I'm really, really new to this. First time I've used Pdf forms - created a real simple one with only one field for the User's name. I created it using Acrobat Professional 7.0 with Designer 7.0. How do I make it so after a user has opened the pdf form and filled their name in and then used saved as that it saves with their name and the field is no longer interactive. Right now, when using save as, it's allowing the field to be written over in the saved as file. I want it to become static with the name the user put in it. And how to I maintain that the original pdf form's field stays empty for the next user to go in and put in their name? Thanks very much.
You can get around this severe limitation with Acrobat 8, but you still need to decide whether you need the form saved by the user. It's more usual to get users to Submit data (or the entire form) with a submit button. This button can initiate actions that lock fields against further change, as can a digital signature field. To stop users corrupting the original form you can just host it in a folder where only you have write access permissions.
There is lots of info on form usage linked from the top of the main Acrobat user-to-user forum.
Also remember that Designer is a completely different program, but with a pdf output; so Designer forms cannot be edited in Acrobat.