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What You Need to Know to Create Custom Solutions in Acrobat and PDF

Acrobat is the premier tool for creating and using sophisticated electronic document solutions. Usually this means forms, although it does't have too. We have all used forms and are intimately familiar with many form concepts. They are one of the most common uses for PDF and Acrobat. This site, and in particular, the videos listed below are mainly focused on form solutions using Acrobat and PDF. JavaScript is a very big part of any Acrobat and PDF form solution. Or for that matter, any kind of PDF solution, even if it doesn't involve forms. So while some of the videos below will explain concepts and techniques in Acrobat, most will explain the many different ways and purposes for which JavaScript is used in both Acrobat and PDF, in the context of forms.

Acrobat XI Forms Training
Introduction to Acrobat JavaScript
PDF Form Scripting
The Core JavaScript Language
Creating Your First Form in Acrobat
Introduction to LiveCycle (XFA) Forms
Practical Database Connected (XFA) Forms

NOTE: Free videos have active links; video titles without active links are only available in the Members Area of this site.

Acrobat XI Forms Training

This is a video series focusing on creating forms and form solutions using Acrobat XI. The first videos do not include any scripting. They present entry level material on creating forms. However, it is not possible to create sophisticated forms and form solutions without scripting. So the later videos will be heavily fortified with JavaScript oriented tutorials. Most of the concepts and technical details presented apply to all versions of Acrobat. Just the names of the buttons and menus items have changed between versions.

The first set of tutorials cover general concepts in Acrobat, PDF, and electronic forms.

The Back Story (or What eForms are all About) (6:50, 11.7 MB)
PDF vs HTML (8:00, 16.3 MB)
AcroForms vs LiveCycle Forms (12:37, 18.3 MB)
Reader vs Acrobat (15:42, 28.8 MB)
PDF Ecosystem (12:45, 20.3 MB)
What's PDF? (13:29, 31 MB)

Getting Started Creating Forms in Acrobat XI

To Begin

Form Creation Overview (Available for Members)
Designing the Form (Available for Members)
Converting to PDF (Available for Members)

Adding Form Fields

Introduction to the Form Tools (Available for Members)
The Helper Tools - Rulers, Grids, and Guides (Available for Members)
Manually Adding Form Fields to a PDF (Available for Members)
Duplicating and Copying Form Fields (Available for Members)
Selecting Form Fields (Available for Members)
The How and Why of Form Field Names (Available for Members)
Setting Form Field Names - (Available for Members)
Aligning and Sizing Form Fields - (Available for Members)
Setting Form Field Properties - (Available for Members)
Setting and Using Field Property Defaults - (Available for Members)
Automatic Field Detection - <...Coming Soon...>
Quick Form Field Fixups - <...Coming Soon...>
Changing the Design After Fields were Added - <...Coming Soon...>
Setting the Tab Order - <...Coming Soon...>

Form Distribution/Collection

The Submit Button - <...Coming Soon...>
Manually Distributing a Form - <...Coming Soon...>
Data Collection Techniques - <...Coming Soon...>
Manually Exporting/Collecting Data from the Form - <...Coming Soon...>
The Acrobat Form Distribution/Collection Wizard - <...Coming Soon...>

Find more information and videos on the Acrobat XI Forms Training main page

Introduction to Scripting in Acrobat

To perform just about any kind of interactive, sophisticated, and/or useful feature in a PDF form or workflow solution requires scripting. How many times have your heard "You need a script for that". But how do you even get started using JavaScript in Acrobat? There are always a few little things you have to understand before starting any activity and Acrobat JavaScript is no different. What menu items and toolbar buttons are for JavaScript? What do they do? How does it all work? What are the core concepts?

Acrobat JavaScript is really two different things- the Core JavaScript Language and a set of objects that connect Core JavaScript to Acrobat. This is an important point and every JavaScript programmer should understand the difference. However, to use Acrobat JavaScript it is not necessary to be a Core JavaScript expert; a reasonable familiarity with JavaScript and some basic programming concepts are all that's required. The really important stuff to know and understand is the Acrobat Scripting environment, the object structure, and how to use the Acrobat scripting objects (called the DOM for Document Object Model).

