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sunmarsh
Participant
March 29, 2022
Question

How to find and replace all instances of a 'frame' with a 'frame (form field)'?

  • March 29, 2022
  • 1 reply
  • 274 views

I created a frame using the rectange frame tool and copy/pasted it hundreds of times throughout a document for use as a "checkbox" in the printed version of the document. Now I want to convert that document to an interactive form (PDF). I turned one of the frames into a "Frame (form field)" by using Object > Interactive > Convert to Checkbox and then modified the size, color, and positioning of the check mark to my liking. How do I most easily replace all the frames with my custom checkbox frame? I'm using Adobe InDesign 2021.

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1 reply

J
Community Expert
Jeffrey_SmithCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 29, 2022

Here are some workaround ideas:

In Indesign, you can search "text" and replace with "Clipboard Content, Formated". You would copy your styled checkbox first. This suggestion works if you used a dingbat font for the checkbox.

 

In Acrobat, open the print PDF and try form recognition. Please keep in mind, checkboxes are sometimes recognized and made into a checkbox, but not always.

S
sunmarshAuthor
Participant
March 30, 2022

Thanks for the quick reply. The checkbox isn't a text character unfortunately. I also tried using form recognition, to no avail.

J
Community Expert
Jeffrey_SmithCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 30, 2022

Is the frame you made for the checkbox inline with text, or is independently placed? The thought is there might be some unique text surrounding the frame that you could search.

 

Did you use an object style for checkbox? This might help in the searching aspect, and perphaps a custom script could be written.

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