Using Acrobat.I have a 100 page PDF workbook, and would like to make it into a fillable PDF. The pages have a question, followed by a pretty large blank space, and so on.I followed the instructions "How to create a fillable PDF" here (which says, "Acrobat will automatically analyze your document and add form fields"), but when I follow the directions, I get the message "No new form field annotations were detected."Although I can create a text field manually underneath each question, that will be tedious work given the length of the document. Will Acrobat only automatically add form fields when you convert a text document to a PDF? Is there any way to automatically add them when you start with a PDF?Thanks for your assistance!

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Hollis263156323ufn

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How to create fillable PDF form from a PDF (not a text file)

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
September 27, 2022
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Using Acrobat.

I have a 100 page PDF workbook, and would like to make it into a fillable PDF. The pages have a question, followed by a pretty large blank space, and so on.
I followed the instructions "How to create a fillable PDF" here (which says, "Acrobat will automatically analyze your document and add form fields"), but when I follow the directions, I get the message "No new form field annotations were detected."
Although I can create a text field manually underneath each question, that will be tedious work given the length of the document.
Will Acrobat only automatically add form fields when you convert a text document to a PDF? Is there any way to automatically add them when you start with a PDF?

Thanks for your assistance!

PDF forms

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JR Boulay

Community Expert

You should watch this podcast which explains how to optimize the layout for Acrobat's automatic field detection (Episode 52 & episode 53):

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

Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe

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Basically, it's not psychic. How can it know, given a large blank space, that you want it filled? And it's not even that smart when there are boxes. Form design generally starts with detecting fields, but almost everyone then having to add more, and change the ones that are there. Don't forget to make sure each field is defined as multi-line, and don't forget to give each field a different name (otherwise the content is the same for each one).

try67

Community Expert

As mentioned, the fields detection wizard is far from perfect. I don't think it will work at all on a file created from a text file, to be honest. However, if the length of your questions (and the empty space after them) are the same, or at least consistent, it might be possible to do it using a custom-made script. I've developed similar (paid-for) scripts in the past, for example to convert a line of underscores to a text field (https://www.try67.com/tool/acrobat-reader-convert-underscores-to-text-fields), so if you're interested in something like this, feel free to contact me privately to discuss it further.