how to draw in Acrobat?

[_bcweed_]

I know this is probably not the right place for that but...
I am developing a Asp.net app that deals with PDF forms. I have learned how to do the entire javascript on PDF documents, how to submit FDF data to my Web form, how to work with that data withthe Active X FDF toolkit, and fill form fields with data coming from my app.
Good.

I need to know how do simply draw 1 line in Acrobet. Or is this not posible in acrobet?

I have a form with whioch I am working and I dont lik the design. I want to add 1 litle black line in 1 place. That black line has to be part of the form design, the drawing behind the fields, but not part of a the collection of fields.

I cant seem to figure out how to do this...

I work with acrobat 8.1.2

Thanks

[MarkWalsh]

If there is a line somewhere else in the form that matches the line you want to draw, you can select it with the Object Touch-Up Tool, copy and paste it. Then move it with the same tool to the position you want it.

[gkaiseril]

In ArcroForms lines are a type of annotation and may or may not print depending upon how the form was created.

[Patrick_Leckey]

> I need to know how do simply draw 1 line in Acrobet.<br /><br />Not sure about Acrobet but in Acrobat you could do the following:<br /><br />var lineAnnot = <Doc>.addAnnot({<br />page: 0,<br />type: "Line",<br />author: "British Columbia",<br />points: [[5, 5], [100, 100]],<br />strokeColor: color.black,<br />doCaption: false<br />});

[_bcweed_]

Ok. thank you all. But will this put the line in the background image? as opposed to some entity that is reachable: "pickable" while viewing the form.

I was able to draw a Rectangle with the Tools->comments & markup->rectangle tool but when viewing the form, and tabing thru all the fields.... -> It actualy Tabed thru the rectangles that I had drawn...??

I wanna draw some lines on the background image of the form..

Thanks all!

[_Aandi_Inston_]

>Ok. thank you all. But will this put the line in the background image?

You cannot put anything onto the page itself with OLE or JavaScript,
only apply overlays. You'd have to write a plug-in for the page
contents (C/C++).

Aandi Inston

[gkaiseril]

That is not how Acrobat works. As I mentioned the line is an annotation or note. If you want to make part of the background PDF page you will have to flatten the page before adding any fields or other annotations.

this.flattenPages();

[ebc1]

How would you take a value from form fields and create/modify an object to have the dimensions shown in the form fields?

Example two form fields:
one has the height and other has the width, draw a box to the size specified.

Thanks

[_bcweed_]

I am not wanting to put this line in the page by code....
Thats just it! I only wanna put it in manualy once and then carry on with my code to manipulate the data in the fields (which I got figured out already)

[gkaiseril]

Use the line annottion tool. But it will still be an annotaion or comment and a user will tab to it, can move it, and it may print just like any comment or or other annotation.

[_bcweed_]

So what is the solution?

Must I reload it in photoshop and redraw on it and then reinstall my fields?

is there any way to save the fields? I guess I could export the p[age, load it into photoshop, make the changes, export to PDF and reloadit into acrobat and do a "Page replace"....

that could keep the fields into place...

[_Aandi_Inston_]

Don't use Photoshop as a PDF editor! That's a terrible choice (except
for scanned pages, or where Photoshop was the original file).

Remake the pages, use Replace.

Aandi Inston

[_bcweed_]

I actualy use Corel Photopaint and it worked perfectly. I guess acrobat is not for creating that backgound image...

[_Aandi_Inston_]

I would say that PhotoPaint is every bit as terrible a choice, unless
the page is a scan. Note that a scanned page is likely to produce a
much larger PDF than you probably want to deal with.

Aandi Inston

[_bcweed_]

I must say what I did worked butifully but now that you say it.... I looked and the file size went from about 200k to 950k.

is there any problem with that? or any solution?
Like I say, I just need to add 1 litle black line or 2 here and there to make it look better... What can I do?

[_Aandi_Inston_]

The problem is that you took what was probably a nice form with text
and lines in it, and turned it into a single image: bigger file,
poorer quality.

The solution is to not try to use photo editors for non-image PDFs...!

Just update the original file and remake a PDF. No need to resort to
editing PDF content.

Aandi Inston

[_bcweed_]

So Aandi, what program should i be using to edit the black and white drawing which makes the background of my form??

[_Aandi_Inston_]

You should not bring it into ANY program. You should edit the ORIGINAL
document (that is the document from which the PDF was made).

