Convert a document to a fillable PDF form

[rfrantz]

Convert a document to a fillable PDF form

This procedure has been verified on Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional.
(The procedure outlined should work with Acrobat v7, v8 and v9)

1. Save the document as a PDF.
   (Instructions for creating a PDF are located here: http://kb.mlml.calstate.edu/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=134)
2. Open the document in Adobe Acrobat (Adobe Reader cannot edit PDFs).
3. Select "Run Form Field Recognition" from the "Forms" menu and allow the conversion to complete.
4. Save the document as a PDF. (Choose a different file name to avoid overwriting your original document)
5. Be sure to verify that all desired fields are fillable prior to distribution.
   HINT: Use the "Highlight Fields" button or menu option to show which fields were automatically created.
6. If more fields need to be created, use the "Forms" toolbar. Open the Forms toolbar from: View > Toolbars or Tools > Forms > Show Forms Toolbar.

Once the fillable form has been created, users can fill the form using any standard PDF viewing application.

More information about creating fillable PDFs is available on Adobe's website:
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/acrobat/articles/acr7formdesign.html