Getting Around a Limitation on the use of Acrobat Forms

[Dan Emory <danemory@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

THE PROCESS
1. I create a tabular worksheet form in FrameMaker, convert it to PDF, add
form fields to it with Acrobat Exchange, and save the blank form as a
reusable resource.

2. I write a proposal in FrameMaker that includes an Exhibits section with a
blank page for each exhibit, and convert it to PDF.

3. One of the exhibits is a filled-out version of the worksheet form
described in step 1. To produce it, I fill in the form field values in
Acrobat Exchange, and save it out as a PDF file under a different name.

4. Next, I open the PDF file for the proposal produced in step 2, and use
Document > Replace Pages to replace one of the blank pages in the Exhibits
section with the filled-out PDF worksheet form produced in step 3.

THE PROBLEM
When, in step 4, the filled-out form page is inserted into the main proposal
PDF document, all of the form fields created and filled out in steps 1 and 3
are obliterated, leaving a blank form.

THE SOLUTION
Before inserting the filled-out form page into the main proposal PDF file, I
print it out of Acrobat Exchange to a file, using the Distiller PPD. Then, I
distill the resulting postscript to produce a new PDF file, and insert that
file into the PDF file for the proposal. This preserves the filled-out
information in the form, but does not preserve the form fields themselves,
thus the filled-out worksheet cannot be modified, which is a better solution
anyway.   
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     | Nullius in Verba |
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Dan Emory, Dan Emory & Associates
FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing
Voice/Fax: 949-722-8971 E-Mail: danemory@primenet.com
10044 Adams Ave. #208, Huntington Beach, CA 92646
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