This set of videos will ease you into the world of Acrobat JavaScript so you can say, "I get it!!"

Basic Concepts
- What's JavaScript (4:41, 5.8 MB)
- JavaScript in Acrobat and PDF (6:20, 5.5 MB)
- Setting Up for Developing Scripts in Acrobat (7:22, 6.2 MB)
- The Acrobat JavaScript Console (Your New Best Friend) (7:52, 7.67 MB)
- Understanding the Document Object Model (11:02, 8.2 MB)
- Using the Acrobat JavaScript API Reference (18:48, 15.3 MB)
Where do the Scripts Go?
- Finding Scripts in Acrobat (14:45, 13.3 MB)
- Finding Scripts in PDFs (15:45, 17.2 MB)
- Finding Scripts in Form Fields (17:25, 13.3 MB)
  - Example: Looking at a Real Form (18:49, 14.4 MB)
  - Sample File: Finding Scripts on a Form

Form Scripting:

Form Scripting is probably the most common and familiar use of Acrobat JavaScript. Within a form, JavaScript is used to provide basic form functionality like calculations, and to implement interactive features like showing and hiding parts of the form. But JavaScript is not just for forms; it can be used in many different types of PDF documents for navigation, controlling multimedia, and many other kinds of specialized interactive features.

Form Scripting Basics
- Introduction to Form Scripting (9:22, 6.6 MB)
- Adding Fields to a Form and Setting Field Properties (8:09, 8.0 MB)
- Form Scripting Basics (16:16, 15.4 MB)
  - Setting and Getting Field Properties with JavaScript
JavaScript Events, or How to Enter Scripts
- Introduction to Document Events (12:49, 8.5 MB)
- The Event Object (4:03, 3.7 MB)
- Order of Event Execution (19:15, 17.4 MB)
  - Event Order Test Example
- Entering Field Widget (mouse and focus) Events (14:49, 15.0 MB)
  - Widget Script Examples
- Entering Calculation Scripts (9:21, 7.6 MB)
  - Example: Calculations in an Order Form (13:52, 15.5 MB)
  - Order Form Example File
- Entering Validation Scripts (7:19, 4.9 MB)
  - Example: Basic and Alternate Uses of Validation Scripts (12:12, 14.5 MB)
  - Example File: Validation Event Scripts
- Entering Format Scripts (13:39, 9.7 MB)
  - Format Script Examples
- Entering KeyStroke Scripts
  - Part 1: The Proper KeyStroke Script (16:52, 16.0 MB)
    - Example: Basic and Alternate Uses of Proper keystroke Scripts (14:13, 15.3 MB)
    - Proper Keystroke Example PDF
  - Part 2: The WillCommit KeyStroke Script (15:00, 15 MB)
    - Examples Part1: WillCommit/Complete Keystroke Scripts (14:54, 14.9 MB)
    - Examples Part1: WillCommit/Complete Keystroke Scripts (13:57, 12 MB)
    - WillCommit/Complete Keystroke Script Examples File
- Entering and Using Document Level Scripts (11:55, 12.5 MB)
  - Document Level Script Examples (7:45, 10 MB)
  - Doc Level Example - Order Form
- Entering and Using Document Action Scripts (7:47, 6.8 MB)
  - WillSave Document Action Examples (18:27, 23.9 MB)
  - WillSave Sample Files
  - WillPrint/DidPrint Document Action Examples (8:14, 12.3 MB)
  - WillPrint/DidPrint Sample File
  - WillClose Document Action Examples (10:05, 16.7 MB)
  - WillClose Sample File

Core JavaScript Language Basics

These videos provide lite coverage of the Core JavaScript Language. Just enough to get you going. Each topic is independent and while each relies to a certain extent on information presented in the others, they do not need to be viewed in order.

