Tips for Working with Fillable Fields

As you work with fillable PDFs, please note the following information:

Creating Fillable PDF Form Templates

HotDocs supports only fillable PDFs (or Acrobat Forms or AcroForms) created with Acrobat Professional. It does not support any fillable PDF documents created or edited using Adobe LiveCycle Designer. (This includes XFA forms, XML Forms, or Designer Forms.)

A small subset of XFA forms might still work, as long as there are no dynamic form features being used. Typically, if an AcroForm has been edited using LiveCycle Designer and only properties of fields have been changed, it is likely to still work in HotDocs.

Using Fonts

If you have Type 1 (PostScript) fonts installed on your computer, you should not assign those fonts to fields in PDF-based template files. If you assign a Type 1 font to a form field, the field will appear correctly on screen during assembly and when the form is saved as a fillable PDF. However, if you print the form or save it as a static PDF, HotDocs will automatically substitute a TrueType font, which will keep the text in the field from appearing as expected. For best results, use TrueType (.ttf) fonts (or OpenType (.otf) fonts containing TrueType outlines) with linked fields in a fillable PDF template.

Fillable PDF authors may embed fonts they use in the fillable PDF. However, when you create a template using a fillable PDF, HotDocs will not use the embedded font. Instead, it will check to see if the font is installed locally. If it is, HotDocs will use it. If the font is not installed on the system, HotDocs will attempt to map the font to something similar. Once you save the assembled document as a fillable PDF, however, the embedded font will once again be used.

Honoring Adobe Field Formats

When you create variables and attach them to linked fields in a PDF-based template, HotDocs may suggest some default properties for the variable, such as a format, pattern, and so forth. Where possible, you should accept these default properties. If you save the assembled document as a fillable PDF, Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader will try to format the answer coming from HotDocs so that it fits in the field as its defined by Adobe Acrobat. If the answer contains text or uses formats that are different than what it expects, the field text may appear incorrectly. This is especially true with Number and Date formats.

Grouping Fields

If you are automating a fillable PDF template and you plan to save the assembled document as a fillable PDF, you cannot group run-on fields since necessarily, each fillable field is linked to a separate “variable.” Answers—both in HotDocs and Adobe—must be entered on individual lines. This means that as you enter an answer in a field, when you reach the end of one field, you must tab to the next field and continue typing your answer.

This inability to group fields is a limitation of Adobe. If you have write-access to the form using Adobe Acrobat, you may consider replacing individual fields in the group with a single, multi-line field with a suitable font size. Text you enter may not match the lines perfectly, but you will not have to tab between fields to enter the answer.

Check Box Groups

Multiple check boxes or option buttons with the same field name in a PDF file are converted to a HotDocs check box group. HotDocs relies on the sort order of the member fields when answers from HotDocs are saved back to the PDF fields. This means that it is not a good idea to change the ordering of the member fields using row and column settings.

Additionally, in the fillable PDF, check boxes and option buttons should all have different Export values since HotDocs doesn't allow duplicate options in a Multiple Choice variable.

True/False Check Box Groups

If you need to group two check boxes that have different Acrobat field names there is a simple method:

  1. Select the check box for true and open the Field Properties dialog box.
  2. In the Variable text field enter the name of the True/False variable you are using and in the Check Box Character text field type X.
  3. Select the check box for false and open the Field Properties dialog box.
  4. In the Variable text field enter the name of the True/False variable you are using followed by /X then in the Check Box Character text field type X.
  5. While the variable attached the first check box will cause the X to appear in the box when answer is true, the /X after the variable name in the second box causes the X to appear when the answer is false.

For more information on working with check boxes see Create a check box Field and Attach a Multiple Choice Variable to a Group of check boxes.

Working with Rights-Enabled PDFs

When creating a fillable PDF document, form designers can enable usage rights within the document. These rights allow Adobe Reader users to save copies of the document with changes they have made to the document—including entering or changing answers they have entered in the fillable PDF. However, when you convert a rights-enabled fillable PDF to template format, the document is changed in such a way that usage rights are no longer in effect. This means that users will not be able to save changes they make when editing the assembled document in Adobe Reader.