Excel Forms (Part 2) - Create a Fillable and Printable PDF from Word or Excel Template

In this video, you'll see how to use a simple Excel layout, then import it into Acrobat X. Define field names, and allow form data to be saved electronically. This makes a form that can be printed, whether blank or filled in. Note that this is a very simple form - only text fields, and with no pretty formatting apart from a blue title.
Index:
00:32 - Open Acrobat X, pull in Excel file
01:20 - Convert template to form
02:03 - rename the fields for cleanliness (optional)
03:45 - entering data
04:30 - save the form such that its entered data is save-able.

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Closed Caption:

OK. One way we can
make a form fairly easily is
to start with a template that we make in
Word or Excel
or some other editor. So in this case I
just used Excel
municipal two-column format with
the entry fields on the right so using
this
I'll be able to create an Adobe PDF form.
So the first thing I'm going to do
is going to Acrobat 10
and I'm going to choose create PDF.
It's going to ask
what I want to open. In this case, I'm
going to go navigate to
the location of my file. As soon as I do
that,
it has to launch in my case Excel
in order to read content from it. That's
going to pull over and
a copy of that of how it looks. So now I have this
a flat file
essentially an image. If I want to deepen
it a little bit and create some content.
I'm going to go over here to the tools button
in Acrobat 10 and I'm going to say
"Create" under Forms.
It's going to say
"Use an existing file" and then also it said "Use the current document'.
Asks if I want to save.
Certainly. Why not? I'll just give it a
somewhat descriptive name.
OK. So now you'll see that it took a
crack
at trying to name the fields after the
information near,
but it doesn't do a terribly good job at
this.
You'll see then that now at least it was
shrewd enough to know that each of my
lines on the right was going to be a
data entry field.
And over on the right side you'll notice
in my fields
section that each of these has its own
definition. So I'm gonna go in
click on these things and rename them.
So I have clicked once on the name
and you can either slow click twice or
hit, click once and hit F2 to make it
editable.
So "num_siblings".
Sounds like a terrible complaint.
And then just going to give each one
a more meaningful name.
That instinctively I've given each one
of these fields,
I've the syntax without the use
for the field names has been
to separate them with underscores
instead of spaces. This just goes back to
all
database protocol. It used to be at least
that
you couldn't have field names with
spaces so I got in the habit of using
underscores.
This is probably not a form that's gonna
dump into a database but just in case I
guess.
I'm sticking with that syntax.
OK. So now I have done that. If I choose
close formatting,
noticed now that I can go in
If you just bump up the Zoom In a little bit, so I can go in here and start typing things.
Say I have got 9 siblings and I prefer
sea. And I eat breakfast every day.
And I'm just hitting tab between each of
these two favorite
restaurants.
OK.
So what do I wanna say about is these
are editable
until or unless I save this form
with particular attributes.
I won't be able to save it.
I have to
prove myself wrong. I am going to throw this onto the desktop.
And see what happens if I close it and
reopen it. Did it keep my data?
It did. OK. I was about
going to launch feel about how you had
to go to "Save As"
and choose 'Reader Extended PDF".
"Enable Additional Features"
So I thought that you needed to do this perhaps I have done in the past and it just
stuck.
But I believe you need to go through those
steps in order to save
form data. So I'm gonna say
"Save" now.
So if you found it there is any question
about
if you want to have your form data save
when you close and reopen,
it's a great idea to go in, go to "Save As"
'Reader Extended PDF"
and "Enable Additional Features".