Tim Huff - Man, I didn't know Acrobat could do that!

Using an Acrobat 8 Form to collect data over the Web

2007-12-02T16:51:48Z

A question from Liz made me think, humm, what's for dinner, whoops, got off track there, actually the question was: "I understood the lesson you gave on creating forms and then distributing them. But what if my organization wants to create a form and post it to our Web site for people to download and complete, then mail back? Is there no way to do that? Must it be distributed via e-mail by me, the document/form creator?" This is a great question, and one that does not get enough discussion, so let's go for it!

]]> You know, we here in the Adobe Camp seem to get locked in on the Ad-Hoc based work flows. Or, workflow's that are not planned out or enterprise wide! Acrobat forms and the Adobe Designer are good examples of this. I have even fell into this trap here in the blog and on the Podcasts. I have totally forgotten about the web based workflow's, well thank you Liz for e-slapping me back to reality!

Ok here we go, let's lay it out, I want to create a form to collect some data, but instead of sending it out through e-mail, I want to post it on my web site and collect the data from there. Something we do every day! So for this one I am going to use a standard template in the Adobe Designer (sorry Mac Folks, I will post one later on how to do this on a Mac, I have to see if I can steal a Mac from one of the programmers!) put a link on a web site, fill in the form, then submit it, and collect the data in an Acrobat Package. For a reference see these two blog's that relate to forms data collect Here and Here.

Start up Adobe Livecycle Designer and select one of the standard templates, in this case I used the "Contact Information" template

Next you will see a series of dialogue boxes that will ask you to fill in company data, logo's, stuff like that you can bypass those or fill them in, I filled in the first two for fun

After a few screens you will get to one that asks you to add buttons to your form uncheck those as we will be adding a custom submit button latter.

Now you will see your form, go to Standard under the Library, and select HTML Submit Button place it on your form

Now that you have your button go to the object panel and add a URL that is where you what the data to come back to. Here I used my e-mail address, you can use a generic e-mail like data@something.com or have it post to your web site, the only problem with that is you have to manually combine your data (I'll cover in another post), so the string you put on the URL block is (for e-mail) mailto:thuff@adobe.com exactly like that, but with your e-mail please!

Some notes on HTML Submit

Submit to URL - Sets the location of a web-hosted server. You can specify the ftp, http, https, or mailto protocol.

To	Use this URL protocol	Example
Submit the package to an ftp site	ftp	ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/GPL
Submit the package to a web server	http	http://myserver/cgi-bin/
Submit the package to a secure web server	https	https://myserver/cgi-bin/
Submit the package to an email address	mailto	mailto:username@domain.com

Ok now save the form in Acrobat LiveCycle Designer to some where you can find it. And open it in Acrobat 8 Professional or Acrobat 3D version 8. Once you have it loaded in Acrobat, go to the Forms pull down and select Distribute From

Here is the only real difference from anything we have done before, instead of sending now, we Save and send later

We run through the Distribute Form wizard

Take care when setting the location for the forms collection, if you use a generic e-mail address, you may have multiple people opening these e-mail, these people must have read and write access to the data collection location!

This just gives your form a name and a place to save the workflow enable version. This form is also enabled for the Adobe Free Reader

You can add this to your forms library.

You can get to the forms library by going to Forms, and select Track Forms

This takes you to the forms/review tracker, a nice tool to help you keep up with your forms, reviews and it has an rss reader, here do this, click the blue RSS button, hit the green Subscribe Plus and click here or type http://feeds.feedburner.com/IDidntKnowAcrobatCouldDoThat that will let you keep up with this blog...Ok so that's a little self promotion, sue me :-)

I am not going to cover how to put a link on a web site as I am sure you have IT guru's for that, but I added a link to my form on a mock web site

I am presented with the form in my browser or in Acrobat (it is according on how you have your preferences set), and once I have filled in the form, I can hit either of the Submit buttons

Since we said Submit by e-mail, we will open this dialogue box and ask the user to submit with their desktop e-mail or save to their computer and use another e-mail solution by attaching the PDF form to it.

Here is what I see in my in box, I have 3 forms returned back to me

All I do is open the e-mail, double click the attachment, and it will ask you if you want to add it to a data collection, you say yes, and if the collection directory has not changed, it will be found automatically or it will allow you to search for it.

And that's it! Data collection over the web, now that wasn't too tough was it? My goodness it is late on a Saturday night, I still need to post some soccer pictures before I can go to sleep! And remember to keep some life in you life! Watch the podcasts!

Keep a smile on your face this holiday, enjoy the gift of giving, help someone you don't know!