Basic Concepts

Language Basics (10:38, 7.38 MB)
Control Flow (19:24, 14.8 MB)
Strings (24:56, 22.4 MB)
Arrays (17:35, 15.1 MB)
Objects (19:30, 15.8 MB)
Functions (9:13, 15.8 MB)

Example: Using a Function in a PDF (14:19, 13.9 MB)
Sample Files: Code re-use examples

Creating Your First PDF Form in Acrobat

These 3 tutorials are a beginners introduction into using Acrobat to create fillable and interactive forms.

Acrobat implements 2 different forms technologies, XFA and AcroForms. These videos deal with the creation of AcroForms. XFA forms are created in the LiveCycle Designer tool and will be dealt with in another set of videos.

AcroForms are the original forms implementation in PDF. This technology is tightly integrated into Acrobat and allows for forms features to be integrated into any kind of PDF document using any kind of PDF feature (unlike XFA forms). So you could say that it is for implementing document oriented forms.

The first video is a general dicussion of the overall process. The second video demonstrates the complete process from start to mostly finished, using Acrobat 8 Professional. The third video shows how to perform the same forms creation process using Acrobat 9 Professional. It points out the differences and similarities between these two versions of Acrobat and demonstrates more of the forms creation process.

Making your first PDF form, Discussion (9:19, 5.27 MB)
Example 1, Full Process in Acrobat 8 (14:06, 17.5 MB)
Example 2, Process Variations in Acrobat 9 (9:09, 15.2 MB)

LiveCycle Form Scripting: An Introduction

Unlike a traditional AcroForm, a LiveCycle form does not have any built in actions. So all interactive, dynamic, and special features require scripting. These tutorials provide an easy introduction into scripting in the LiveCycle Designer environment.

LiveCyle (XFA) forms are very different from Acrobat's traditional forms technology. Not only are they structured differently, but the scripting model is also very different. In fact, in a LiveCycle form the form design directly impacts the ability to script the form properly. In order to write scripts for a LiveCycle form you have to pay close attention to how the form is structured and to the properties settings on each of the form elements.

These video tutorials provide all the basics you need to start writing effective form scripts. You'll learn how to set up and use LiveCycle Designer to design forms and enter scripts, how to control the structure of a form, how to use the form's structure to the best advantage for scripting, and how to script dynamic features such as repeatable fields.

LiveCycle (XFA) Scripting Basics
- Introduction to Scripting in LiveCycle (10:03, 6.7 MB)
- Getting Started with the LiveCycle Designer Application (13:12, 20.46 MB)
- Building Your First LiveCycle Form Part1: the importance of form structure (9:00, 11.3 MB)
- Building Your First LiveCycle Form Part2: using form structure in scripting (19:06, 20.9 MB)
Implementing Dynamic Form Features
- Part 1:Intro to Dynamic Features: Video 1, Auto-Expanding Fields (10:36, 11.95 MB)
- Part 1:Intro to Dynamic Features: Video 2, Flowing Fields (8:46, 12.78 MB)
- Part 2:Hiding and Showing Form Elements (13:44, 15.05 MB)
- Part 3:Repeatable Subforms, Video #1 - Introduction (5:22, 5.37 MB)
- Part 3:Repeatable Subforms, Video #2 - Setting Up (9:47, 12.7 MB)
- Part 3:Repeatable Subforms, Video #3 - Adding Features (10:52, 12.4 MB)
- Part 3:Repeatable Subforms, Video #4 - Using in Calculations (8:43, 8.66 MB)
Practical Database Connected Forms
- Part 8:Building a Dynamic Table From DB Records (5:35, 12.5 MB)
- Part 9A: Protecting the DB From Users, Discussion and overview of the sample form. (8:19, 13.7 MB)
- Part 9B: Protecting the DB From Users, Scripts and structure of the sample form. (11:59, 33.9 MB)
- Part 10: Using the DB connection for Variable Data Automation
  (14:54, 25.6 MB)

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