ADOBE ACROBAT X PRO DISTRIBUTING A FORM Distributing a fillable PDF Form allows you to collect data quickly and easily. In this tutorial you will learn to: • • • •
Use the Distribute Form Wizard Send the form as an email attachment and collect responses in your mailbox Use the data filter Export or archive data
Step One: Open the Tools Pane & the Distribute Wizard
After opening your document, select (1) Tools from the toolbar menu and select (2) Distribute from the Forms pane. Note: Click Save if you are promoted to save the form before distributing it.
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Step 2: Select a Distribution Method Choose (1) Manually collect responses in my email box and select (2) Next. Here is the workflow for this method: Distribute - An email attachment allows you to send your form as an attachment using Acrobat or your mail client. Respond - Recipients can use Adobe Acrobat OR Adobe Reader to fill in the form and responses are returned to your mailbox. Collect - Acrobat copies each response into a master response file as they are returned.
Step 3: Complete the Distribution Wizard Using the Wizard choose the Distribution Option (1) Save a local copy and manually send it later. (2) Choose a location to save the file and select (3) Next. Note: Although you can opt to send the file automatically using Adobe Acrobat, you must have a working ADOBE ACROBAT X PRO - DISTRIBUTING A FORM - 2
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desktop email client. To send the form via a web-based account like Gmail, you must use the manual option.
(4) Enter your Email Address and (5) Name in the fields. (6) Select Next.
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Make sure the checkbox is checked to (7) Collect name & email from recipients to provide optimal tracking (unless you do not need this information) and (8) select Finish.
Step 4: Send the Distributed Form as an Email Attachment Locate the Distributed Version of the form on your computer, filename_distributed.pdf and send it as an attachment to an email. Provide instructions for how you want users to complete the form. For example: Click the attachment to open the form in Acrobat or Acrobat Reader. When you are finished, Save your form and return it to
[email protected]. Get the free versions of Adobe Reader from: https://www.adobe.com/go/reader. Note: Internet-based email users must Save and return the form via email.
Step 5: Collect and Track the Form Data Acrobat creates a PDF Portfolio for collecting the form data. By default this file is saved with the Distribution file, but is named filename_responses.pdf. To track your responses, from the Adobe Acrobat X Pro menu (1) select View > Tracker....
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Step 6: Adding Responses to the Tracker When you distribute the form as an email attachment, you must manually add responses to the file. (1) Select the form in the menu and choose (2) View Responses. At the Welcome Page select Get Started.
From the tracker portfolio window (3) select Add and in the dialog box (4) select Add File to add a response and (5) select OK. The file will be added to the responses for this form (see image below).
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Step 7: Viewing Responses To view responses select your form from the Distributed menu and click (1) View Responses. The Responses PDF file lists each recipient's answer to each form field.
You can use the filter feature on the left to see only the information of respondents based on criteria you set for the filter. This will give you a subset of data.
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You can filter data about the recipient, receipt date and any field from within the form.
Step 8: Exporting and Archiving Form Data You can export your form data to a spreadsheet program like Excel. Click (1) Export on the left and choose to export all data or use the filter and then select export to only export a subset of data. You can also (2) Archive all or selective data from your form.
Additional Resources http://acrobatusers.com/acrobat-training
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