Inserting pictures in PDF Forms (alternatively how to get livecycle)?

[LeilaOman]

Hi,

for my work place we are making forms to document information for all the chemicals we have. I need lots of text fields (easily done) and a field where people can copy in or insert an image of the chemical formula of the large molecules. I have to assume they have reader and not acrobat so this needs to work for most versions. I thought this was going to be so easy. I made a perfect form in word (fillable, lockable, everything I need) in three hours. But word obviously doesn't look as professional as a fillable pdf document so I downloaded adobe acrobat (30 day trial) to make this. For ages I thought I was just too stupid to find the insert image/mix field in the forms section. Surely such a proper (and usually payed) program specifically advertised for making forms would allow more freedom than just text and numbers. After now searching the internet for days I have found people talking about inserting something javascripty (didnt work for me but possibly I did it wrong), and about using livecycle. I spent another long time trying to figure out what it is and whether I've got this livecycle or not because some sites claimed it comes automatically with the free trial adobe acrobat download. I do not. Can I download it as a trial somewhere (I've looked, but haven't found)? I just need it for this one day thing.

Before I peg Adobe Acrobat down to being essentially useless for my task and wasting hours of my time, did I miss anything? Is there a normal way to do it? It's really nothing special; just a picture.

Thank you very much

Leila

[Bernd Alheit]

LiveCycle is a collection of different products. You can create forms with LiveCycle Designer.

[try67]

Using Reader it's only possible to embed images in a file if they are in PDF format. Otherwise they can only be attached to the PDF, not displayed.

Also, the version of Reader used must be 11 or higher for it to work.

The only other option is indeed to create the form using LiveCycle Designer, but that has its own set of problems and limitations. The biggest being that creating such forms is complex and you need to purchase LCD separately from Acrobat to do so.

[LeilaOman]

try67‌, thanks for confirming that . Pity though , not what I was hoping to hear. So wierd that Acrobat doesn't allow it.
If I use LCD can anyone (any reader version) then insert the picture? Will any Live cycle work or only the Designer? Also I got confused about Livecycle being a subcategory of AEM somehow. How does that work? Can I just get LCD or do I get AEM?

[Test Screen Name]

LiveCycle is a suite of programs, designed for large enterprises. Most are licensed by negotation and can cost a 5-6 figure sum (US$). This is why you need to be absolutely clear you are looking for LiveCycle Designer, rather than just LiveCycle.

One key point about forms made with LiveCycle Designer: they are an entirely different kind of form, only usable with Acrobat Reader or Acrobat, only on Mac or Windows. This precludes use in browsers, on iPads, Android tablets etc.

Franky, my advice? Stick to Word or HTML forms. A professional solution would use a web app. This would also provide the auditability such as system surely needs. But would require a dedicated web developer, and could easily run to a year's work.

[George_Johnson]

How will the users be obtaining or generating the images of the large molecules?

[LeilaOman]

@George, they make them in Marvinsketch/chemdraw or any other program. It's their samples so they should provide us with information on it before we run tests.