Can I copy a scanned form to Word and then complete the blanks?

[DonR]

I want to copy a preprinted form, something like a blank tax return, into
Word and then use the keyboard to enter data into the form. Can I do this in
Word 2007 and if so .. how?

 

[grammatim]

No. A scanned document is a picture of a document.

 

[Greg Maxey]

No is not the correct answer.

A preprinted form scanned into Word is an InLineShape (or picture) but there
is nothing to prevent a user from placing frames over the blank spaces in
the image and then entering text into these frames.

The insert frames control is located on the Forms toolbar in Word2003. The
frame can be anchored outside the pre-printed form image and then positioned
appropriately.

 

[Greg Maxey]

Don,

Yes with a little effort you could do this (see my follow up to Peter
Daniels for the basic concept).

In Word2007 the Insert Frame command is located on the Developer
Tab>Controls Group>Legacy Forms splitButton

A better altenative may be to look and see if there is a IRS online
tax form for the tax form that you are trying to fill out.

 

[DonR]

It's not a tax form I only used that as an example.

 

[grammatim]

I'd like to see you try it.

No is not the correct answer.

A preprinted form scanned into Word is an InLineShape (or picture) but there
is nothing to prevent a user from placing frames over the blank spaces in
the image and then entering text into these frames.

The insert frames control is located on the Forms toolbar in Word2003.  The
frame can be anchored outside the pre-printed form image and then positioned
appropriately.

 

[Greg Maxey]

Peter,

Still can't admit that you can be wrong?. Would you like to make a small
wager? You send me a scanned blank form inserted as an image in a Word
document and I send it back filled out. Then you send a check for $100.00.
Otherwise figure it out yourself.

 

[DonR]

I actually found a solution in something called "Microsofft Office Document
Imaging" which is not installed by default, but resides in "Office" and can
be installed.
httpffice.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA102548791033.aspx

 

[grammatim]

Greg chose to take his hissy-fit to email. He doesn't recognize that
OP wasn't asking whether it was theoretically possible; he wanted to
know if it made sense to do it that way.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP on news.microsoft.com]

Sorry, but I cannot see anywhere in the original post were there was the
slightest indication that the user was asking if it made sense to do it that
way as against it being theoretically possible.

And, while challenges are being issued, I'd like to have you show me what I
have overlooked.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com

Greg chose to take his hissy-fit to email. He doesn't recognize that
OP wasn't asking whether it was theoretically possible; he wanted to
know if it made sense to do it that way.

 

[Gordon Bentley-Mix]

Don,

To cut through all of the off-topic discussion and answer your original
question: What you have asked _can_ be done but it is time consuming, and
the results will probably be less than satisfactory. There are several
methods available. One approach would involve using the scanned image of the
document as a sort of background and then placing an editable layer -
perhaps using formfields or frames - over the top of it. Doing something
like this requires a moderate level of skill, and, in my experience, the
effort required is rarely worthwhile. You would, IMHO, be better off trying
to find an online version of any particular form.
--
Cheers!

Gordon Bentley-Mix
Word MVP

Uninvited email contact will be marked as SPAM and ignored. Please post all
follow-ups to the newsgroup.

 

[grammatim]

He says "I want to ... can I do this ...?" That is a request for
practical advice.

 

[Tony Jollans]

I'm not sure that that will help you, but it is relatively easy for anyone
reasonably competent in Word to do this. I do it regularly, for single
pages, but it is more complex if the form has multiple pages.

What I do is place the scanned image (I usually take pages from PDFs, but
scanned images work in the same way) in the header - as a background - and
position it to fit the page. Then in the main body of the document add text
boxes (text boxes usually serve my purposes well, but are not the only way)
and move and position them over the spaces in the form. If there are many
boxes to fill in, the display can tend to jump about a little if all the
text boxes are anchored to a single paragraph. Depending on the complexity
of the form, you may be able to simply type in the document body, or perhaps
use a table, and space the text appropriately.

There is no magic bullet; Word cannot interpret the image, and each form is
a one-off, but it isn't particularly difficult once you know how.

 

[Beth Melton]

It's been awhile since I've used Microsoft Office Document Imaging for
something like this but I have in the past and I do think adding the text
boxes to the image in it is a little easier than trying to do it in Word,
even when you know what you're doing. ;-)

But either way, the task can be fairly simple or a lot of work depending on
the form you're trying to fill in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

 

[Gordon Bentley-Mix]

And a simple "no" is NOT practical advice. Practical advice is "you can, but
it's not worth the trouble" - which is what Greg and I both said.
--
Cheers!

Gordon Bentley-Mix
Word MVP

Uninvited email contact will be marked as SPAM and ignored. Please post all
follow-ups to the newsgroup.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP on news.microsoft.com]

On the occasions when I have wanted to do this, rather than text boxes, I
just have the image behind the text and adjust paragraph spacing before and
indents, tab stops the get the text that I enter aligned with the spaces on
the form.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP on news.microsoft.com]

The word "practical" is yours. That notwithstanding, it is not impractical
to do it in Word 2007.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com

He says "I want to ... can I do this ...?" That is a request for
practical advice.