Computer Related > Filling in an on-line form Miscellaneous
Thread Author: bathtub tom Replies: 22

 Filling in an on-line form - bathtub tom
I've been sent a (ten page) form to complete as a pdf attachment in an email. I can download the form and save it. I can open it in Word, but Word won't allow me to fill the boxes. It'll let me adjust the size and shape of each box when I click on each one, but not let me enter any characters.
Am I being dim, or am I missing something obvious?
The only way I can think of completing the form is to print off each page, scribble in the details, scan each sheet and send it that way.
 Filling in an on-line form - sooty123
Is there an edit button?
 Filling in an on-line form - Duncan
Can you copy and paste the form into a draft email, make entries/changes in the email, send it off with a blind copy for yourself?

I had similar recently and it worked for me.
 Filling in an on-line form - No FM2R
www.freepdfconvert.com/pdf-to-word may help.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Mon 17 Aug 20 at 16:06
 Filling in an on-line form - bathtub tom
sooty123 No edit button (that I can see).

Duncan The pdf attachment gives me the options of 'Preview', 'Download' and 'View in OneDrive'.
The 'preview' option will let me print it, but nothing else.
The 'download' option opens it in Word. Under file, the copy option is greyed out. If I highlight it and copy it into a new file I still get the same result. Under file - info - permissions, anyone can open, copy and change any part of this document.
I tried OneDrive (never used it before) and could still make no sense,
 Filling in an on-line form - No FM2R
It may well look like Word has opened it, but perhaps not as a proper word document. Hence the suggestion to convert it.

I´ve had this problem previously with UK Charity forms.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Mon 17 Aug 20 at 17:17
 Filling in an on-line form - Bromptonaut
Word is not a good medium for forms. I've had any number of job applications etc where the formatting jumps about like a thing possessed and the pagination changes at will.
 Filling in an on-line form - No FM2R
>>Word is not a good medium for forms.

No, it isn´t, and one ends up fixing the entire form for fear of being judged by the subsequent submission. Or at least I do.

It doesn´t seem to stop people creating forms in it. Presumably because they never actually have a go at completing the forms themselves. I´ve seen Excel used pretty successfully.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Mon 17 Aug 20 at 17:34
 Filling in an on-line form - Bromptonaut
>> No, it isn´t, and one ends up fixing the entire form for fear of being
>> judged by the subsequent submission. Or at least I do.

Me too.

We did one in Quango and eventually got it to work but we had a chap in the team who probably understood it better than some folks at Microsoft.

Bullets and numbering is currently giving Mrs B a 'mare writing chapters of her thesis.

I recall working with a Consultant c2000 who swore one day he was going to go to Redmond and have a reckoning with Mr Gates on that issue.

I think he was joking.....
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 17 Aug 20 at 17:39
 Filling in an on-line form - bathtub tom
>> www.freepdfconvert.com/pdf-to-word may help.

They want a dollar subscription, but that's led me to google pdf to Word conversions. Tried a few that still won't let me fill in the boxes, I'll persevere a little longer.
 Filling in an on-line form - tyrednemotional
I'm confused when you say that the download option is opening the file (a .pdf file?) in Word.

Whilst Word can certainly open such files, it isn't the best option, and often loses formatting etc. during conversion.

I'd expect to have .pdf files opened (by default) in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

It may well be that (assuming the file is correctly composed with editing capability) you are losing that capability by not opening the file in what is effectively its "native" software.

If that is really what is happening, I'd try opening in Adobe Acrobat. If you haven't got it, it is downloadable free (and I suspect the installation process will make it the preferred reader for .pdf files - if it doesn't that is relatively easily fixed).

If you already have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed, you need to check, and probably change, the defined default program for opening .pdf files.
 Filling in an on-line form - bathtub tom
>>I'd expect to have .pdf files opened (by default) in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Give that man a coconut. I'd been struggling all day (on and off).

