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rombanks
rombanks
Inspiring
November 18, 2013
Question

Word2010 form to PDF - check boxes aren't recognized by Acrobat 10

  • November 18, 2013
  • 5 replies
  • 53391 views

Hello fellows!

I've encountered a weird problem - when converting a form created in Word 2010 to PDF and running the field auto-detection wizard in Acrobat 10, the check boxes originally created in Word are recognized by Acrobat as text fields and not controls. Tried replacing the word 2010 check box with a "legacy" check box - no difference. Any suggestions?

Thank you in advance!!!

This topic has been closed for replies.

5 replies

R
raigovind93
Participant
November 16, 2016

I've actually got this working. This issue is Word's default style for Special is set to 2-fmButtonEffectSunken. Adobe has a hard time deciphering that. So all you have to do is set the style to fmButtonEffectFlat. Then Adobe seems to pick up the check boxes like a charm. So yea, no need to rely on Wingdings or some fancy square box shapes.

Best thing, I always found the boxes either too high or two low compared to the text sitting the the right of the text box. Well you can fix that too in the properties by adjusting the height!

Hope this help!

Image showing checkboxs with flat effect ("Pre-Processing") and rest with sunken effect

Image showing properties of "Pre-Processing Checkbox

T
teej64349439
Participant
June 16, 2018

Does this solution also work when using Radio Button objects in Word? I'm running into the same issue with a 38 page document and Adobe Acrobat Prepare Forms doesn't read the Radio Button when nested within a table.

G
gkaiseril
Inspiring
June 16, 2018

It should.

Another option is to use OpenOffice.org Writer or Libre Office Writer. You can add the form field objects in the program with their properties nd then export the form to PDF and the form fields and settings  will transfer to the PDF.

G
gkaiseril
Inspiring
January 12, 2016

I would use OpenOffice.org Writer to create the form and form fields. Then use Writer's "Export to PDF" to create the form in PDF with form fields.

A
Anonymous
January 12, 2016

As Rombanks said in two different posts - Opening a word doc. in openoffice ruins the layout and Removing text boxes manually may be a good solution for small forms but not for 10-15 page documents. Since it sounds like it is already in Word, it seems the goal is to get a format in Word that works. I have a similar form in Word and it was converting check boxes to radio buttons. Since I want to keep the original Word doc as a template for future changes and it has all the original formatting I don't want to create a new doc in OpenOffice. While I like OO, it is not always feasible. Plus, for me, the document is for a client who needs to be able to make changes to the content and fix it as needed. I can then quickly run the form wizard, lock the document and republish it. So, back to the solution, it is possible to get the forms to convert correctly, but work with a page at a time and get the content in a table seems to work for me. There seems to be some sort of interaction between the automatic numbering in Word and the way it tags check boxes. When running the form wizard in Adobe something is amiss.

A
Anonymous
January 12, 2016

Create a new 1 or 2 page document and try a subset of the questions for your form. Since you created it in Word and want to keep it that way as a template for any changes then don't use OpenOffice. Take one page of the form and copy it to a new document. Create a table for the check boxes and questions. Do a few at a time. It does work but sometimes after a few cut and paste operations it will stop working. Add a few questions in 3 or 4 rows and check to make sure the form wizard works as desired. Once you have it working then you can finish adding all the other questions. It does work, you just have to be careful.

S
siegertm
Participant
September 29, 2015

I know this is an old chain but ran across it looking for an answer.  I found it and thought I'd post it here.  I think the script that Abobe wrote for this tells it to look for a box shape with text next to it.  I tested my theory and it worked!  If you put text next to the boxes and then run the auto-detect it works.  Easier to remove the text from Adobe then to create all of those stupid check boxes by hand - especially when you have them throughout your form!  Hope this helps someone.

Mariann

    try67
    Community Expert
    try67Community Expert
    Community Expert
    September 29, 2015

    If someone is still interested in this topic, I've recently developed a script that will consistently convert Wingdings boxes and circles to check-boxes and radio-buttons, resp. It can be found on my website, here: Custom-made Adobe Scripts: Acrobat/Reader -- Convert Wingdings To Fields

    try67
    Community Expert
    try67Community Expert
    Community Expert
    November 18, 2013

    It doesn't really matter what's the type of object they originally were. The form detection wizard works on a visual basis, not based on objects. Basically there's nothing much you can do about it, except try to find an object that is recognized as a check-box.

    Another option is to use a script after running the wizard to convert those files to check-boxes.

    Or you can use OpenOffice, which can generate PDF files and convert the fields in the document directly to the same kind of fields in the PDF version.

    rombanks
    rombanksAuthor
    Inspiring
    November 18, 2013

    Hi Gilad,

    Thank you very much for your response!

    What do you mean by an object that is recognized as a check box? I guess you meant a special character?

    My form contains tables that have check boxes in 2 out of 4 columns. So how can I traverse through all tables, select the 2 and 3rd column and put a check box in each row? It should also involve resizing the check boxes as the Acrobat default ones are too big. They should also be aligned. Can javascript do all that?

    BTW, I saw someone on Youtube putting a "legacy" check box on a Word page and using Acrobat 10 to convert it to PDF. After running the form wizard, Acrobat recognized the check box as a radio button. I can't reproduce the same for some reason.

    Have a nice day and thanks again!

    rombanks
    rombanksAuthor
    Inspiring
    November 18, 2013

    A quick test clarified the case: when a check box is put outside a table, Acrobat does recognize it as a check box. But when it is put inside a table cell, Acrobat ignores the check box and creates a text field that covers the table cell. Any ideas how to make Acrobat recognize the check box inside a table cell?

    Thank you in advance!

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