Tim

3D AutoCAD to Acrobat 3D Ver 8 with out Autocad part deux

2007-12-02T16:46:43Z

I was recently asked this question, "Tim, You showed us that you didn't need AutoCAD on your computer to get 2D DWG files into Acrobat 8 Professional, but what about AutoCAD 3D models into Acrobat 3D version 8?" Well, you are in luck, just like Beckham at a Spice Girls Concert! We got you covered here, just sit back relax and let your ol’ buddy Tim kick this one out for you.

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Ok, in Acrobat 3D version 8 and in Acrobat 8 Professional you know by now we have direct import of DWG and DWF files. This extension will help you by not making you purchase extra seats of AutoCAD for prople that are not designers. It is so easy that we don't need any pictures for this one. Just open Acrobat 3D Version 8 (hey there is a free 30 day trial just click here) and Drag and Drop the 3D DWG Autocad file (2007 or older 2008 support coming soon) and you will get the data imported in! Simple! You get both Model Space and Paper Space into your PDF file. Now let me set the rules for you here. If your AutoCAD 3D is Wireframe, Acrobat 3D does not magically make it a solid, so the import will bring in what ever state the model is. We do not sew or knit surfaces into solids.

And that’s it, too easy! That’s it for this entry. To see a video of this process click here

Have fun and remember to keep some life in your life.

Tim Huff

Podcast now listed on iTunes

2007-12-02T16:44:24Z

Hello all, most of you that know me, know I am a bit impatiant. Waiting for iTunes to finally list my Podcast was killing me, but, I am happy to say it is there, and I will be trying to post at least 2 times a week with some great tips and tricks on Acrobat. With every one I will try to make you say...(all together now) "Man, I didn't know Acrobat could do that!". To get to the iTunes page Click Here.

Keep some Life in you Life!

Tim

Still can't get the PDF Makers to show up in Office 2007! Time to go deep!

2007-12-02T16:40:57Z

Ok, I have been getting a lot of you that still cannot get your PDF Makers in Office 2007 to come back after Office decided to lock them out. Here is a link to the original "Adobe Supported" approach to fixing the problem.

]]> So let's see, you've done everything you know of to get the PDF Maker Addin to work, well there is one thing that I have held back on, a registry edit that will bring them back. This approach is not for the faint of heart, but it is a very easy (as registry edits go) fix and if you do just what I say here (no clowning around in the reg please) then you can't hurt your machine.

Take a deep breath, relax, take a big swig of Redbull and let's do this thing!

Ok first off, this works with both Windows XP and Vista.

Go to the Start Menu and select Run (in Vista you must go to Start Menu, Accessories, Run)

On the Run Dialoge box you will see a Browse Button, select that and go to c:\windows\regedit.exe (you can also type it in)

You should see the Registry Editor come up and look like this

Now expand the key by selecting the small arrow to the left of the folder icon

Keep expanding till you get to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Addins\PDFMaker.Office.Addin (whew, that took a while)

Now click on PDFMaker.Office.Addin you should see something similar to what is shown here on the right side panel

Ok almost done, Double Click LoadBehavior and type in 3 make sure the dialoge looks like this:

That is it, now go back to Word and See if it is there, if not, follow the procedure outlined in the previous post.

Ok it's early on Tuesday morning, so I better get to the office, Keep some life in your life!

Tim

Podcasts now listed on iTunes

2007-11-21T02:52:21Z

Keep some Life in you Life!

Tim

I am now PODCasting! Here is the link and check it out in iTunes!

2007-11-21T02:49:34Z

Hello all you Acrobat heads, well, I have taken the big dive into PODCasts! Of course, the podcast is called Man, I didn't know Acrobat could do that! It should be listed on iTunes by Thursday November 15th , but if you are not an iTunes user, then you can go to my hosting site and watch it with any media player. You can also download it! Click here for my podcast site.

Well just thought you would enjoy that, so please as always, keep some life in your life, and show a little love!

Tim

Oh yes and if you have any suggestions on what you would like for me to cover in the podcast or this blog please enter it in the comment area!

Escalating attacks exploiting PDF files have prompted Microsoft to issue an all-hands-on-deck call to fix a vulnerability that lurks in the bowels of Windows XP

2007-11-06T14:45:23Z

Escalating attacks exploiting PDF files have prompted Microsoft to issue an all-hands-on-deck call to fix a vulnerability that lurks in the bowels of Windows XP

Ok, this is a bit of justification for us here at Adobe, Now please, I am not Microsoft bashing here, but, The boys in Redmond, took the high road on this threat vector and blamed us, along with any other company that creates PDF's saying it was our problem.

