Add a custom field for sketching

[Salmon Gram]

I'm not sure if this would be the right place to ask this.  I'm building an updated order (Acrobat Pro DC) form that for the longest time was all handwritten.  On one of the old pages, there is an option for them to sketch what a particular assembly would look like.  It was never anything elaborate.  Usually just a couple circles and lines to give a general idea.  Is there any way to add a field into a PDF form to allow this?  I'm not worried about the quality of what they draw with the mouse as it could only be an improvement on their pen and paper sketches.

Along the same lines, I have been sent PDF's from vendors that have interactive elements to them.  The picture below shows that part of it.  The red dot and square at the bottom next to Spotlight and Socket are able to be dragged and dropped anywhere on the page itself, and as many times as I want.  Is this easy to accomplish also, or is it a complex process?  Or could either of these be accomplished with any of the other CC programs in conjunction with Acrobat?

[Thom Parker · Accepted solution]

There are no form fields for custom drawing. However, both Acrobat Pro and Reader have a set of tools (circle, rectangle, polyline, etc) for adding drawing markups to a PDF page. They are under the commenting tools. Just ask your users to use these.

[Salmon Gram]

That's a bummer, but expected.  Is there a way to limit the commenting tool choices to just a few items (rectangles, circles, lines) for the document, and have them on the form somewhere that they can drag and drop into a designated area on the form?  That area would just be a section I label appropriately to let them know to keep it in that section.  It would be similar to the image example I provided in my initial post.

Hopefully this link works.  This is the actual PDF I am referring to in the second part.

Shared Files - Acrobat.com

Thanks again!

[George_Johnson]

In that sample PDF, they set up the form by creating a number (24 or so) of circle and rectangle comments and placed them on top of one another at the bottom. The user is able to drag them from the bottom and place them on the grid, or anywhere else. You could do the same thing.

[Thom Parker]

George has a point.  It's a clever idea to place a set of already created circles and squares on the form. It limits the number, but gets around the tool access restrictions.

[Salmon Gram]

I was really expecting it to be something more elaborate than just a bunch of comment items layered on top of one another.  I think I have a good idea of where to take this form now though.  Thank you both!

[Amaury23229438by5s]

Hi there - I would like to try the solution you are aluding to. I was curious to see the "sample PDF" you mention but not sure where to find it.

[Thom Parker]

All of the commenting tools have menu items. So in theory it is possible to create your own toolset by placing buttons on the form that start one of the tools. Unfortunately most menu items are blocked from being used from a form button for security reasons.  There are a number of ways to get around this restriction, but they all involve changing the user's system, such as placing a script file in an Acrobat folder. If this form is only used internally, or by a small set of users, then it may be possible to modify the user's computer, but otherwise you just have to tell user's to use the commenting tools.

[Salmon Gram]

I tried to give you both a correct answer credit for assisting me also, but it only lets me select that once.  So while I could only pick one, you both get the credit from me.

[Allguard]

Great question - I was researching the same functionality myself and not having any luck.  Hope Adobe can incorporate this, as it will be incredibly usefull for many scenarios.

Thanks all!

[Francisco22478859zpuo]

I cam apon this looking for the same, a specific section that customers can draw sample Blueprints, simply by using a mouse or touch screen if on thier phone or tablet. unfortunetly it looks like Adobe has no way to integrate this fuction, and i have not been able to find any example of javascript code to allow this fucntion using a form field. I do not want to rely on users having to open comments secion, select the tool, draw, deselct tool, and then go back to be ablt to change or fill other fields in the form. So far my solution it to have button that covered the Draw in area that when clicked allows an image to be uploaded and placed in that area. But again that would reqire drawings to be scanned and then browsed to do so.  The only other solution i have found is subcritpion services for more custamaizable forms like 123forms.com but i would rather not rely on 3rd party paid services just to add 1 function. I hope Adobe can integrate something like this to thier form builder.