Converting Fillable Word to Fillable PDF with Active-X controls

[Clemaholic]

I created a fillable Word with many many radio button groups (painfully tedious!).  I used the Active-X controls for buttons, checkboxes and text fields.    I was hoping to convert it to fillable PDF, but the radio buttons and checkboxes came out not clickable/fillable.   The text fields work fine.

I found a couple of similar posts, but nothing quite like my case using Active-x controls.  It seems that most folks with conversion problems didnt use Active-X controls like I did.

Is this conversion supported?     If so, what else can I look at to troubleshoot?

My co-worker did the PDF conversion for me as she has the license.  I don't know what flavor or version, but I can find out.

[try67]

No, it's not. You would need to create all fields from scratch.

[Clemaholic]

that's a bummer.   Whats the point of converting?     

Thanks for your answer tho.

[try67]

So that you can share your file as a PDF file... It is possible to automatically generate fields based on certain characters, like Wingdings symbols or even underscores, but not based on existing ActiveX controls.

[Clemaholic]

What variant of Adobe is my best bet for trying to fix this?  I have previously only ever used Reader so looking for the simplest fastest learning curve.    There seems to be so many flavors these days, I have not kept up.   

Can you tell me what the basic workflow will be?  i.e. delete the "drawn" radio button?  Can I keep the associated text for them.  i.e.   If I have one group of:

              btn choice-a-txt    btn choice-b-txt   btn choice-c-txt

When I add a real Adobe option-button, is the existing Word button artifact going to get in the way or easy to delete?    

For some reason my perception is that it's going to be harder in Adobe than it was in Word.  Maybe false perception but paranoid/cynical based on much experience.   It's never simple!

[try67]

You have to use Adobe Acrobat for this, not the free Reader. The options are either Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Standard (if you're on a Windows machine). For the purposes of adding form fields it doesn't matter which version you choose. The current version number is either DC (subscription license) or 2020 (perpetual license). That's it.

I would recommend removing the form fields from the Word file entirely and add them only in Acrobat.

If you later on want to update the design or text of the file do it in Word and then create a new static PDF file.

Then open the old file in Acrobat and use the Replace Pages command to update the underlying pages. That will keep your fields in tact, so you won't need to re-create them from scratch. You might need to adjust their locations, though.

[Test Screen Name]

You might consider using HTML forms. PDF forms are much less useful than they used to be, because the success of PDF means lots of people (like Google, Apple, Microsoft and many more) make their own PDF viewers, which often work very badly with PDF forms. HTML forms are universal. You sacrifice full control over layout, sure, but you get something that works. If you go for PDF forms you will need to provide tech support to the form users as they struggle with different browsers, Macs, Windows, phones and tablets - you will need all the devices they have, to support them.

[Clemaholic]

Thanks try67.  Good info.

Test Screen Name:  wow... very interesting.   The "universal" rationale you describe is why I thought I wanted PDF.  Things change...  I feel old (er)  🙂

[Clemaholic]

Simultaneous to the technical issues of the form, we are also investigating secure delivery options.   The HTML form implies that it would be hosted from our website.  It's secure but I don't know enough about website security to know if secure enough for PII.   Does anyone know if either of these form types are compatible (?maybe wrong word) with DocuSign?     I'm not too familiar with DocuSign details, but 4 pages of buttons and fields seems above and beyond what I think DocuSign is intended for.

[Clemaholic]

Actually I found something in Docu-sign that sounds perfect -- Guided Forms.  It says its used for "onboarding" and "applications" which is exactly what we are doing.  

https://www.docusign.com/products/guided-forms 

Guided Forms is a product that DocuSign sells and supports. We offer it in partnership with SmartIQ, which developed and delivers the product. More than 200 of the world's leading companies and government organizations trust SmartIQ to transform outdated, static forms and processes into intelligent, customer-centric experiences