Which Program Should I Use?

Could you not make it in Excel with some locked cells?

thought about excel, but when saved as a pdf you can't fill in the answer boxes, which is what I want. It's all to do with image and professionalism. I don't want to send a excel document.... not good!

I want my clients to receive the form, fill in the answers, save and send back to me. I have seen a pdf like that, but can't find it when trolling google.. it might be there, but it's not explained or highlighted

Try pdf bluebeam.

many thanks will give it a try

Don't save as PDF, make an Excel were the answer cells are onlocked only and make it so the user can't unlock the other parts.

I have relied on Adobe's Acrobat (9.5 Pro) for some time now... after a bit of experimenting (that old "uphill learning curve") it suits *all* my needs ; tho' until seeing your query, I'd never tried such a form, so:

I started with a simple ms.Word.doc using a few lines typed-up, having square ("Symbol") boxes at the left-margins (as one might for multiple-choice responses), and I opened that doc IN Adobe Acrobat Pro. There are then TWO options for making the symbol squares into "Checkable" boxes. Either "Forms"/"Form Tools"/"Check Box"...

or , simply "Right_Click" with your mouse on one of the Symbols, and Select "Check Box" from the pop-up menu:

Then drag your "Crosshair-Cursor" from the top-left of your ('guide') Symbol-box down to the lower-right corner, and adobe places a "workable" checkbox there.

Once you have all the various checkboxes inserted --- IF you simply "Save" the form as a pdf at this point, YOU (or anybody with the "Full Edit-Capable Adobe Program") will be able to check the boxes AND SAVE the changes; however, people having just the free "Acrobat Reader" will NOT be able to save changes.

To enable the "Saving" (via a free Reader-only) you must click the "Forms" menu command, and select "Distribute", and determine whether you wish to collect responses via "the_cloud" or via your email Inbox...

(( apologies for CR4's image-insertion shortcomings...))

Lastly , adobe will prompt you as to HOW you want to "distribute":

. . . to which ( I am sure ) you wish to save it to your local-drive and distribute as you would anything else via your email.

I did try opening this 'experiment' in adobe's free reader, and it does, in fact, work.

Somebody is sure to ask me now: "Why didn't I just insert standard checkboxes into the original word document, and see if Adobe's pdf-writer would implement them accordingly (as 'usable' checkboxes) into the subsequently-created pdf file?" ...

GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! (^{Gnashes teeth to their roots and screams uncontrollably}!!! )

"Yeah" ... "been-there-tried-that" with micro's-bloat-crap...

"Legacy controls indeed...!"

Apparently you are taking a God-awful risk (using tools that might harm your's or somebody else's computer) , such that both YOU, and the person OPENING one of your forms, must shut-down any-and-all security measures in order for THEIR (ms's) tools to function.... (and, our network policies wouldn't permit me to go the full distance trying it out anyway.....)

Anyway , rest assured Adobe's pdf creation ("Full version") WILL do it, if none of the "freebies" can get it done for you.... ("PS": works inserting "Text-Box" tools also, if that is what you need for responses.)

Wishing you success ~

many thanks tom.... worth a try at least. And I've got a trial version of the new Adobe to try also... so let the burning of the mid-night oil begin!!

Far better to use an Access database, type the answers into a form, and then use the .pdf function on a report from the database to create the completed questionnaire.

Why anyone should use Excel, which is a recalculation facility, to handle any amount of text is abstruse.

Adobe Acrobat has a "Forms" function intended for just this purpose, but if this is a one-time deal, might be a bit expensive. I'm not sure what it retails for these days, but I know it's not cheap.

Tom D.

thanks Tom.. just looked at.. the NEW one is over £400 pounds.. however they do have a trial version.. so I'm gonna check that out! Wish me luck!!

Just send an HTML form, and then "print" the results to PDF. The users can use their browsers to fill it out, and Both you and them can have the PDF results.

many thanks.. will give it a go!!

Hi Brich

Try here http://www.foxitsoftware.com/ there is an option for form filling and it's free.

Tony

thank you.. it looks good!

I usually use Google Forms, which automatically sends all the information to a Google spreadsheet and then you can use all the spreadsheet functions to analyze the data the way you want. They have a nice form-builder function that lets you build question by question, and they also allow branching based on answers. I find it very easy to create the questionnaire, and then handle the data the way I need to, including verifying who did/didn't answer, creating reports, etc.

Many thanks warped... I think that with all the suggestions I have I'm going to be rather busy looking through them all to see which one suits best my requirements.

Many thanks to everyone who made a suggestion.. all have been helpful in pointing me in the right direction

I did exactly that but with a test. Used Acrobat 6. Emailed the test to each party,locked it with encryption to prevent printing. When they were sent back to me using a "submit form button" the tests were graded and a score was placed automatically at the top when I entered the password to print. Worked great for multiple choice test.

If the software is too expensive for a single use. Try asking someone to do it for you, or borrow the computer for a couple of hours or you could pay them a small fee.

Hi all

Whilst I'm not suggesting that Foxit is as good a product as Adobe, it does have form design facilities in it's paid versions, around $80 and $120. Maybe trial it for 30 days to get this job done. It has some good videos, too.

Tony