Selecting Form Field Options

The Properties dialog box associated with each form field tool displays up to seven different tabs of options, depending on which tool you choose when adding a field to your PDF form. Field options govern characteristics, such as the way a field appears in a form, the format and type of data that can be entered in the field, actions that you attach to a field (such as playing a sound or movie), and also the types of calculations performed on data entered in a field.
To edit field options, double-click the field with the Select Object tool or the form field tool that created the field to open its associated Properties dialog box, and then click the desired tab. The separate tabs and options (in all their copiousness) are described in the following sections.

Getting Acquainted with Form Field Tools

As mentioned earlier, Acrobat provides seven form field tools for adding interactive elements to an online form. The tools are grouped together on the Forms toolbar that you open by choosing Advanced Editing➪Forms➪Show Forms Toolbar. Each form field tool has its own associated Properties dialog box containing various options that appear on tabs. The following list gives you a run-down on the seven form field tools that define the type of information you want to collect and add interactivity to your form:

_ Button tool: Used to create a button that performs an action in a form, such as a Reset button that erases previously entered information so you can start over, or a Submit button that sends the form information to a network server. In addition, buttons can play sounds and movies, open files, or download Web pages from the Internet. Acrobat 6 also lets you automatically create JavaScript button rollovers. These types of buttons change appearance when the cursor is hovered or rolled over the button.

_ Check Box tool: Used to make multiple selections from a list of items. Check boxes were used extensively in old-fashioned paper forms and usually followed the instruction, “Check all that apply.”

_ Combo Box tool: So called because it functions as a combination text field/list box, enabling the user to either pick an item from a list or enter custom text in a field, with the added advantage of saving space on a form by presenting the items in a drop-down list.

_ List Box tool: For a long list of items to present in your form, a list box is a good solution because it has scroll bars that allow the user to scroll through the list to select an item.

_ Radio Button tool: Used when only one item from a list can be selected. For example, you can use a radio button to have users indicate whether they’re male or female or to specify which credit card they want to use to pay for an online transaction.

_ Text Field tool: Used for entering text and numbers, such as a person’s e-mail address or birth date. You can set up text fields to format and limit the type of information entered in them as well as to perform calculations. You can also attach JavaScript actions and data validation to text fields.

_ Digital Signature Field tool: Used to enable the user to digitally sign a document. Like hand-written signatures, digital signatures represent the user’s identity and his or her approval or acceptance of a document. They have the added advantage of storing information about the signer and the exact state of the PDF form when it was signed.

Duplicating form fields

At some point, you may need to create a whole bunch of fields that have the same attributes or properties — such as a group of check boxes or radio buttons. You can streamline this process by duplicating fields. After you’ve configured the size and properties of the field you want to duplicate, select it, hold down the Ctrl key (the Option key on the Mac), and drag the field to a new location, using the marquee lines that appear as a guide. Repeat this process until you’ve created the desired number of fields. If you have mega amounts of fields to duplicate, you can use the same method on multiple field selections, which doubles the number of selected fields. Note that all fields created in this manner have the same name, which is perfect for radio buttons (see the “Understanding the Options tab” section, later in this chapter). To copy and paste fields using key commands, select a desired field for duplication and press Ctrl+C (Ô+C on the Mac) to copy the field to the Clipboard. Then press Ctrl+V (Ô+V on the Mac) to paste the field into your PDF. Note that you can copy and paste multiple field selections in this manner and that pasted items will appear centered on the PDF page. If you need to duplicate form fields in a multi-page PDF document, right-click the desired form field(s) and choose Duplicate on the context menu to open the Duplicate Fields dialog box. Here you can choose to duplicate the selected form field(s) on all pages in your document by clicking the All radio button, or click the From radio button and select a range of pages in a PDF document on which to duplicate the selected form field(s).