]]> Bill Sisk, a member of Microsoft's security response team wrote in a blog post Thursday. "Because ShellExecute is a core part of Windows, our development and testing teams are taking extra care to minimize application compatibility issues."

For example: The vulnerability allowed a malicious PDF file to turn your PC into a zombie, so, after three months of sloughing off the problem to third parties Microsoft is now scrambling to fix it. It may take another two weeks or more to get a patch.

Microsoft isn't due to issue another patch batch until November 13.

The urgency and transparency Microsoft is showing is commendable. But let's not forget that for more than three months, Redmond's security pros maintained that weaknesses resulting when third-party applications passed malicious uniform resource identifiers (URIs) to Internet Explorer was "not a vulnerability in a Microsoft product." As such, Redmond maintained, responsibility for plugging the hole lay elsewhere.

Two weeks ago, Microsoft, reversed itself on this position, admitting for the first time that the URI-handling weakness was an issue that had to be addressed by Microsoft. The change of heart came as it became increasingly clear that the URI-handling weakness was doomed to repeat itself over and over on countless third-party apps. As Bill Sisk put it, "...these third party updates do not resolve the vulnerability - they just close an attack vector."

"In the meantime, users should take extra care when receiving email attachments, even when delivered from known sources, and when visiting familiar or unknown websites", Sisk said. Notice here that Sisk said all e-Mail attachments, because, this threat can attach itself to almost any attachment!

By the way, Sisk didn't mention updates we, Adobe, have issued here for Reader or here for Acrobat, but installing them immediately is critical to keeping you safe.

Ok, man that was a bit heavy for a Tuesday morning, but, it is very important stuff. Keep some life in your life and watch out for the boogie man!

Tim

Custom Dynamic Stamps - Know your limitations!

2007-11-05T04:28:40Z

Hello all you crazy Acrobat kids, I have been getting a lot of feedback on the entry I did on Custom Dynamic Stamps in Acrobat 8. I have to say that you all are doing great and I love the fact that you are thinking outside the box.

]]> But, I have to say this method has its limitations. Today in Acrobat 8, stamps have no way of detecting selection, or gathering input. Your probably saying to yourself, whoa there Timmy boy, your starting to talk crazy again. But really I'm not! Many questions I have been getting is, "Tim, this is a cool tip and trick, but, I would like to have a field that would allow me to add an invoice number, or have a couple of check boxes, why is this not working?"

Well, it is working as it is programmed. In Acrobat, the stamps are dynamic, not interactive. So what that means is we can extract data from sources such as who is logged in, what is the system date....think of it as a "pull data system". So all of the "push style" data such as Digital Signatures, or check boxes, radio button, or what I call interactive data types aren't supported. The reason is easy to see when you look at the stamp you place, it is an annotation, or a mark up. Double click a stamp and you will see a pop-up that will allow you to add notes like a red line mark up. But you can not click individual objects with in the stamp.

With that said, the programmers here at Adobe are amazing people, and if I where a betting man, I would say that making a Stamp an interactive object is on someones plate. I will let them know that all of you would really like to see such a feature. Let me know what you think!

Well, I better go, watch the Cowboy game here, so put some life in your life, and smile and say Hi to a stranger today!

Tim Huff

Whiz bang Keyboard Shortcuts extend Acrobat 8 functionally

2007-10-30T17:08:20Z

Hello all, well, I am rededicating myself back to my blog and really trying to get you the best information about the Acrobat Family of products out there! So here is a quick hit for you!

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You know that there are a lot of commands in Acrobat that just do not have a button or a pull down item to get to them. So, I am going to open the pandora’s box to the unknown and really killer keyboard shortcuts in Acrobat. If you read this blog you know that I am a PC guy. But, I am embracing the Mac Platform. I am an old engineer so I love Unix (the VI editor rocks!) So, this list will show all the short cuts that ship in the box. So here you go Down Load the Acrobat 8 Pro keyboard Short Cuts.

Keep some Life in your life

Tim

Hey all you 3D Rockers out there, Do I have the contest for you!

2007-10-29T13:41:46Z

Hey all, Adobe is sponsoring a 3D PDF contest for you to show off your coolest 3D PDF files.

Example:

3D Trailer Example by Tim Huff

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You could win some cool prizes by simply sharing your great work.

The contest is open to 2D and 3D CAD users as well as Technical Publishers from all industries that are using Acrobat 3D.

