Can't edit fillable fields

[beckyt11764922]

Good Afternoon,

I am trying to edit a PDF document that was converted to a fillable form but when I click on Edit PDF, it does not allow me to edit the boxes in blue below.  Does anyone else have this problem?  It only allows the bounding boxes on the left to be edited.  It does not open up the right.

Thank you, I am not an expert in adobe and any help will be much appreciated. 

[Thom Parker]

Do not use "Edit a PDF" to fill forms.

When you select "Edit PDF" tools in Acrobat Pro it puts acrobat into content editing mode. This is for modifying the text and graphics on the page, not the form fields. 

Put Acrobat back into normal mode, i.e. where the hand is the main cursor.  Then when the hand passes over a fillable field it changes to an i-beam or arrow cursor.  Then you can click on the field to enter data.

[beckyt11764922]

Thank you Thom, I did what you said below but I need to change the font size and style and make the text wrap. I don’t see where this allows me to do that.

What am I doing wrong.

[Thom Parker · Accepted solution]

Are you filling in form fields, trying to modify a fillable form field, or editing page text?  

It sounds like you are trying to modify a form field. In this case you need to go to Form Preparation mode.  Select Prepare Form from the the main Tools listing.

[beckyt11764922]

Yes Thom, I was editing a fillable form field and your information you gave was a great help.  I was able to edit the fillable form field.

Thank you

Becky Tutor

[ Mod: Personal information removed]

[Thom Parker]

Hi Becky, Consider marking the question as answered, or at least my answer as helpful

[cricket1001-2]

Thom,

I work for a police department and my supervisor asked me to make a modification to an interactive form by adding 3 more fields.  When I tried what you said I got the message that "You cannot edit this file as a form due to its security settings." from Adobe Acrobat.  We don't know who created this form and it was long before I or my supervisor worked here.

Thanks,

Pat

[try67]

Can you post a screenshot of the Security tab of the file, under File - Properties?

[cricket1001-2]

I'm sorry it's been so long since I am replying to your trying to help me with this.

Today while I was looking for that form inwhich to "post a screenshot of the Security tab of the file" I saw a form log which had the person's name who first created the form.  It was our D/C who is in the same office as me.  So I asked him about the form.  He created the form in Word 5 years ago and saved as a pdf so nobody could edit it.  But he was able to edit the form in Word and re-save it as a pdf.  So the problem is taken care of.  Thanks for your help!!!!

[Hiddenpictures Ltd]

This doesn't work on mine (using Adobe acrobat on a mac with workbook with supposedly fillable form boxes) - I only see the arrow cursor in normal mode and it doesn't change as it moves over box. If I may say yet another example of something that is really simple being made stupidly complex by computer programmers who don't know what productivity means! (Especially Adobe). You shouldn't have to even think about how to fill in a box on a form - if you do it is a development fail for the programmers. 

[try67]

Then what you have is probably not a form field, but something else. If you could share the file we can help you further with this.

[JayHague]

How did this fix let you change the font size of something you already typed into a "form field"?  This did absolutely nothing for me. How do you change the size of the font you are actually typing into the field?

[Thom Parker]

For a plain text field, changing the text size from either JS or the "Prepare Form" UI will change the text size. But if the field is setup for Rich Text, then the size can only be changed from the "Text Properties" dialog or in JS through the "Spans" object.