Instructor: Robin Wood - robin 'at' wctrain dot net
Web Class Word Document (Word Document Format - 51kb)
Business License Document (PDF Format - 45kb)
It is important to realize that a PDF is the final version of a document that is usually been created in another program like Word, InDesign, or Excel. In order to create a PDF file you must have the full version of Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer. Having the Acrobat Reader installed on your system is not enough.
PDF files are used to ensure that a document will look the same across multiple platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux) and it will retain proper formatting when printed.
Virtually any document that you create can be converted to a PDF file. It's a relatively simple procedure to convert documents to PDF. For this example we will use Microsoft Word.
After you create and save your document in Word, click File > Print. In the Print Dialog box select Adobe PDF (note: depending on the version of Acrobat installed on your system this option may change; it may say Acrobat Distiller or Acrobat ... )
Click OK
The Save PDF File As dialog box will appear. Give the file a name and navigate to the folder that you want to save the file to. Click Save.
The Creating Adobe PDF screen will appear. After a few seconds to a few minutes your new PDF file will open in Acrobat.
Again, this same procedure can be used for any application.
The above procedure was a bare-bones, quick PDF creation. After you select Adobe PDF in the Print Dialog box you can click the Properties button.
The Properties button will open up the Adobe PDF Settings dialog box. From this box you can select the PDF quality. Typically we use Standard quality, which produces a resonable file size and a decent print quality. If you need a smaller file size you can select Smallest File Size or for jobs that will go to a printing press select Press Quality. If you need to alter the settings, click the Edit button.
Create the basic layout of the form in Word. Do not add form fields. Select File > Print and use Adobe PDF as the printer to create the PDF file.
Open the PDF file in Acrobat Professional.
The grid may help you to position form fields and other objects. Click View > Grid to turn on the Grid.
The form tools are located in the Advanced Editing toolbar. Click View > Toolbars > Advanced Editing. You can also open the Forms toolbar by clicking Tools > Advanced Editing > Forms > Show Forms Toolbar.
The Button tool 
is used to add form fields to your document.
When you are completing a form, add the form fields in a logical order. When a user presses the tab key they will be able to move between fields, the order of this action is controlled by the order that you created the button. It's a good idea to create the buttons from the top of the form down. If you need to change the tab order you can by clicking Tools > Forms > Fields > Set Tab Order.
Radio buttons are good for yes/no options or when a user can only select one item from a list. Select the Radio Button Tool, draw a box by holding down the left mouse button and dragging down and to the right where you want the form field to appear and release the mouse button. A properties box will immediately appear; on the General tab you give the field a name, a tooltip (tooltips appear when the users mouses over the form field). On the General tab you give the field a name, a tooltip (tooltips appear when the users mouses over the form field).
The Appearance tab (see image below) is used to add borders and change border color, change the line thickness and style, and to adjust the field font size, font, and text color.
The Options tab is used to set the radio button shape.
Note: The remainder of the properties will be explained below.
The Text Field tool - The text field tool is usually used for fields that you want users to type in information. This type of field is suitable for names, addresses, and other questions that can not be answered via a yes/no selection or a multiple choice list. Select the text field tool, draw a box by holding down the left mouse button and dragging down and to the right where you want the form field to appear.
Note: the screen captures used below are from a variety of form fields. Depending on the form field you are editing the properties may change. You can access the field properties at any time by right clicking a field and selecting Properties.
A properties box will immediately appear; on the General tab you give the field a name, a tooltip (tooltips appear when the users mouses over the form field). Note: All fields on a form must have unique names.
The Appearance tab is used to add borders and change border color, change the line thickness and style, and to adjust the field font size, font, and text color.
The options set the alignment of the text in the field, default values, whether the field will display multiple lines of text (good for comments, and whether spelling should be checked automatically.
Actions are used to add automation to buttons and other form fields. For example, you can use an action to submit a form.
Format options set the format of the data that is entered into the form. Number, percentage, date, and time are just a few of the available formats.
