PDF Plus includes a set of form field tools with which you can add dynamic form fields to a PDF form. A form field can be created anywhere on the PDF document page with a customized name and size. For each field type, you can set a variety of options in their properties dialog boxes. Form fields of a PDF form can also be resized, positioned or edited.

To create a form field in PDF Plus:

  1. Choose Forms > [desired tool] or select a form tool on the Form Tools toolbar.
  2. Drag the cross-hair pointer to create a form field of the required size.
    Note: You can only create a form field below a note.
  3. In the properties dialog box, set the form field’s property options, and then click Close. To see details about form field property settings, see Setting Form Field Properties.

To resize one or more form fields:

  1. Select the form field(s) you want to resize.
  2. To resize the fields by dragging, select the form tool that was used to create the form field, and then drag any border handle on the field. Press Shift to maintain the current aspect ratio of the form field.
  3. To resize the fields by 1 pixel, press Ctrl+Arrow key; to resize the fields by 10 pixels, press Ctrl+Shift+Arrow key (Only up and down).
  4. To resize all form fields in the form to the width, height, or both dimensions of a particular form field, make sure that all form fields are selected; then right-click over the form field that has the dimension you want and choose Height, Width, or Both from the Size menu.

To delete one or more form fields:

  1. Select the form fields you want to delete.
  2. Choose Edit > Delete, or press Delete on the keyboard.

To modify form field properties:

  1. Select the form fields you want to edit.
  2. Double-click a selected form field to open the Properties dialog box; or right-click the selected form field and choose Properties in the menu.
  3. Click the General tab, and specify the following properties:
    • Type a file name, instructional text, and set label orientation.
    • Set attributes for field line and label text which determine how the form field looks on the page.
      Note: Remember, if you select a background color, you won’t be able to see through to any images behind the form field.
    • Select Visible to let the form field appear on the page, not hidden.
    • Select Print to make the form field printable.
    • Select Read Only to prevent the field from from being modified by users.
      Note: You can select Protected in the lower right of the Properties dialog box, to avoid accidental changes to the form field.
  5. Click the Actions tab, and specify any actions that you want to associate with the form field, such as execute a menu item, or open a file. See Setting Special Actions.
  6. Specify the remaining properties for your form field type, and click Close. see Setting Form Field Properties.

To select form fields:

  1. Do one of the following:
    • If you select only one type of form fields, choose Tools > Forms > [desired tool], or select the form tool you used to create the form field that you want to change on the Advanced toolbar.
    • If you select different types of form fields, choose Tools > Advanced > Select Object, or select the Select Object tool on the Advanced toolbar.
  3. To select a single form field, click it. To select multiple form fields, do one of the following:
    • Ctrl-click each form field.
    • Ctrl-drag a selection marquee around the form fields. If you are using a form tool, only form fields of the same type are selected; if you are using the Select Object tool, all types of form fields within the marquee are selected. You can also drag to select all form fields when you are using the Select Object tool.
    • To add a range of form fields to a selection click a form field, and then Shift-click another form field. All form fields between the two form fields are selected.
    • Choose Edit > Select All.

Tips:

  • You can select more than one form field and then modify the size and location from the context menu. When you select multiple form fields, the last one you select is highlighted in red, and is designated as the anchor. Other previously selected form fields are highlighted in blue. If you use a marquee to select form fields, the form field that was created last is designated as the anchor. Any size or alignment changes you make to the selected form fields are made based on the anchor form field.
  • If you select different types of form fields, or the same type of form fields with different property values, some options in the Properties dialog box are not available. For different types of form fields, you can usually modify the options of the General tab and Actions tab in the Properties dialog box. Changes to the available options are applied to all selected form field.
  • To remove a form field from a selection, Ctrl-click inside the form field. To deselect an entire selection, click outside a form field. If you remove the anchor form field (the last created one) from a selection, the form field that created just before the anchor one becomes the new anchor form field.

Creating and Editing Form Fields