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dugost
dugost
Inspiring
March 2, 2017
Question

How can I select and edit multiple graphic cells at once for Buttons and Forms options?

  • March 2, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 5674 views

It's been a while since I've created a fillable PDF but I have one set up in InDesign CC 2015 using a table for product pricing that will calculate costs based on quantities. I've converted the table cells where the customer will enter their quantities to Graphic Cells in order to make them Text Fields using the Buttons and Forms panel. If I don't do that, there doesn't seem to be any way to select a regular table cell and make it a text field using that panel.

There are dozens of fields I need to label and set options for (i.e. printable, required, scrollable, etc.) and I am finding I can only do one at a time. Is there any way to select multiple Graphic Cells at once in order to set them all to, say, text fields in the Buttons and Forms panel that have specific PDF options? It's unbelievably time-consuming to click the same options over and over. If they could be batch edited then I could go through them and give them specific names after they're all given the same properties.

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    2 replies

    L
    Community Expert
    LaubenderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 2, 2017

    Hi dugost,

    there is no way to do that by using the "Buttons and Forms" panel.

    Because you are using a nested structure. Table cells that contain graphic containers—a.k. graphic cells are nested structures.
    Like a row of anchored objects in a text frame. You can only select one to convert them.

    You can select a couple of cells, but you cannot select a couple of graphic containers in each of the cells at one time.
    Even if the containers are visible in a row in the Layers panel.

    What you can do is ( but is this advisable? ) :

    Do one form field with one cell—e.g. a button—select the cell and copy it to the clipboard.

    To select the graphic cell select the form field and hit esc on the keyboard.

    Select a couple of cells and the one cell you copied will be pasted to all selected cells.

    The problem:

    A bug with copy/paste buttons

    Actions with "Show/Hide fields" you have defined with your original button will be removed when a button is pasted.

    FWIW: Duplicating buttons will also remove all actions with Show/Hide fields.

    Why would you like to do formfields within a table?
    I'd keep it as simple as possible.

    // EDIT: I did not read your last comment before posting this.
    // Ok. You dropped the idea doing all in a table structure. Good…

    Regards,

    Uwe

    dugost
    dugostAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 3, 2017

    Thanks very much for the explanation and tips.

    Yes, I dropped the idea of using Graphic Cells for form fields. The reason I set up the form in a table is that tabled data for product listings and pricing was the most sensible format to arrange the info. Having fields next to the prices for specifying quantities was also the most sensible format in this case and then the form can calculate the cost based on those quantities, like a spreadsheet with formulas.

    It's too bad InDesign doesn't have the capabilities for converting table cells directly into form fields. It would make things a lot easier for those of us making price sheets full of tabled data.

    dugost
    dugostAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 3, 2017

    dugost  wrote

    … It's too bad InDesign doesn't have the capabilities for converting table cells directly into form fields. It would make things a lot easier for those of us making price sheets full of tabled data.

    Hm.

    I doubt that.


    At least when you are using buttons a lot, that control visibility of other form fields.


    One reason are some bugs or not well designed properties of buttons:
    If you move a button off the page ( say to the pasteboard ) and in again it could lose some of the set visibility properties or values. And that's really bad. And Tag Order is only a property of a single page. Not of the spread.

    Then the "Buttons and Forms" panel:

    You cannot change properties of two and more buttons selected at one time.
    Just only one by one.

    Regards,
    Uwe


    I didn't realize that when it concerns buttons but I'm mostly dealing with text fields for data entry. And once I converted text frames to text fields instead of using Graphic Cells I was easily able to select all of my text fields and apply the same properties to them. After that it was a much quicker process to specify unique names for each field instead of clicking a bunch of same checkboxes over and over.

    John Mensinger
    Community Expert
    John MensingerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 2, 2017

    While form-field insertion capabilities are present in InDesign, it's really not a great tool for setting up form functions. Personally, I don't even waste my time adding form fields in InDesign; opting rather to do so in Acrobat, where it doesn't take any longer to add them (in fact, it's a much 'freer' process because they are fully independent of the layout and you can just draw/drag/drop them wherever you need), and you can indeed select multiple fields and set properties, along with many other Acrobat-only features.

    Steve Werner
    Community Expert
    Steve WernerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 2, 2017

    Thanks, John, I think you're right. There are many features Acrobat handles better than InDesign in the form design process. Many times, the best approach is just to do the "broad strokes" in InDesign, and do the refinements in Acrobat Pro.

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