Converting Word Checkbox to PDF

[Zoei]

When I converted Word docs to PDFs, Acrobat was used to recognize the checkboxes. It does not anymore, and now I have to add checkboxes to pages of my documents manually... I'm talking almost 100 checkboxes, and it takes A LOT of time to have to manually add and arrange them properly.
PLEASE How can I get it to automatically recognize checkboxes from Word again?

Thank you.

[try67]

The only way to do it reliably is by using a script, which can recognize certain characters and add fields on top of them.

I've developed a (paid-for) tool that does just that, and will convert certain Wingdings characters to check-box or radio-button fields with 100% accuracy. You can find it here: https://www.try67.com/tool/acrobat-reader-convert-wingdings-characters-to-check-boxes-or-radio-butto...

[Tariq Ahmad Dar]

Hi @Zoei, 

Sorry for the delayed response and troubled experience. Thanks for reaching out and providing your valuable feedback.

Would it be possible for you to share that Word file with us? We would like to review and share our findings with you, and if need be, I will raise a product improvement request with the dev team. 

Ideally, when you create a Word docx file, launch Acrobat > Prepare Form > Select a file, and ensure "Auto-detect form fields is ON."  Also, under preference, ensure "Automatically detect form fields" is checked.   

Let us know if you have more questions.

~Tariq

[GBsie]

Hi Tariq

my Acrobat is set as  you showed but it doesn't recognize any word's field other than a checkbox that is translated into a text box

[Tanvi Rastogi]

Hi 

Thanks for reporting the issue. We are able to reproduce this issue at our end and have logged a bug on engineering team to prioritize for fixing. We will keep you posted on the progress.

Thanks for your patience.

Kind regards,

Tanvi

[jackie_6506]

Has there been any movement on the check boxes converting to pdf form boxes? I am in the middle of a large document with a lot of check boxes!

[maritzac70338337]

I was able to get Adobe to convert to check boxes from word by enabling Developer Ribbon and using the checkboxes from there. Reimporting to adobe then Prepare. As long as the check box isn't checked it "Prepared" for me.

[jackie_6506]

I found a workaround for this problem. You can still use your check boxes in Word. Prepare the form in Acrobat just as you normally would. You can format the check boxes (and you can select all of them on a single page instead of individually) and select Cross for Check Box Style. This worked for me and it seems to be working my my fillable pdf file.

[JR Boulay]

You should see Episodes 52 & 53 of this podcast, what applies to InDesign also applies to Word:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indesigner/id96779509