PDF-Forms is a service provided by PDFzone.com | http://www.pdfzone.com/ __________________________________________________________________
Hi, Rob Wow, have I learned a lot this morning! I was asked to test this software as a possible replacement to FormFlow 2 - software we are using only to create the artwork for our forms. The artwork then goes for printing and/or for electronic distribution. The electronic versions we offer users are (usually fillable) PDFs created with Adobe Distiller and Acrobat. We do not at present need any database connectivity in our forms though we do use document and field level scripts to add usability enhancements. So what I'm looking for is layout software that can draw boxes, add graphics, and place static text. My initial impression was that Adobe Forms Designer 5 was that software with the added advantage of having the designer export directly to fillable PDF. Now I've learned otherwise. The reason I imported a PDF form is to see how much (if any) of the original document would be altered. I was hoping we could open up an already existing fillable PDF, make changes to the artwork and fields, and then end up with a modified but basically same PDF form. Not so. I did not realize I could import FRPs into AFD (though I will be trying that out soon) but that wouldn't really change much as our fill ability features are added after the fact with Acrobat. Thanks for your reply. Mark -----Original Message----- From: Rob McDougall [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: January 22, 2004 10:34 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [PDF-Forms] Nobody using Forms Designer 5? PDF-Forms is a service provided by PDFzone.com | http://www.pdfzone.com/ __________________________________________________________________ A few questions: Which version of FormFlow are you upgrading from? Why are you importing a PDF (which is not the native format of any of versions of FormFlow)? Why not load the XFTs (if you're upgrading from FF9.x) or the FRP (if you're upgrading from Delrina's FF)? The native format of Form Designer 5.0 is the same as FormFlow 9x: XFT. Importing a PDF actually converts it to XFT and then when you export to PDF it converts it back. All this converting from one format to another tends to introduce fidelity loss as you've discovered. This is the reason that PDF utilizes the Designer's import/export mechanism instead of the open/save. It's to try and give the user some hint that there's going to be some data loss. Regards, Rob __________________________ Rob McDougall, Technical Architect Indigo Pacific Limited Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (in order to email me, remove the underscores) -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Lauterbach.Mark Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2004 9:04 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [PDF-Forms] Nobody using Forms Designer 5? PDF-Forms is a service provided by PDFzone.com | http://www.pdfzone.com/ __________________________________________________________________ Hi, list I take it from everyone's silence that nobody's using Adobe Forms Designer 5 out there... :( I've been tasked with testing this software to replace FormFlow - our current artwork software. I've only had a few hours to play with it so far but I must say I'm not impressed. The design environment isn't too bad, but the PDF end product is a beast I do not recognize. I imported a large PDF form (500k) with all sorts of JavaScripts and formatting into Forms Designer. I then changed a single value (I think I added a help text to a field) and exported the document as a PDF. The file ended up being 1.5Mb in size and was utterly destroyed (static text moved around and altered, form fields all got renamed, graphical elements such as background colors were changed, JavaScripts where stripped, etc. etc. etc.) Should anybody have any experience in this software or knows where I can find out more information, please let me know. Thanks, Mark To change your subscription: http://www.pdfzone.com/discussions/lists-pdfforms.html To change your subscription: http://www.pdfzone.com/discussions/lists-pdfforms.html To change your subscription: http://www.pdfzone.com/discussions/lists-pdfforms.html