Entry is straightforward with several easy options:

Share your existing 3D PDF files. All files will remain Adobe Confidential.

If you’re not a current Acrobat 3D user you can even use the free trial version of Acrobat 3D to convert your existing 3D models into a 3D PDF

Entrants could win valuable prizes that include a Dell Precision M4300 laptop, Apple iPhone, Apple Video iPod, 3Dconnexion navigator, Adobe software and more.

Winners will also receive recognition on the Acrobat 3D website as well as on the Acrobat User Community website.

The contest runs from Oct 15, 2007 until Jan 31, 2008.

Full details at HERE Get to the Entry Form Here

So I look forward to judging some of your killer 3D creations.

Have fun with this and remember to put some life in your life

Tim

Files for the PDF Central Conference

2007-10-25T22:19:04Z

Hello all of you from the PDF Central Conference, as I promised, here are the links to the documents From my sessions.]]> Here is the list of my sessions:

Adding Depth to your PDFs: 3D diagrams and layers with Acrobat 3D

Starring: Tim Huff, Adobe Systems, Inc.

Tuesday October 23, 2007 9:00am - 10:15am Beginner
Publish, share, review, and mark up 3D designs in Intelligent Documents with Adobe® Acrobat® 3D software. Acrobat 3D enriches collaboration by enabling extended teams to use Adobe PDF documents to more securely and reliably communicate 3D design intent. Tim will discuss how to insert and publish 3D designs from major CAD applications in Adobe PDF documents that can easily be shared with suppliers, partners, and end users of the free Adobe Reader® software.

What We've Got Here is Failure to Communicate: Making you PDFs 508 Compliant

Starring: Tim Huff, Adobe Systems, Inc.

Tuesday October 23, 2007 10:30am - 11:45am Intermediate
Don't let accessibility issues keep you from reaching all of your clients. Learn how to make your PDFs 508 compliant. Section 508 requires that Federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities. 508 compliant is currently required for Federal agencies’ but there’s always the possibility that it will spill over into society as a whole. Several companies are already voluntarily making their forms, websites, etc. 508-conforming because they are concerned that such requirements may come into being in the future.

Here are a list of some of the items we went over

Adobe - Accessibility _ Section 508 Explained.pdf

acrobat7 accessibility faq

Adobe - Accessibility _ What is accessibility_.pdf

Dynamic Form Design: Designing Forms with LiveCycle Designer

Starring: Tim Huff, Adobe Systems, Inc.

Tuesday October 23, 2007 1:00pm - 2:15pm Intermediate
Join Tim as he shows you how to use Designer to create PDF forms. Learn how to lay out a form from scratch and create fillable and interactive objects.

Here are some example files for you

Use a pull down to chage an Image

Forms I used for the class

Links to the blogs that address the forms presentation:

Pull Down changes Image

Create a form with Calculation fields

Forms from Scratch using Acrobat and InDesign

Setting a default in your forms drop down list

Forms data collection with Acrobat 8 Professional

It was a really good event, I met a lot of great people, what to thank everyone for having me, hope to see you all soon, and remember to keep some life in your life.

Tim

How to use a Drop-down list to change Pictures?

2007-10-22T13:59:12Z

Hello all, well this is a direct reference to a comment to that was on this site. ( So see, I do read them ), so the question was how to use a drop-down list to change an image in an Acrobat Form? Well click the more button to find out! ]]> Ok I'm going to go right out and say it... jeezzz this is so hard.....Ok just got to let it out...Big deep breath.....Ok to have a Drop Down list select and show a certain graphic within a form requires..............a small amount of programming! Ok, I said it, yes you must write a little code to have it happen for you. Wow, I feel so cleansed! Invigorated even, because if you have the ability to write very basic conditional code, you will be able to get more things done much quicker! I'll get off the soap box now and get on with it. This was a fun little task, because the Acrobat Designer is a very powerful program that allows you to be very flexible with your forms. There is a great resource for the Acrobat Designer Here and Here is a PDF of the Form Calc Users Ref. A must have for form creators! So here you go, I have also attached the finished form here for you to play with; Dropdown to Change Pix.

So let's get started, First open the Adobe LiveCycle Designer (sorry Mac Users you do not have this one, I will show this process for standard Acroforms in a later post) and start a blank form.

