Converting Word forms to PDF (fill in) forms?

Solution 1:

If you have Acrobat Pro installed, you probably have the bundled Adobe LiveCycle 8 installed, as well. (Found in Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Designer 8.0\FormDesigner.exe)

There is an option when creating a new form: Import a Word Document

I haven't tried it because it's apparently incompatible with Word 2007 but I think it was designed for 97-2003.

Give that a try and let us know if it works!

Solution 2:

I fought with Word and not being able to get the fields like I want them and then getting the DOCX file to PDF. Downloaded a copy of Open Office (now using Libre Office). The form editing feature in writer blows Word away and when I'm done with my form I hit the "Save to PDF" button in the toolbar of Libre Office and I have a fillable form. Yes, I kept MS Office on my PC (it's at work, I'm not paying for it, nor would I), but use Libre Office when I want to create fillable PDF forms. Also, if my form is in Word, even DOCX, the newest version of Libre Office will open that document and keep enough formatting that I don't have to re-type the whole form.

Solution 3:

Create a PDF from the Word doc and then run 'Form Field Recognition' from the Acrobat 'Forms' menu. This usually does a fairly good job of auto-creating the form fields. You may well need to tidy up using the tools on the 'Forms' toolbar afterwards though.