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m quiggl47890392
Inspiring
May 16, 2022
Answered

Creating ID -> Acrobat forms: font question

  • May 16, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 513 views

Good day.

I am using ID 17.2.1 x64 Windows

 

I have created quite a few fillable forms for Acrobat from InDesign. It seems the default for the answers is always Minion Pro, a serif font. I know the default font that Acrobat prefers would be Courier, Arial, Minion or Myriad (with Symbols as an addition for special characters). 

https://help.adobe.com/en_US/AEMForms/6.1/DesignerHelp/WS92d06802c76abadb-728f46ac129b395660c-7ef5.2.html

 

I have tried to choose Arial or Myriad as the default for my form answer fields in InDesign, but ID changes the form field answer font to Minion when I make an interactive form in InDesign and open the PDF in Acrobat.

 

Is this a bug? How do I get my font choice to 'stick?'

 

Thanks!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer TᴀW

Even if you do it in Acrobat, the font must have the correct embedding permissions to "stick". If the font does not, and you select it for use in a form field in Acrobat, Acrobat will display a warning telling you that it cannot be embedded.

But any font you choose in InDesign's Buttons and Forms panel will not stick, whether or not it has the correct embedding permissions built into it. So the user would have to have it installed on their own computer for it to work. Which makes choosing a font for form fields in InDesign fairly useless.

You can use my (not free) FormMagic InDesign add-on to apply fonts to form fields in InDesign and with FormMagic the selected fonts will stick, exactly as they do with Acrobat. (Which works both ways: If you get a warning in Acrobat, it won't work with FormMagic either, but if there is no warning in Acrobat, it will work with FormMagic in InDesign.)

There is a free version of FormMagic for short 1-page forms.

FormMagic – Id-Extras.com

 

Ariel

2 replies

TᴀW
TᴀWCorrect answer
Legend
May 16, 2022

Even if you do it in Acrobat, the font must have the correct embedding permissions to "stick". If the font does not, and you select it for use in a form field in Acrobat, Acrobat will display a warning telling you that it cannot be embedded.

But any font you choose in InDesign's Buttons and Forms panel will not stick, whether or not it has the correct embedding permissions built into it. So the user would have to have it installed on their own computer for it to work. Which makes choosing a font for form fields in InDesign fairly useless.

You can use my (not free) FormMagic InDesign add-on to apply fonts to form fields in InDesign and with FormMagic the selected fonts will stick, exactly as they do with Acrobat. (Which works both ways: If you get a warning in Acrobat, it won't work with FormMagic either, but if there is no warning in Acrobat, it will work with FormMagic in InDesign.)

There is a free version of FormMagic for short 1-page forms.

FormMagic – Id-Extras.com

 

Ariel

id-extras.com | InDesign tools & scripts for typesetters, form designers, and translators
    J
    Community Expert
    Jeffrey_SmithCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 16, 2022

    In Acrobat you can change the font of form and have it stick.

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