Information for Form Authors

In Brief:

1. Determine the title of the e-Form you wish to create
2. Request a Form ID from the e-Form administrator
3. Review our e-form document standards
4. Develop and test your form
5. Submit your form to the e-Form administrator to be enabled and/or published
6. Receive the e-Form URL where the form was stored from the e-Form administrator
7. Update the links on your web pages to point to the URL where your new e-Form is located. You may also mark the form link with an e-Form symbol to suggest that it has been enabled for fill-in.

In Detail:

1. E-Forms may be developed by campus academic and administrative departments and units. E-Form authors will need Adobe document design tools to build PDF forms.  Authors should also become familiar with e-form document standards before beginning the development of an electronic form. Contact the e-Forms administrator if you have questions about the e-Forms process or form development.
2. Before beginning to develop an e-Form that will be placed in the central e-Forms library, one must first obtain a Form ID from the e-Forms administrator. Form IDs are used to identify, catalog, and link together all support documentation associated with a specific electronic form. The FormID will remain the same for the lifetime of the document. The Form ID provided should be included in the footer area of forms and all related supporting documentation. Go here to request an e-Form ID.
3. When a new or revised e-Form has been developed and tested by a document author, it may be submitted to the form administrator to be 'reader enabled', stored in a central e-Forms repository, and published in a central e-Forms index. Forms that are simply to be published but not reader-enabled will also be accepted. Similarly, for forms that are only used within a department, authors may elect to have the form enabled only and returned without being published in the central forms index. These options are available on the e-Form Publication web page. In order to publish an e-Form, the form author will need to provide general form reference information, the PDF form itself, and form use documentation (separate from the form itself) if available.
   • When submitting an update to a previously published form, you will be asked to identify the Form ID assigned to the form. When the form is published, the previous version will be replaced.
   • If a form contains fields for authorizations or signatures, and the use of digital signatures is desired, authors should specify that their documents be enabled for digital signatures. The form administrator will then enable signature capability within these documents.
4. When the e-Forms administrator has received and completed the processing of a form, e-Form authors will receive an email identifying the URL where their e-Form and any supportive documentation have been stored. E-Form Authors should then update the links on their websites to point to the URL where the new e-Form is located.
5. It will take some time to build a useful central e-Form index and search facility. Once the central e-Form index becomes more fully populated, we will be asking departments to remove the form lists and links from their websites, and to point users to the central e-Form index to obtain the electronic forms they may need

When opening the Adobe Designer application, three basic options are available. These options are briefly described below, as well as how they function when the reader is enabled:

1. Open a New Blank Form
   • Setup: New Blank Form
   • Set page size - various choices such as letter, postcard, 8 1/2 x 11, etc.
   • Orientation - Portrait or Landscape
   • Number of pages - a dropdown box is provided to select the number of pages needed
   • Return Method:
     • Fill then Submit
     • Fill in then Submit/Print
     • Fill then Print
     • Print
   • The form may be printed by default.
   • In order for the form to be saved along with the data that has been entered, the form must be enabled with Reader Extensions.
   • If you select Submit or Submit/Print, you will have the option to enter a Submit e-mail address.
2. Open a form based on a Template (there are several available)
   • Select the template you want to use, if any
   • The following Return Method options are presented:
     • Fill then Submit
     • Fill in then Submit/Print
     • Fill then Print
     • Print
   • The form may be printed by default.
   • In order for the form to be saved along with the data that has been entered, the form must be enabled with Reader Extensions.
   • If you select Submit or Submit/Print, you will have the option to enter a Submit e-mail address.
3. Import a Document - Both PDF and WORD documents import the same way
   • Setup: Import Options - there are examples available with the following options
     • Maintain Editability - choose this option if you may need to edit the text
     • Preserve Appearance - the appearance of the document is kept, but it is difficult to edit the text
     • Convert Images to Bitmaps & embed in the new document - keeps images with the document - no link needed
   • Return Method:
     • Fill then Submit
     • Fill in then Submit/Print
     • Fill then Print
     • Print
   • The form may be printed by default.
   • In order for the form to be saved along with the data that has been entered, the form must be enabled with Reader Extensions.
   • If you select Submit or Submit/Print, you will have the option to enter a Submit e-mail address.

Other Usage Notes:

• Unless there is a specific reason not to allow a form to be saved once it has been filled out, all forms should be reader-enabled using Reader Extensions.

Reader Extensions allow usage rights that are embedded within an Adobe PDF document to be modified. These usage rights enable normally hidden functionality within a PDF form. Adobe Acrobat Reader software may then be used to view and fill in Adobe PDF forms. Adobe PDF forms that have been processed using Reader Extensions are referred to as ' reader-enabled' forms, or e-Forms.

Key Features:

• Enables the ability to save a copy of a PDF form including any data or comments that may have been added.
• Enables the ability to interact with PDF forms offline, while retaining data and comments to be submitted when one reconnects to the network.
• Provides users with intuitive tools that make it easy to highlight or underline text, create sticky notes, add stamps, and add various types of documents as attachments to a form.
• Enables the ability to sign, certify, and authenticate documents with support for digital signatures.
• Enables the ability to electronically submit PDF forms online or via an e-mail attachment.

• Import and export form data - Allows users to submit form data as XDP files, submit the PDF document by email or offline, and add pages to the file.
• Submit outside web browser – Allows users to submit form data.
• Database and web service connectivity – Allows users to access a database or call a web service that is defined within the form.
• Add and delete form fields – Allows users to add or delete fields on the form (not recommended).
• Create pages from templates – Allows users to duplicate a PDF document and generate duplicate forms.
• Digital Signatures – Allows users to digitally sign and save the PDF document. If this option is not selected, users can still validate, view, and print the document that has a digital signature.
• Commenting: add, delete, modify, copy, import, and export – Allows users to create, edit, import, and export comments. Comments are stored with and transmitted with the entire file.
• Online comments in a web Browser – Allows users to upload or download comments.
• Addition of and changes to embedded files – Allows users to add, remove, modify, or export embedded files (file attachments) associated with the PDF file.
• Draft - Digital watermark will be added, and the process count will remain unchanged. Note: for publication, all forms should be marked as Final
• Final - No watermark will be added, and the process count will be incremented
• Revised Final - No watermark will be added, and the process count will remain unchanged. Note: for publication, all forms should be marked as Final.