Creating Killer Forms with

Adobe LiveCycle Designer

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LiveCycle Designer Class

Class OrderInitiating LiveCycle

Workspace Tour

Ways of Creating Forms

From Template

From Blank

From Digital Form

Distributing Forms

Compiling Results

Exporting Results

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Initiating LiveCycleOpen Adobe Acrobat

Use “Getting Started” if you are new to LiveCycle.

If you are editing an existing form, open the form in Acrobat.

Click on the Forms drop-down menu and select “Edit Forms in Acrobat” LiveCycle Designer will open, and you can begin editing your form

If you are creating a new form, click on Forms drop-down menu and select “Create New Form”

Select from one of the following choices:

Select a Template Start with an Electronic Document Import Data from a spread sheet Scan from Paper

Follow the sequence.

Workspace Tour (See Appendix (Example 1)for Illustration) Design View & Preview tabs Drop-Down menus Tool Bars Library Font/Paragraph Object/Layout/Border Hierarchy Bindings

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From a Template With this option you are given a choice of 25 different types of forms ranging from a check request to a status report. The forms are fully editable, so you can select one that is similar to what you want and then edit it so that it is precisely what

you want. When you select the Template option, the New Form Assistant takes you through a process of setting up the template with

your corporate identity, including your company name, logo, address, phone & fax number, web site, and email address. It also asks if you want to place two buttons on your form: email and print buttons Procedure:

o Start with Weekly Status Reporto Move buttons to center and downo Move title upo Move 3 identifying fields upo Indent field labels .1 incho Make border around each of the five fieldso Address text: move up and separate by 1pto Move Zip code up to city lineo Delete zip code and country fieldso Place border around entire formo Make sure title, buttons and logo all align on topo Make sure right side elements align on right

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From Blank Open Adobe Acrobat In the Forms menu or button, select “Create a New Form” In the New Form dialogue box, leave “Select a Template” selected and click “Continue” In the “New Form Assistant” dialogue box, click the drop-down menu and select “Blank” Select the size of the form from the six possibilities listed and press “Next” Insert your email address and click “Finish” and you are presented with a blank page. Using the example of the Status Report, create the following fields:

o Create Titleo Move buttons to center and downo Inset Logoo Align all three with the top of eacho Create text fields for department infoo Create date fields for the two dateso Create address box and add space between each lineo Insert table and size appropriatelyo Write over headings with dayso Reverse out headingso Insert Approved By signature boxo Insert Date boxo Make border around form

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From a Digital Form Open the form in Adobe Acrobat (it does not have to be a pdf) In the Forms menu select “Create a New Form” Select “Start with an Electronic Document” Press “Continue” Select “Use the Current Document” Click “Next” Select “Run Auto Field Detection” Press “Next” Press “Next” again Press “Done”

Distributing a Form Go to Forms Menu and Select “Distribute Forms” Click on “Send Now Via Email” if you have an email account on your computer

o From a web based email account select “Save and Send Later”, then send manually Click “OK” Insert your return email address where you want the completed forms sent Click “Next” Insert the name of the file in which you want to compile the results of your returned forms. This is the “Dataset” file. Click “Next” Insert the email addresses to which you want to send the form. Click “Next” Edit the wording of the instructions you want to provide to your recipients

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Press “Done”

Tracking FormsThe Forms Tracker helps you manage forms you’ve distributed

1. Click the Forms button on the Tasks toolbar and select “Track Forms”2. Select an icon on the left to see forms in that category

a. “To Do” displays forms you have receivedb. “History” displays forms you’ve distributedc. “Search Results” allows you to search for a specific formd. “Forms Library” displays forms you’ve saved in the Library for future access

Compiling Returned Forms When a form is received, it will come as an email attachment Open the attachment A dialogue box will open with the attachment headed “Add Completed Form to Data Set If you have already created your data set in Distributing Form, then make sure the correct file name is displayed and click

“OK”. If you have not already created a data set, then click the radio button below and, by adding a file name, create a new data

set. Click “OK” and your form will automatically be added to the new data set. Once you add your form to the data set, the form details will be displayed in column format across the top of the page, while

the completed form appears below.

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Exporting Data to Excel Once you have compiled your returns in the Data Set file, you can export the data to Excel where the data can be

manipulated and analyzed. Open the Data Set file Click on the Export button on the far right of the Data Set bar Save the document as a “csv” when prompted Minimize Acrobat Open Excel and open the Data Set file you just saved On the Home ribbon, in the Cells section, click on the Format button and select “Auto Format Column Width” to adjust each

column’s width so as to be better able to view the data. You can then add, sort and format the data.

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Appendix Example 1: A Form that Has Just Been Created In “Design View”

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Example 2: Tabulation of Multiple Form Data in a Data Set

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Example 3: After Data Has Been Exported from an Adobe Acrobat Data Set to MS Excel Worksheet

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