Howto create a pdf with fill-in form

Question

Howto create a pdf with fill-in form

Hi,

I recently download a fillable PDF from Apple website.
This is not the first time I get a PDF with fillable fields but when displaying informations about this one, I saw it was created with Quartz PDFContext, the Apple core PDF generator.

How to create with Pages a PDF with fillable forms ?
Do I need an Apple version of Acrobat Writer ?

Thanks,
Ionel

iMac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Posted on Feb 18, 2006 11:22 AM

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Answer 1

Brie Fly

Level 5

7,925 points

Feb 18, 2006 5:54 PM in response to Ionel Gardais

Do I need an Apple version of Acrobat Writer ?

Yes.

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Answer 2

Feb 18, 2006 9:10 PM in response to Ionel Gardais

In additon to Acrobat, give PDF-Office a go.

http://shop.pdf-office.com/productinfo.php?productsid=28&language=en&osCsid=35ce0948abb16d70904fd7329bbd255d

-Alan

AlBook, TiBook, iMac, iBook Mac OS X (10.4.5) Corporate / mixed environment / multiple networks.

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Answer 3

Bekins

Level 3

734 points

Feb 18, 2006 10:41 PM in response to Ionel Gardais

Most PDF's created by Adobe software will list some Adobe software as the encoder, like Distiller, and not Quartz PDFContent.

When you use the Finder to get info on a PDF (at least in Tiger) it lists a bunch of PDF-specific information. In addition to the "Encoding software", you should see "Creator". While Pages doesn't have the ability to create true PDF forms, I'm curious what software was used to create the form you mentioned. It might be an alternative to Acrobat.

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Answer 4

Feb 19, 2006 2:56 AM in response to Bekins

The PDF i'm talking about is this one : http://developer.apple.com/softwarelicensing/agreements/pdf/bonjour4wincore.pdf

Creator is "Word" with "Mac OS X 10.3.9 Quartz PDFContext" as encoding software.

I'm very disapointed if I had to use Microsoft Word or Acrobat Writer to create a PDF with forms whereas Mac OS X handles PDF manipulations natively.

Ionel

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Answer 5

Mar 27, 2006 4:32 PM in response to Ionel Gardais

Ionel,

I agree with you. It sure would be great if we could use Pages to make PDF forms.

Along these lines, from what I have seen, there are PDF forms that have to be filled out on-line and printed, and, there are PDF forms of which you can download the file and fill out off-line. It would be nice to be able to select which of these options you want to use when authoring a PDF form with Pages.

Lastly, it would be nice to be able to upload either of these types of PDF forms to your iWeb/.Mac website, or to another site of which the content was made with iWeb.

Best Regards,
How Goes It

Mac OS X (10.4.4)

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Answer 6

Jun 13, 2006 5:37 AM in response to Ionel Gardais

I'm also looking for a solution to this. I want to set up some print-quality PDFs for business cards, invoices etc which could be edited by anyone - ie without expensive Adobe software. Ideally, they would include some simple arithmetic functions, like subtotals & tax.

Any ideas?

G4 15 Al Powerbook Mac OS X (10.4.6)

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