How to Create a Fill-in Form

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Level 1

6 points

How to Create a Fill-in Form

I have been trying for a while to create a fill-in form in Pages, but it seems no matter what I try, nothing seems to work.

I use to create in Microsoft word a page or document that you could 'lock' that another user could just fill in the lines in which you chose. I need to create a replica of that in Pages. I have tried exporting into a PDF and editing in a preview, but that was time-consuming if you need more than one line filled in. Please let me know what I can do, or install that free that can make what I need. I love using my apple products over Microsoft but, this Pages doesn't seem to have. 😟

MacBook Pro with Retina display, iOS 9.3.3

Posted on Jul 18, 2016 3:28 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 18, 2016 4:12 PM in response to Rebecca_k_xo

Pages doesn't do fill in forms.

Best you can do is design a form in Pages, export that as a pdf and edit it in Acrobat Pro to turn it into an editable form.

Peter

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Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

127,710 points

Jul 18, 2016 4:38 PM in response to Rebecca_k_xo

Pages is not an MS Word clone, and does not support form creation. As noted, that capability is in MS Word, and the free LibreOffice (Writer) Suite. The latter devotes an entire chapter to form design in its documentation (e.g. Chapter 15, pp 423 - 444).

Here is an example of an inline text form in a LibreOffice Writer document, and the floating form design controls. It exports as an active form field in a PDF, and saved as a Word docx. Pages will not see the form field in this docx.

Pages does offer the ability to replace text, or text passages as Placeholder text via the Format menu : Advanced sub-menu. Since placeholder text is replaced just once, it is best employed in a Pages template. You click on the placeholder text and type to replace it. You can learn more about Placeholder text by entering Add text in the Pages Help Search window.

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