Drag and Drop a Drop-Down List any where on the page

Add a Text Field under the Drop-Down List

Under the Text Field add 3 Image Fields (Hint, it is alway a good idea to name your fields)

Your form should look like this:

Go in and add three images to the images fields, any thing is fine. You now need to open the Script Editor window by going to the Window pull down and select Script Editor, this will open a window that will allow you to add your code. Ok it gets tricky here so go slow;

Select the Drop-down List you placed on your form

Goto the Script Editor and select FormCalc as our language (on the right side) and where it says Show pull down and select Change as the event

Copy and paste the code below (Note: I changed the name of the image boxes)

// Code written by Tim Huff - Business Development Manager for Acrobat Oct 5 2007
// Populate a variable (sNewValue) with the Current Value of the Drop-down list using the newText event.
var sNewValue = $.boundItem(xfa.event.newText) TextField1.rawValue = sNewValue; // Fill the Text box with what you got
// Test your variable agaist the name of the Image Object. The names for each Image object is listed under the Image
if (sNewValue == "Acrobat Logo") then
//Let's hide the Acrobat Logo
AcrobatLogo.presence = "invisible";
AcrobatPro.presence = "visible";
AcrobatPro.presence = "visible";
elseif (sNewValue == "Acrobat Pro Box") then
//Let's hide the Acrobat Pro Box
AcrobatPro.presence = "invisible";
Acrobat3D.presence = "visible";
AcrobatLogo.presence = "visible";
elseif ( sNewValue == "Acrobat 3D Box") then
//Let's hide the Acrobat 3D Box
Acrobat3D.presence = "invisible";
AcrobatLogo.presence = "visible";
AcrobatPro.presence = "visible";
elseif ( sNewValue == "All") then
// Ok for fun let's hide'em all
Acrobat3D.presence = "invisible";
AcrobatLogo.presence = "invisible";
AcrobatPro.presence = "invisible"; endif

Now you should be able to just click on the Preview PDF tab and run your code. That was pretty deep for a Monday morning, so have fun, don't get to frustrated, check out the links I set up for you and you can download a version of the form here Form for Drop-down list to change images Have a good week, I am off to the PDF Central Conference, so try to put some life in your life, check out a soccer game on Fox Soccer Channel Let's go FC Dallas! Go Cowboys!

Later all Tim

If electricity comes from electrons, does that mean that morality comes from morons? - Unknown

How to Create a Blank PDF in Acrobat 8

2007-10-18T03:04:59Z

This is funny but get this question alot. Previous to release 8 of Acrobat, this was not an easy task. But in Acrobat 8 we gave you an easy way to create a blank PDF.

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This is a pretty straight forward process, but, you may be suprised at what you actually get when you create a blank PDF. Once the PDF is created you will be put into an edit mode that allows you to, add text, and if you use the advance edit tools, you can also add graphics. Now don't get this mixed up with a word processor, or a publishing tool, but, think of those times when you need a quick cover sheet added to a project, or a quck summary page, any time you need a quick sheet.

Let's get to how we do this;

First, in Acrobat 8, go to File|Create PDF|From Blank Page

Ok that's it, but, I want to explain what you are seeing right now, you have a blank PDF, but, we took it to the next level, we added an editor that allows you to add simple text with some formating

So you ask, ok Tim, pretty cool but, I want to put an image on this page, I look at this toolbar and I don't see where I can add an image! Well you thought you just "stumped the chump" huh? Nope, it's just a bit hidden, heres what you do, select the hand tool , this will get you out of edit mode and then go to Tools|Advanced Editing|Touch up Object Tool. Then Right Mouse Click somewhere on the PDF and you will see Place Image

Select an image to add and volia, you have an image. Ahh to be the Alpha Geek! Anyway here is my result-

And that's it, pretty easy, but a very useful tool that was 100% customer driven! So, remember if you have a good idea on a new or improved feature in Acrobat, please e-mail me I would love to hear from you, welp gots to go watch the Cowboys loose, Hummm, already 21 New England - 10 Dallas, I guess it's time to go to the Tivo and watch some Euro2008 qualifying.

So, put some life in your life, see ya later

Tim

Moving this Blog to acrobat.timhuff.net

2007-08-24T03:06:17Z

Hello all, I am moving this blog to my own blog, so come on by and visit.

Come by http://acrobat.timhuff.net

Adobe will remove the 'Send to FedEx Kinko's' service and functionality

2007-08-02T22:41:12Z

For all of you that have hammered my blog on this one, here is an official statement from us:

"Adobe will remove the 'Send to FedEx Kinko's' service and functionality, currently available to US customers in Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat."

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Yes after much discussion and banter, Adobe will remove the FedEx Kinko's button from Acrobat and the free Reader. I can understand both sides of the story, I will leave it at that. Here is a link to the official press release.

Keep some life in your life;
Tim Huff
Adobe