Custom line spacing in a fillable text form field

[c kim]

My client has a word document with lines for applicants to print out and fill in, or "fill in digitally." Is there a way to create a text form field with "custom" line spacing? I know you can do it when you preview the document, but is there a way to actually "embed" that data in the text field so the user doesn't have to do it when filling out the form.

[sjg64192319]

My issue was that I needed to space out numbers for SSN on a W-9 Form. I had success by going to the text field properties.

1.  Create the text field for the block of letter/numbers you want. 
2. Double click the text field to open "Text Field Properties"
3. Under the options tab, uncheck every box except the last box "Comb of"
4. Change the number of characters to the number you need. (Ie. if you only need the first three digits of your SSN, Make it "Comb of '3' characters.
5. If you have multiple blocks like this, like an SSN, you will need to make sure each one has a unique name Text Field name. You can find this in the "General" tab of the "Text Field Properties" 
6. So for an SSN, I have 3 text fields. SSN_1 (set to comb of 3), SSN_2 (set to comb of 2) and SSN_3 (set to comb of 4)

I hope that helps you or others with this type of spacing issue. 

[luism39406721]

I have a solution not yet listed here, which allows me to create a notebook-style image that a text field can laid over and have all the inputted text land on a line. 

1. Create a text box and fill it with placeholder text,
2. Go to "paragraph rules" in the top-right hamburger menu (or option+commnd+j).
3. Turn the rule on, and, using the preview, adjust it to where you want your lines to end up.

At this point, every time you create a break in the placeholder text, a line will be drawn under the last line of text in the paragraph. So create a paragraph at the bottom of the page, then:

1. Draw out as many lines as there are lines of text.
2. Place one of the lines over the first "paragraph rule" on your page.
3. Place another over the last paragraph ruling. 
4. Select all the lines and use the distribute function to space all of your lines evenly. 

Now your users can fill out the form with a pen or electronically, and it won't look funky.

 

[kenneth Klim]

Recent Multi-line text form field vertical spacing issue:

We have been using a PDF form, last revised in 2018.  One field, "Description of Work" has the attributes:

Appearance: Helvetica 12 point,

Options: Multi-line

(Note that 'Allow rich text format' is not selected).

We have had two occurrences (separate documents) where the vertical spacing of the text was mis-aligned with the form.  Editing the form field shows proper alignment.  After leaving that field, the misalignment occurs. 

I have repaired a specific issue by copying the text and pasting back into the same field. This suggests invisible formatting, i.e. field properties.  Ctrl+E claims no properties exist.

Acrobat 2023 Continuous Release, 2023.006.20320, 64-bit