1 Reply Latest reply: Nov 6, 2014 2:13 AM by HomeJames RSS

    Lack of FormsCentral Support

    KarmelPuzzuoli Community Member
    KarmelPuzzuoli Nov 5, 2014 12:08 PM

      Wow, I've tried everything today ... chatting online with someone (who had no clue), calling Adobe (kept getting disconnected).

       

      I pushed my organization to buy a year's subscription to Adobe FormsCentral so we could use our current PDF forms, maintain our branding, and have an ability to collect data online rather than the re-type drama that comes with paper/fax forms.

       

      Our current forms are created in InDesign. Fields are added in Acrobat XI Pro. Then they are uploaded to FormsCentral, then downloaded again when they are made submit-ready.

       

      Unfortunately, these forms are faulty; they don't work for everyone.

       

      The online chat guy said the only solution was to have everyone upgrade to Acrobat XI reader. This sounds good and everything, but it is not a practical approach. We have a lot of older users who are lucky if they can find a document after they save it. Asking them to download software just won't fly.

       

      My question is ... instead of building my own forms with Acrobat and InDesign, how do the tools on FormsCentral's Form Builder differ? Do they create only PDFs with the same issues? Or can they create HTML forms, i.e. active server pages that aren't PDFs with that Acrobat compatibility issue? I asked they guy on chat that same question, but he ignored it.

       

      If you can help me, I'd appreciate it. Everyone in my office is nervous because of the issues with FormsCentral, and of course I'm to blame for signing us up for it.

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        • 1. Re: Lack of FormsCentral Support
          HomeJames Community Member
          HomeJames Nov 6, 2014 2:13 AM (in response to KarmelPuzzuoli)

          The suggestion the guy at Adobe made about getting users to download Acrobat Reader is the only way you can guarantee your Acrobat Forms will be useable by your 'customers'. As far as FormsCentral goes, it all depends on the complexity of the forms you've designed. The features of FormsCentral are pretty basic, but providing you are asking someone to fill in a pretty basic form, that you do not want to do any dynamic calculations on as they progress, fit a lot of folks needs. You are very constrained on layout, but I design a header (which can be as complex as you like) in Illustrator or Photoshop etc and then import into the header as a size appropriate jpg. Field positions are a bit inflexible - but it does a job. It'll never do what an expensive Acrobat or InDesign does though.

          If you can circulate the hyperlink to your 'customers' or embed the form in a web page of your own, they are using their browser to complete and should find it very straightforward. More complex distribution, e.g as a pdf, requires Reader. Difficult to give a conclusive answer to you, not knowing the complexity of your requirements.