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Can I make expendable form text field for PDF with InDesign?

New Here ,
Aug 27, 2020 Aug 27, 2020

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I tried to make PDF form with a text field that's expendable. I dont' have Adobe livecycle Designer. Can this be achieved in InDesign, or Xd?

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Community Expert , Aug 28, 2020 Aug 28, 2020

You can create an Interactive PDF form that has a text field that is multi-line and scrollable, but it will only print out the visable text.

 

You can create a form in MSWord that has expandable fields, but they do have the disadvantage of flowing all the following information over subsequent pages.

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LEGEND ,
Aug 28, 2020 Aug 28, 2020

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No. Nor in Acrobat. LiveCycle Designer makes an entirely different kind of form. Powerful, flexible, and completely obsolete. Don't go there!

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Community Expert ,
Aug 28, 2020 Aug 28, 2020

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Test Screen Name is correct in that this type of form can only be created using LiveCycle Design (now called AEM Forms Designer). This type of dynamic form is an .xfa form but functions as a PDF when opened in Acrobat or Adobe Reader. It won't work on mobile devices. This is the only way to create what you are looking for. No other program can do this. I would disagree that it's obsolete however, many companies are still generating these types of forms. Just because Adobe isn't investing in the technology doesn't make it obsolete.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 28, 2020 Aug 28, 2020

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I would agree that the interface is old, but the AEM/LiveCycle Designer program is definitely not.

 

Here is a quick comparison between AcroForms and XFA forms:

https://www.ideastraining.com/classOutlines/AcroFormsVsXFA.html

 

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

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LEGEND ,
Aug 28, 2020 Aug 28, 2020

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We may disagree, but in my view the forms are absolutely obsolete. Listing the wonderful functions of XFA does not change that. The lack of support for XFA forms in mobile - even though Adobe have had years to choose to offer support - guarantees this. Now, Adobe continue to sell AEM Designer for two reasons (1) for people stuck in old workflows, their money is still good (2) AEM includes a component to do live conversion of XFA forms to HTML5 forms, which can be installed on a server; this allows enterprises to continue to use AEM Designer, while no longer delivering PDF forms.

You may also disagree with my view that PDF forms are in their final days, and it's about time they were given up by everyone... killed by the success of PDF - everyone has a PDF viewer, unfortunately in 90% of cases it doesn't do forms right.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 28, 2020 Aug 28, 2020

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You can create an Interactive PDF form that has a text field that is multi-line and scrollable, but it will only print out the visable text.

 

You can create a form in MSWord that has expandable fields, but they do have the disadvantage of flowing all the following information over subsequent pages.

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