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Create Form Fields

Peter Spraul
  • Updated

With axesWord (version 26.0 and later), you can insert various form fields into your document. The following fields are available:

  • Text field
  • Radio button
  • Check box
  • Dropdown list
  • Digital signature
  • List box

The PDF export from axesWord will produce interactive and fully accessible PDF forms.

How to create form fields

  1. Place the cursor in the Word document view at the position where you want to insert the form field.
  2. Click on the Create form field button in the axesWord tab and select a form field type from the drop-down list box, e.g. click the Text field option.
    Dropdown menu of 'Create form field' button
  3. The corresponding form field will be inserted in Word on the current cursor position in form of a Word shape (e.g. for a textfield this is a rectangular shape). 
    Word shape of a textfield
    Important: the layout option In Line with Text must be kept due to technical reasons.
  4. Make sure to set the Tooltip in the axesWord - role mapping task pane. Just click in the axesWord tab on the Show role mapping button to open the axesWord - role mapping task pane on the right hand side.
    Useful tooltips are important for accessible PDF forms, as they help users to fill in the form correctly.
    You can define further properties of the form field in the axesWord - role mapping task pane. 

Important notes

  • The Word shape is merely a placeholder for the form field within the Word document. When a PDF is created with axesWord, an interactive form field is created in this location.
  • Due to technical reasons, the Word shapes cannot be freely positioned within the Word document; they are therefore always tied to a paragraph (and must have the In Line with Text layout option). If you change the layout option of the Word shape anyway, a warning icon will appear in the shape and the color will change to red and a warning message will be shown. 
    Word shape of a textfield with a red warning sign and the warning text 'Only form fields positioned as 'In Line with Text' are supported.'
     
  • To ensure that vertical adjustment within the paragraph is possible, please use the Vertical offset option in the axesWord - role mapping task pane, under the Position group. This value can be set to either positive or negative values.

Tips

  • You can set the default values for the width and height of form fields, as well as the vertical offset, in the Form settings dialog box.
  • When a form field is selected, you can copy it using the Copy to clipboard button (at the bottom of the axesWord - role mapping task pane) and then paste a copy into the document using the Ctrl+V shortcut.
  • When a form field is selected, you can remove it using the Delete button (at the bottom of the axesWord - role mapping task pane).