Combining Completed Forms

[barbarab23170570]

i've created a fillable form that is being used by several different people.  The form is being used multiple times, and each completed form needs to be combined in a single document using Acrobat Reader.  We are finding that once the forms are in one document, making a change to a field on one page changes that field for all of the others.  How can we prevent that?

[Bernd Alheit]

How did you combine the forms? Acrobat Reader can't combine files.

[barbarab23170570]

I downloaded reader and the option to combine was there.  Not sure if it appeared because of my dc subscription, but I believe that is what the people working with the form are using.

[Bernd Alheit]

Why doesn't you use Adobe Acrobat DC?

[jane-e · Accepted solution]

Hi Barbara,

When a field has the same name and is used in multiple places, the contents will be the same. For instance, you have a seven-page form and every page has Name, Date, UserID. You can fill it out once and it populates on all seven pages. If you make an edit, they all change.

That’s why it does not work to put all the forms into one PDF. Here are some ideas:

• One choice is to rename the fields: Name1, Name2, Name3 (tedious)
• Another choice is to flatten the form (no longer a form with fields)
• A third choice is to combine the forms into a Portfolio. (See Adobe Help: Overview of PDF Portfolios )

Why do all the forms need to be in one PDF?

~ Jane