Since we introduced our online forms service, FormsCentral, we’ve seen all sorts of organizations – from businesses and educational institutions to nonprofits – take advantage of the simplicity and speed our service provides to design, distribute, collect, and analyze data from HTML forms and surveys. Customers have been using FormsCentral for everything from grant applications and satisfaction surveys to class and event registration, as well as research. With the help of FormsCentral, they are moving their organizations forward, maintaining brand integrity, and creating worthwhile experiences for their constituencies. What’s more, they did all this without having to call the IT department.

While FormsCentral has made the task of creating surveys and collecting and analyzing data simpler than ever, there were a few loose ends.  We took a look at the wish lists and the pain points of both forms creators and forms fillers and have added several new features, including the following that we are announcing today:

• Create Summary Reports – Automatically generate a summary report for each form or survey you create. For each chart in the report, decide whether to display the caption, absolute count, or percentage of the total. Export the summary report to PDF or as a zip file of all the images to place directly in a presentation.
• Add Rating Scales – Get quick insights into customer opinions regarding your product or services – are they satisfied or unsatisfied with our level of support, ease of use?
• Apply Page Skip Logic – Tailor the form path with your respondent’s answers. With the easy-to-use interface you can define which page of your form respondents go to next based on their answer(s) to a previous question or even a combination of questions. (Paid-only feature)
• Redirect after submit – After respondents submit the form, redirect them to your website from the confirmation page or send them back to an empty form so they can fill it out again. (Paid-only feature)
• Embed your form – Cut-and-paste provided HTML code into your website or wiki and the form you created appears directly within your site. As always, responses are collected and stored within FormsCentral where you can analyze and share results easily.
• Integrate with Twitter – Sign into Twitter and post a message with a link to your form or survey from within FormsCentral.

We created FormsCentral to save you time and allow you to respond faster to customer and business needs. We think we’ve made FormsCentral even easier to use and more customizable with these new capabilities. For small and medium sized businesses that need an easy platform to create professional, branded forms, FormsCentral is the answer.

And it’s affordable! A free account gives you one form and up to 50 responses, and you can begin collecting and reviewing responses immediately. For $14.99 per month, you can create up to five forms and collect 500 responses per form. For $199 a year, you can create any unlimited number of forms or surveys and get up to 5,000 responses each.

If you haven’t yet tried FormsCentral, now is a great time to get all the details and go for a free test drive. When you see how it can add a new dimension to your business, we’ll think you’ll be sold.

Randy Swineford, group product manager, Acrobat Solutions

ProPoint Graphics develops unique, multifaceted promotional campaigns spanning a variety of media. Using Adobe Acrobat and dynamic PDF files, ProPoint Graphics accelerates delivery of creative assets across operating environments, reducing development time and costs.

Alexander says, “Using Adobe Acrobat eliminates accessibility concerns because PDF is a universal format that anyone can view with only the Adobe Reader software. It’s an ideal vehicle to deliver any type of rich, high-quality business communications.”

ProPoint Graphics recently helped Showtime increase downloads of press kits for the television network’s The Tudors show by incorporating interactive elements created using a variety of software.

The interactive press kit helped generate viewer and media buzz surrounding the final season of the show. With Adobe Acrobat, ProPoint Graphics creates interactive experiences that are extensions of client brands and messaging. To learn more about how ProPoint Graphics is using Adobe Acrobat, click here.

Ali Hanyaloglu, senior marketing manager, Acrobat Solutions

In 13 lessons, ‘Classroom in a Book’ covers the basics such as creating PDF files to some more advanced tips and techniques such as adding signatures and security.  Take a look at a list of topics covered:

• Exploring the work area
• Creating Adobe PDF files
• Reading and Working with PDF Files
• Using Acrobat with Microsoft Office Files (Windows)
• Enhancing and Editing PDF Documents
• Combining Files in PDF/Portfolios
• Adding signatures and security
• Using Acrobat in a Review Cycle
• Working with forms in Acrobat
• Using Actions
• Using the legal features
• Using acrobat in professional printing

If you weren’t lucky this time and are still intrigued, ‘Classroom in a Book’ is sold on Peachpit’s online store for $49.99. Take a look around because you might find something else that piques your interest. And don’t forget to follow Peachpit and Acrobat on Twitter for the latest news, tips and tutorials, interviews, and of course, contests!

