Why are my radio button crosses different?

[richdjr]

Hey all,

I'm working on a form and I noticed that when I start my form and acrobat creates all of the conditions the "cross" in the Yes & No boxes are nice and big, but when I create my own radio buttons for groupings the crosses are puny (see attached). I've been going through the preferences but cannot find a solution and when comparing the properties they both identical. I had to blur the text due to work restrictions. I'm creating the forms on a mac.

[richdjr]

anyone?

[try67]

Did you create some of the fields in InDesign, by any chance?

[richdjr]

Actually the whole form was created in indesign then exported as an interactive pdf. The check boxes for yes & no were copy and pasted for the other check boxes within the document.

[George_Johnson]

It wouldn't be a preference setting that controls this, but rather the properties that you can set in the field properties dialog.

[richdjr]

I looked through the properties (which were pretty intensive) but could not find one to control the check box. The smaller "x" does appear to look like a graphics or a "dingbat" font

[gkaiseril]

You need to be using the "Prepare Form" tool and in the "Edit" mode. Use the mouse to highlight either the form field on the page or the field name on the right size of the window. Use the right mouse button to bring up the context menu and select the "Properties" option. On the "General" tab you can set the "Font Size". You can also select the field and use the "handles" to change the size of the field.

Most users have found it is best to add the form fields to a PDF form using Acrobat.

[richdjr]

whoa! you're blowing my mind here…. let's back it up gkaiseril! "prepare form tool" in acrobat? or indesign?

when I export my forms (I'm on a mac) I go to tools>Forms>create then let acrobat do it's thing.

I just right clicked and the general section does not have the font size option, appearance does but doesn't change a thing.

[try67]

I recommend not creating any form fields in InDesign. It can produce things that are not reproducible in Acrobat (like these unique graphics for check-boxes) and from my experience the fields created in it are not entirely correct. Better do the layout and graphic design in ID and do the form fields in Acrobat, exclusively.

[richdjr]

try67 I did. I had to create the radio buttons in acrobat because the choices varies from an "either or" condition to a "select all", yet when I had acrobat create the form, the Yes & NO check boxes came out with this beautiful large "X" whereas the radio buttons that I had to create individually came out as a puny little dingbat "x", yet in each properties window they show up as adobe pi for the font.

[richdjr]

After a week of trying different options, deleting and re-inserting the radio buttons everything is the same. Still getting the same small "x" in the boxes.

[gkaiseril]

It appears you selected the "Auto" for the font size, This adjust the font size to the size of the field and this may cause some distortion in the appearance of the symbol trying to fit into the height and width of the field. Have you tried a fixed font size and fixed check box size?

[richdjr]

I have not tried a fixed font size but I'm about to! How does one select a fixed check box size? When I create my radio buttons they come in as circles with an inner bevel. Always have to adjust them.

[richdjr]

No luck. tried changing the font size to 18 and it's the same as when I originally posted.

[Bernd Alheit]

‌Does the check boxes have the same size?

[richdjr]

Yes. Same sized boxes used in all fields. Could it be that this is a specific "X" used exclusively for a yes/no condition?

[George_Johnson]

It would be helpful if you could post a sample PDF that includes the errant fields.

Also, you can set a default appearance for any type of field by setting one up as you'd like the default to be, right click the field, and select:Use Current Properties as New Defaults

[richdjr]

Thanks George! I will try setting that up on my system (I'm on a mac). The example of the different crosses is in my original post at the top.

[George_Johnson]

I saw the screen shots you posted. What I would like to see is an actual PDF so I can test it. If you can't post it somewhere, feel free to email me a sample at: acroscript at gmail dot com