Edit forms

Edit the size, shape, and placement of form fields

Open the desired PDF form.
Go to Window > Panels > Forms to open the Forms panel.
Select the desired form field on the Forms panel. The form editing mode is engaged.
To alter an existing field, select it to make it active. Control points appear for the field that can be used to move or resize it.
- Drag any of the control points to resize the field.
- Select inside the field and drag it to a new location to move it. If there are multiple form fields on the PDF, leader lines appear to make it easier to line up fields in relation to each other. This can also be done using the Alignment Toolbar.
To rename a form field, select it on the Forms panel and press F2.
To add a form field to the PDF, select it from the Forms panel toolbar or go to Tools > Form and select it, then place the field on the PDF. See Form Fields for more information about the available fields.

Use the Alignment toolbar

The Alignment toolbar can be used to manipulate the size, distribution, and alignment of form fields. The options on the toolbar become active as they become applicable to the selected form fields; when no form fields are selected, they are all inactive (grayed out). If an alignment tool is not active, it cannot be used on the selected form fields. As most of the alignment tools resize, distribute, or align selected form fields in relation to one another, at least two form fields must be selected before they will become active.

The Alignment tools cannot be used on form fields and markups at the same time.

If the toolbar is currently hidden, go to Tools > Toolbars and select it to show it.

To use the Alignment toolbar:

Open the desired PDF form.
Go to Window > Panels > Forms to open the Forms panel.
Select the desired form field on the Forms panel. The form editing mode is engaged.
When in Edit Form mode, the Alignment tools are automatically configured to work on form fields and will not affect markups.
Select the form fields to be resized, distributed, or aligned. As most of the alignment tools resize, distribute, or align selected form fields in relation to one another, at least two form fields must be selected before they will become active. There are several ways to select multiple form fields:
- Hold down either CTRL (to multi-select) or SHIFT (to select a range) while clicking field names in the Forms panel.
- Hold down SHIFT while clicking the desired form fields in the workspace.
- Drag over an area in the workspace. Any form field that is entirely within the area described will be selected.
If necessary, use one of the following methods to deselect a form field from the selected group:
- Hold down the SHIFT key while clicking the form field in the workspace.
- Hold down the CTRL key while clicking the field name in the Forms panel.
Once the desired fields have been selected, the applicable alignment tools become active on the Alignment toolbar.
Select the desired alignment tool:
- Align Left: Aligns selected form fields to the left edge of the first field that was selected.
- Align Top: Aligns selected form fields to the top edge of the first field that was selected.
- Align Right: Aligns selected form fields to the right edge of the first field that was selected.
- Align Bottom: Aligns selected form fields to the bottom edge of the first field that was selected.
- Align Center: Aligns the vertical centers of the selected form fields to the vertical center of the first markup selected.
- Align Middle: Aligns the horizontal middles of the selected form fields to the horizontal middle of the first markup selected.
- Center in Document: Aligns the centers of the selected form fields to the center of the page.
- Align Width: Aligns selected form fields to be the same width as the first field that was selected.
- Align Height: Aligns selected form fields to be the same height as the first field that was selected.
- Align Size: Aligns selected form fields to be both the same height and width as the first field that was selected.
- Distribute Horizontally: Evenly distributes selected form fields horizontally between the leftmost and rightmost of the selected fields.
- Distribute Vertically: Evenly distributes selected form fields vertically between the leftmost and rightmost of the selected fields.

Edit Form field appearances

The Properties panel shows settings available for the selected form field. All form fields have a large number of properties that can be configured to generate a PDF form with the desired appearance and behavior. Understanding how to access these properties, what they mean, and how to use them will make the difference in the quality of your PDF form.

To view the properties for a form field, right-click it and select Properties. Alternatively, open the Properties panel then select the desired form field in the Forms panel.

Properties are categorized into similar groups. Click the title bar over any of these groups to expand or contract it.

Properties Groups

General contains generic properties common to all form field elements.
Appearance determines the visual settings for a field. All fields except Digital Signatures have an Appearance panel.
Layout describes the position and size of a field.
Options contains miscellaneous settings that vary by field type. All fields except Digital Signatures have an Options panel.
Format enables default and custom format rendering and validation. Text Boxes and Dropdowns have a Format panel.
Actions links user-generated events to actions.
Selection Change enables the invocation of JavaScript whenever a selection changes in a List Box.
Calculate enables a field to be calculated based on the contents of other fields in the document. Text Boxes and Dropdowns have a Calculate panel.
Validation enables checking for acceptable values in Text Boxes and Dropdowns.

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