With today’s release of the Safari 5.1 browser, we wanted to alert you of some compatibility issues and workarounds that relate to Adobe Reader and Acrobat. Adobe Reader and Acrobat are not compatible with the Safari 5.1 browser, announced today. Adobe Reader and Acrobat will continue to work as standalone applications on Mac OS X 10.7 and 10.6, and will render PDF documents outside of the browser, but applications that require the Adobe Reader or Acrobat plug-in to render PDF documents in the Safari browser will be affected. For Adobe Reader, Acrobat, and LiveCycle customers who utilize functionality like forms, digital signatures, portfolios, guides, 3D, extended PDFs and rights management, and who require the Adobe Reader or Acrobat plug-in to render PDF documents in the Safari browser, we recommend that you continue to use Safari 5.0.x and Mac OS X 10.6.

As we continue to investigate this, we will be sure to keep you updated. Currently, we expect to provide a better workaround for this issue before the end of 2011.

For more information, please see Knowledge Base Article CPSID_90885

Steve Gottwals, group product manager, Adobe Reader

Adobe announced today that we have acquired EchoSign, the leading Web-based provider of electronic signatures and signature automation. EchoSign’s pioneering electronic signature solution will be a key component of Adobe’s document exchange services platform for reliably exchanging documents for universal access, review and approval. It will be integrated with Adobe’s other document services including SendNow for managed file transfer, FormsCentral for form creation and CreatePDF for online PDF creation, enabling customers to significantly accelerate sales cycles, improve tracking and centralize the management of signed agreements through a simple to use cloud service.

With just one click, the EchoSign electronic signature solution automates the entire signature process from the request for signature to the distribution and execution of the form or agreement. The EchoSign solution provides a secure subscription-based service to individuals, SMBs and enterprise customers, enabling real-time visibility into the signature process and automatically storing and managing all signed documents. What’s more, there’s nothing to download or install.

The EchoSign service includes a rich set of APIs for incorporation with company-specific solutions to improve the process of sending, tracking and signing documents online. The EchoSign service integrates with partner solutions, such as Salesforce.com and NetSuite.

We think that bringing together EchoSign’s ease of use with Adobe’s brand, reach, and trust in the document space makes for a perfect match. Our aim is to make electronic signatures the common way for people to sign documents.

Kevin M. Lynch, vice president and general manager of Acrobat Solutions, Digital Enterprise Solutions, Adobe

Adobe Acrobat X  is one of the best tools for organizing and documentation around.  But are you using it to the fullest capacity?  The publishers at Peachpit have created ‘Adobe Acrobat X Classroom in a Book’ to help users optimize their Acrobat experience, and you could win a copy of your own!  Just jump on your Twitter account and tune in for a series of helpful tips & Acro-facts – ReTweet our #DidYouKnow posts and you can be our lucky winner!

Beginning today, Friday, July 15^th, and running until the 22nd, any Acrobat follower who ReTweets our ‘#DidYouKnow’ posts will be entered into a random drawing to win a copy of ‘Adobe Acrobat X Classroom in a Book.’  Peachpit provides this informative and entertaining source of Acrobat info online and as a hard copy, and now’s your chance to win it just by ReTweeting.

Adobe Acrobat X Classroom in a Book is a valuable resource, so don’t miss your chance to get a free copy.  Head on over to the Acrobat Twitter account now.
Be sure to pay attention to the Acrobat account for your chances to RT, and follow us for more information and of course winner announcements.

The contest opens 9 a.m., Friday, July 15th, 2011, and closes 2 p.m., Friday, July 22^nd, 2011. The prize drawing will occur on or before 5 p.m., July 22^nd, 2011, with the winner announcement occurring that day as well. The drawings are open to residents in North America only.

We recognize that learning how our other customers use Acrobat can be a big factor in your purchasing decision and are happy to provide that information. Here are a few examples of what people are saying:

“Repurposing content across all platforms has never been easier. I love how easy it is to get content into PDF and back out again. Great to see the improvements in this release!”

“Acrobat’s ability to save to Word and Excel has saved my bacon time and time again.”

“This product is a wise investment for anyone putting together reports and proposals.”

If you’re already an Acrobat customer, don’t hesitate to contribute your own review. We are always looking for more user stories and opinions.

We’re committed to helping you make the most informed decision possible, but don’t take it from us: check out what others are saying in our Ratings and Reviews section now!