Many thanks.
 Filling in an on-line form - Manatee
Try changing your default application if you haven't got that far. Start by opening settings and just type default in the search box...it comes up as the first result on mine.

I'm just filling in an application in Adobe Reader for a site power supply.
Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 17 Aug 20 at 19:36
 Filling in an on-line form - No FM2R
Give that man a coconut and a pint of beer.

I've been struggling with this s*** for years and it never occurred to me that I'd be able to edit it in Adobe.

I just tried it with medical form I have to complete and it worked fine.

I'm grateful and slightly embarrassed. .
 Filling in an on-line form - tyrednemotional
There's no magic involved ;-)

I'm just mildly surprised that anyone would choose to use any software other than Adobe's own to open PDF files.

PDF started, of course, as a proprietary format owned by Adobe, and I've used it since those early days when Adobe's own software was the only stuff that would work.

Over the years, it has become much more "open", and other software has been able to use and interpret at least parts of it.

In fact, I think it is theoretically now almost completely open, but Adobe still maintain parts of the delivery that others choose not to implement or interpret. Hence Acrobat Reader is probably the go-to software for processing existing PDFs to ensure full functionality.

I've certainly used other software (such as Word) to create my own PDF documents, but always use Acrobat Reader for opening existing ones (it's one of the first downloads when configuring a new machine)
 Filling in an on-line form - smokie
Well I never.

I'd have printed it, hand written it and scanned it.

You live and learn!
 Filling in an on-line form - No FM2R
>>I'm just mildly surprised that anyone would choose to use any software other than Adobe's own to open PDF files.

I usually use it for reading pdf files. It just used to be very restrictive and Ive never checked since. It simply didn't occur to me that I could edit pdf files for it when appropriate.

Annoying though, considering how much time I've wasted edited charity forms and similar over the last few years.

Well, now I know. Thanks for that.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Tue 18 Aug 20 at 02:04
 Filling in an on-line form - tyrednemotional
>> It simply didn't occur to me that I could edit
>> pdf files for it when appropriate.
>>

...and, of course "appropriate" is a key word - with the free version of Acrobat Reader you can only do so much, most functions require the paid version. AFAIK, form filling is available free only if the original author/creator has designed the document/form so, and set the appropriate properties.

Over the years they've crept more functionality in "under the covers", but I must admit I don't even scrape the surface of that.
 Filling in an on-line form - VxFan
>> I'm just mildly surprised that anyone would choose to use any software other than Adobe's own to open PDF files.

All of our work PCs, by default open PDFs with MS Edge. Not sure if it's a custom build thing that work have done, or MS themselves did it with the launch of Win10.

Whoever is responsible, it's damn right annoying and has caught out several colleagues of mine. Fortunately it's one of the very few things we can change ourselves and not have to put a request into IT to do it for us.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 18 Aug 20 at 02:37
 Filling in an on-line form - tyrednemotional
>>
>> All of our work PCs, by default open PDFs with MS Edge. Not sure if
>> it's a custom build thing that work have done, or MS themselves did it with
>> the launch of Win10.
>>
...since Adobe Acrobat Reader isn't installed in the default WIN10 image (Unsurprisingly, as it isn't a MS product) they set Edge as the default "reader" (since it can - partially!).
 Filling in an on-line form - James Loveless
You don't need Adobe Acrobat to add text to a pdf file.

The free Foxit software has a Typewriter function which allows you to put text pretty much wherever you want. This is explained here: www.foxitsoftware.com/blog/?p=439
 Filling in an on-line form - smokie
Oh! That's what I use for pdf's!
 Filling in an on-line form - VxFan
>> ...since Adobe Acrobat Reader isn't installed in the default WIN10 image (Unsurprisingly, as it isn't a MS product) they set Edge as the default "reader" (since it can - partially!).

That's the thing though, the custom Win10 build on our work PCs has Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on them. Maybe the IT guys simply forgot to change the default application from Edge to AAR for PDFs.
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