to, do I need to un-reader enable it and then reader enable it again? I thought this would simple to do, but apparently not. HELP!!

Never mind - I figured it out. Thanks!

Hi everybody,
When I attack a file then error is occur. If you have suggestion on it. ?If you have then please share with us, thanks.