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T
tonyr3704728
Known Participant
March 28, 2023
Question

Formatting text in form field

  • March 28, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 2448 views

Hi there, is it possible to format text fileds in multi page forms in indesign using character or parragraphs styles instead of changing the font and size on every new field that is entered?

I know I can do this in acrobat but I want to control and construct all of my forms in indesign. We have been doing it in Acrobat for years and it is time to change over I believe.

4 replies

BobLevine
Community Expert
BobLevineCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 29, 2023

A few points:

1. Unless everyone has these fonts installed, they won't work.

2. Many PDF readers, browsers, and mobile devices will choke on a PDF form.

3. AFAIC, unless this is a special use case, I wouldn't even bother with a PDF. I'd create the form on a website or use Google Forms. Those platforms will allow the end user to fill out the form and submit it and they are responsive so it will be easy to navigate even on a phone.

TᴀW
TᴀW
Legend
March 29, 2023

Hi Bob,

If the fonts are selected in Acrobat, they do actually become embedded in the PDF, and are available for anyone filling in the form with the free Adobe Reader, and possibly other free PDF readers (I think Foxit might work as well, need to check).

@Willi Adelberger If the font has licensing issues (the embedding bit is off), if the form creator selects such a form in Acrobat, Acrobat throws an error message saying that the font cannot be used for form fields. This makes it easy to know which fonts are permitted to be used. With this information, the same fonts can be selected with FormMaker or FormMagic in InDesign.

BobLevine
Community Expert
BobLevineCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 29, 2023

I assume you're referring to a form created with Form Magic, because unless something's changed it won't work from InDesign. Additionally, it seems to me, embedding entire fonts can really blow up a file size.

 

And, again...there are too many sub-standard PDF readers out there that could choke on this kind of thing.

Willi Adelberger
Community Expert
Willi AdelbergerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 29, 2023

Rely on the given fonts for forms, even if it is possible to change in Acrobat Pro. To use any other font than the given fonts they have to be available everywhere where the PDF form is used. That requires:

  1. The font has to have the license to do so, many fonts allow only embedding used glyphs.
  2. Embedding complete fonts increases the file size of the PDF.

 

To stick on the given fonts is better for the user and recipient.

Steve Werner
Community Expert
Steve WernerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 28, 2023

In InDesign you could use paragraph styles to create the labels in a form.

 

But as to the form fields themselves, you create them in InDesign by creating a placeholder frame (like a rectangle), and then use the Buttons and Frames panel to set their attributes. You can't use paragraph styles there (see illustration below):

 

T
tonyr3704728Author
Known Participant
March 28, 2023

Thanks for the reply Steve. The placeholder frames won't work for me becasue the forms quite often change so the fields need to be attached/a part of the the text flow. So when fileds move around, everything moves together. That is the main reason we are swapping our work process to do the forms in indesign instead of acrobat.

TᴀW
TᴀW
Legend
March 28, 2023

It is not possible natively in InDesign, unfortunately.

One workaround is to copy/paste the actual text field. The copy should have the same font and point size applied as the original field.

A better option (not free, though), is to use a 3rd-party add-on such as https://www.id-extras.com/products/formmaker/

This will allow you to apply formatting to fields (and not just font and size, but colour and alignment as well) by using paragraph and/or characters styles. And the fonts are properly embedded in most cases (unlike when you use InDesign's Buttons and Forms panel to set the font), so even if the end-user doesn't have the font installed on their computer, they'll still be able to use your selected font for filling-in forms in Adobe Reader.

 

T
tonyr3704728Author
Known Participant
March 28, 2023

Thanks so much TAW. I will check out these options. It would be good if Indesign could add this function though. I think everyone would like that benefit.

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