Create the form design

There are several ways you can create a form design. You can start with a blank form, template, or PDF document. If you are creating your first form design using Designer, try one of the tutorials or look at one of the sample forms installed with Designer.

Start with a sample form

If you prefer not to try one of the tutorials, you can start by looking at one of the sample forms installed with Designer. The sample forms illustrate form design techniques, from simple to complex. Designer includes a selection of complete samples, each one accompanied by a form design, sample data and/or schema, as well as the final version of the form. If one of the sample forms suits your requirements, use it as a starting point. For more information about sample forms, see “Sample Forms” in Sample Form Snippets and Forms.

You can start a form design based on a template and modify the design to suit your requirements. The Template Manager contains a variety of templates from which to choose.

Considerations when creating form designs

You will need to consider form-specific details when creating form designs. The following table lists items that you may want to keep a record of as you work on a form design.

Item

Specifications

Page size and orientation (for master page)

Page size (for example, Letter)

Orientation (for example, Portrait)

Logos and graphics

Required file format (for example, TIF)

Form properties

Store title of form with form properties (Yes or No)

Locale setting (for example, Viewer’s system locale)

Default scripting language (for example, JavaScript)

Accessibility

Tool tips required for objects (specify the objects requiring tool tips)

Screen reader precedence (for example, Tool Tip)

Tabbing order

Setting (for example, Western)

Common font and drawing properties

Line thickness (for example, same thickness for all lines)

All captions (same typeface and size)

All data values (same typeface and size)

Object properties

Field borders and background color (Yes or No)

Background color of fillable areas (for example, an RGB value)

Field names (for example, see supplied “Field Name” list)

Form intelligence

Fields that must be filled (identify the fields)

Prompts to specify for required fields (specify the required prompts)

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