Validation allows you to set restrictions on the data that is entered into the form.
Calculate allows you to perform math functions on two or more fields.
After you setup the desired properties, click Close. You can access the properties of a field any time by right clicking the field and selecting Properties.
The Properties Bar
Turn on the Properties bar to quickly see a fields property. Click View > Toolbars > Properties Bar.
Right clicking a button or field will bring up a context sensitive menu. From this menu you can Create Multiple Copies of Fields. By creating a copy of a button or field you ensure that the field is the exact same size as the previous field. By changing the Width and height settings and clicking the desired positioning button you can reposition the copies of the buttons or fields. This is great when you have to exactly position multiple buttons.
Alternatively, hold down the CTRL key and drag a copy of the desired form field to a new location. Note: No two fields can have the same field name, so be sure to change the general properties for the copied field.
The select object tool will allow you to select Acrobat objects in your document. Once selected you can reposition the object on the page. This tool cannot be used to select object that were created in other applications. Clicking an object and pressing the delete key will allow you to delete an object from the page.
Touch Up Text Tool
The Touch Up Text Tool will allow you to edit text that was created in another program. Click the tool and click in the word that you want to edit. You can then edit the text as you normally would with Word or any other program.
This tool works the same as the Touch Up Text Tool, but it allows you to select, edit, and/or remove lines and other objects from the page. Using the Shift key while you click allows you to select multiple objects. Drawing a box around an object allows you to select multiple objects, just be careful not to select too many objects...You can always undo with CTRL+Z.
The Check Box tool is another form field. These are great when a user has to select multiple items in a list.
Combo Boxes are used to create multiple choice drop down lists. These are nice when you want to save space on a form. Under the Options tab you can add the items to the list by typing the item name and clicking add.
List boxes are similar to combo boxes, but the list is in a scrolling box. Items are also added via the Options tab in the Properties.
You can move fields with the mouse or click the field and use the Up, Down, Left, or Right arrow keys to precisely move the field.
You may want to restrict what a user can do with a PDF file. You may not want the user to be able to edit or print a PDF. You can restrict the access to a PDF file by protecting it with passwords and other security settings.
Security settings are accessed by clicking File > Document Properties > Security. By default no security settings are in place.
You can select the security method, typically we use password security. After selecting the security method you will be presented with another box where you can input the password and set the options for securing the document.
Here you can set compatibility (keep at 5.0) and set whether a password is required to open, print, or edit the document.
Use Filling in form fields and signing if you want to allow users to complete forms on their computers.
Inserting BookmarksIf you have a long PDF file you should insert bookmarks to make it easier for readers to navigate the document. Click the Bookmarks tab. Start off by creating a bookmark to go to the top of the page, first scroll to the top of the page. Click the Options > New Bookmark or press CTRL+B and type the bookmark name (top of document) and press enter. Scroll down the page to the next spot where you want a bookmark and repeat the process. Repeat this process for the remainder of the document.
You can combine PDF files. Click the Pages tab and click Options > Insert Pages. Select the PDF you want to add to the current document and click Select. Select where you want the pages to be inserted and click OK.
From the Pages Options you can also extract, replace, and delete pages, crop, rotate and set page transitions (like PowerPoint), number pages, print pages, and perform other functions that relate to the documents pages.
You can create hyperlinks to other documents or to web pages. Click the link tool and draw a box around the text that you want to make a link. The create link box will appear, click Open a web page and type the web page address. To change the link appearance, right click the box around the link text and click Properties.
Adobe has a huge library of tutorials for Acrobat, visit their tutorial site at http://studio.adobe.com/us/search/sort?sort=topic&product=1&topic=0&type=all&level=all&x=13&y=11
Cute PDF (download)
PDF995 (download)
PDF Online (online)
Creating PDF Files Using Only Available Free Software (tutorial)
I found Adobe Acrobat 5 Master Class to be a really good book. There is probably an updated version of this book, but I had no problem using this book with the current version of Acrobat. You could probably pick up the book at Half Price books or a used copy at Amazon.