Converting a spreadsheet into a "fillable" PDF form

[Nat]

Quick question for all. I know how to convert spreadsheets to PDF, as we
utilize various versions of Adobe professional. Will be testing 8.0 shortly,
however I have a simple question (I hope). In our organization, there are
over 500 forms created; many of which are either Excel or Word format. A lot
of these forms have formulas in the cells to perform mathematical functions.
When the user converts the existing spreadseet, to PDF, I want to make sure
that they will still be able enter data into certain cells in the new PDF.
My question is where is this enabled? Is there a setting in the original XLS
file, or is it somewhere in the new PDF file?

Thanks for any assistance,
Nat

 

[Peter]

Adobe Prof is able to create fillable forms including preforming calcluations
from any source documents including spreadsheets. However each form will have
to be tailored in Adobe to give you the fillable form you want. The
alternative is to (a) carry on using Excel .xls but use protection &
validation to make the forms more robust or (b) use Excel forms function &
VBA script create the forms you want.

 

[Gord Dibben]

Nat

Definitely cannot be done from the Excel end.

Adobe Acrobat 7.0 has a plug-in that allows you to convert a PDF document to a
fillable form.

Note the word "convert"........cannot be done in PDF alone.

Do a 'net search for "fillable pdf form" and see what you get.

Try this link for starters.

http://www.planetpdf.com/enterprise/article.asp?ContentID=TransformanyPDFdocumentintoafillableform


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP

 

[Brazil]

Good way to start is to first convert your existing excel form to pdf and
then open the resulting pdf in Adobe Designer. From there you can tailor
fields as your requirements dictate.

 

[Nat]

Thanks to all who replied. I will play around a bit in Adobe to see how to
pick and choose which cells are fillable. I will also do a search for
fillable pdfs as Gord suggested.

Nat