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Edit Form Fields
Aside from creating form fields, you will also want to edit existing form fields. This is done pretty easily using the built-in tools in Acrobat. I will take you through editing field properties using the Fields area of the Forms task pane, duplicating fields, aligning, and more.
With the PDF in form editing mode, take a look at the Fields area of the Forms task pane on the right. All of the form fields in this PDF are listed here, sorted by which page they are on.
- In the Fields area of the Forms task pane, click the name of the field you just created on the page (we called it “firstname”). Notice that the field is selected on the page as well. Click the field name again, and you will be able to change the name of the field.
- With the field selected on the page, position the pointer over the field, and begin dragging it down. As you drag, press Ctrl+Shift (Windows) or Option+Shift (Mac OS) and drag the field down to create a copy (see Figure 12). Release the mouse, and then the keys. Ctrl or Option copies the field, and Shift constrains the movement to vertical (in this case). To change the name of the new field, click the field name in the Fields area of the Forms task pane twice (slowly) and change the name.
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Figure 12 Create a copy of a field
The next step is to align, size, and distribute form fields:
- Create a new field somewhere on the page (any type of field).
- Create another of the same type of field, elsewhere on the page.
- With one of the fields selected, Shift–click the other field to select both.
Notice that the last selected field is dark blue. That is important because it indicates the “key” field. That means, if you align the selected fields, or change sizes, they will align to the dark blue field or be the same size as the dark blue field. In the next step, you will resize the fields to match one of them.
- With the fields selected, right–click (Windows) or Ctrl–click (Mac OS) on the field that you want both fields to be sized as (width and/or height). It will turn blue, indicating it is the “key” field. In the context menu, choose Set Fields to Same Size > Both (see Figure 13). This makes the width and height of both fields the same.
- With both fields still selected, right–click (Windows) or Ctrl–click (Mac OS) on the field that you want to align the other field to. Choose Align, Distribute or Center > and notice the options for aligning and distributing. Aligning fields aligns fields to the “key” field. Centering fields centers them relative to the page. The Distribute options will only appear when more than two fields are selected and allow you to ensure the distance between the fields is the same.
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Figure 13 Match field sizes