Beyond frustrated with PDF forms

[davidplank]

Just spent an hour trying to figure out how to send the PDF form I created to recipients, how they can fill it in regardless of their device and software, and send it back. I'm none the wiser. What am I supposed to tell the client who commissioned this form?!

Surely the whole point of PDFs was anyone could open them without any fuss or confusion - this is the OPPOSITE of that!

[Sam31733087srbk]

Hello,

Are you using form fields like text boxes, checkboxes, radio buttons, and drop-down menus for user input?
If you have problems with distribution, you can either send via email attachment, or upload the PDF to a cloud like Google Drive or Dropbox this way the client receives the link to the PDF.

[Thom Parker]

The point of PDF was that a document would look the same no matter where and how it was viewed. It's electronic paper. Interactive forms are a unfortunately a different thing.  They are poorly implemented in many 3rd party apps. You are better off getting your users to fill out the PDF in Acrobat. 

But, there are several of options for distribution. The simplest is to just email the form, or upload it to file sharing service.  Two options are provided in Acrobat. First, in "Prepare Form" mode there is a "Distribute" button on the bottom/right corner of the window.  This is something your client would need to do, since they are the ones that will recieve the filled forms. Another option is to prepare the form as an "Adobe Sign" form. Then send for signatures. But this is a service that requires a subscription for more than two distributions a month. 

And there are more options. 

[davidplank]

Thom - I appreciate your reply and the helpful info - but to be honest my eyes glazed over pretty quick. Nothing personal, but the fact remains that something which should have been simple and universally understood has ended up being complicated and poorly understood. I'm a reasonably experienced computer user, been using Adobe software including Acrobat for many years, quite resourceful, willing to do a bit of digging... and I figured if this is driving me nuts then it's likely to be driving other people nuts too. I just don't get that Adobe, who are the OGs of this sort of thing, have let it come to this.

Well, thanks again for your help, not having a go at you

[Thom Parker]

You might be interested in these videos, which I created 10 years ago.  The concepts are all still valid, although many of the services mentioned do not exits anymore. 

https://www.pdfscripting.com/public/How-to-Create-an-Interactive-PDF-Form.cfm