Aandi Inston

[_bcweed_]

Aandi, there is something I am missing out on the entire concept. I have a PDF form. It has fields like text boxes, and check boxes that I can fill or check and uncheck. Those field and only those field are the filed that I can TAB to in Adobe Reader. Behind those fields is a black and white background image (i assume) which is basicly text and lines and boxes that make the form design, but really it is the original hard copy of the form. (it is what you see when you fill in the hard copy version of that same form)

Now I go in Adobe Acrobat Pro 8.1.2 cause I dont like 1 or 2 lines and I want to add 1 or two more just like the ones that are there. (all those lines are part of the background)

I can use the "touch up object tool" and select any and each of the lines that I want to, and delete them. But....

Why can't I create a new line and then make it be part of the background like all the other lines???
Why is it that every line I create, then when I go to Acrobat Reader, then it can be selected with mouse and/or TABed to??

Is there not a way that I can save that new line as the original lines are? and then have a PDF form that is made up of a background of lines and text and some fields that are TABable and can be filled or checked and unchecked?

What is it that I dont get?

[_Aandi_Inston_]

>Aandi, there is something I am missing out on the entire concept.

I think so, but we'll get there.

>I have a PDF form. It has fields like text boxes....

Yes, form fields. So far so good.

> Behind those fields is a black and white background image (i assume) which is basicly text and lines and boxes that make the form design
>, but really it is the original hard copy of the form. (it is what you see when you fill in the hard copy version of that same form)

Exactly so.
>
>Now I go in Adobe Acrobat Pro 8.1.2 cause I dont like 1 or 2 lines ...
>I can use the "touch up object tool" and select any and each of the lines that I want to, and delete them. But....
>Why can't I create a new line and then make it be part of the background like all the other lines???

Because Acrobat doesn't have a tool to do that. Acrobat is not the
tool for major edits you want it to be (yes, major, sorry). You need
to edit (broken record again) the original document.

>Why is it that every line I create, then when I go to Acrobat Reader, then it can be selected with mouse and/or TABed to??

Because you can only add comments (annotations) in the form of lines,
NOT lines on the background.

What I am trying to explain is that you go to the original document.
Someone made a document, drew on it the lines you don't like, made the
"text and lines and boxes" you refer to. THIS is the original
document. Perhaps it was made in Microsoft Word, but it could be
anything. Then they used Distiller to make a PDF.

So, what I am saying is that you change THAT original document, THAT
Word document or whatever it is, and re-make a PDF. You'd normally
have to add all your form fields again, but we can help you keep them.

>Is there not a way that I can save that new line as the original lines are?

Not with Acrobat. Not what it's for.

Aandi Inston

[Patrick_Leckey]

Perhaps we are getting confused with the description.

Can you post a link to the form so that we can see what these "background lines" are?

[_bcweed_]

fair enough...

here it is:

http://bcweed.mine.nu/pdftest/fastapp 1.pdf

there is a space between the "P" and the "1" so maybe you better enter it like this:

http://bcweed.mine.nu/pdftest/fastapp%201.pdf

its nothing complicated nor magical I think

[Patrick_Leckey]

Ah ok. The original form (background lines) was created by printing to PDF via Acrobat Distiller.

You can use the object touch-up tool to manipulate this data in simple ways, but these are not seen by Acrobat as "form fields". What Acrobat is seeing as "form fields" are boxes laid on top of that.

Acrobat is not a document creation program like MS Word - it was not designed to do this. The reason you cannot add lines to the background is because it is the background - the intent is that you have the background designed in other software to the way you want it before importing it into Acrobat. The intent of the line tool was to be able to point to areas on a document for annotation purposes - it was not designed to be added to background art since this is not the intended function of Acrobat.

I would say Aandi's original suggestion is correct - you should modify the original form to the way you want it before importing it into Acrobat and then design your form around that. Acrobat simply wasn't intended to do what you are trying to do.

[_bcweed_]

At last. Thank you. I think you ment LiveCycle Designer instead of Distiller cause distiller I have only lets me load up .PS type files and it sure dont look like its for editing anyting.

But LifeCycle Designer looks like is gone do it fine for me.

Thanks

[Patrick_Leckey]

No I meant Distiller. Right-click on your PDF, choose "Properties", go to the "PDF" tab and you'll notice the "PDF Producer" is set as "Acrobat Distiller 5.0.5 (Windows)".

Distiller is used in a lot of ways you don't necessarily notice though. If the form was created in MS Word or some other application, and then changed to PDF format by printing to the PDF Printer, it would show as being created by Distiller.