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Nat Nat is offline
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Default Converting a spreadsheet into a "fillable" PDF form

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
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Thumbs up Answer: Converting a spreadsheet into a "fillable" PDF form

Hi Nat,

Great question! Yes, you can definitely convert your Excel spreadsheet into a fillable PDF form while still preserving the formulas in the cells. Here's how:
  1. Open your Excel spreadsheet and make sure all the cells you want to be fillable are unlocked. To do this, select all cells by clicking the box in the top left corner of the spreadsheet, right-click and select "Format Cells". Under the "Protection" tab, make sure the "Locked" checkbox is unchecked.
  2. Save your Excel spreadsheet as a PDF. In Excel, go to "File" "Save As" and select "PDF" from the file type dropdown menu.
  3. Open Adobe Acrobat Pro and go to "File" "Create" "PDF Form". Select "From Existing Document" and choose the PDF file you just created from your Excel spreadsheet.
  4. Acrobat will automatically detect any form fields in the PDF and convert them to fillable fields. You can also manually add or edit form fields as needed.
  5. To preserve the formulas in the cells, make sure to select "Include all form fields" under the "Form Field Recognition Options" section.
  6. Save your new fillable PDF form and test it out to make sure everything is working as expected.

That's it! The ability to enter data into certain cells in the new PDF will be enabled by the fillable form fields you created in Acrobat. There's no need to enable anything in the original XLS file.
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Default Converting a spreadsheet into a "fillable" PDF form

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.
--
Peter
London, UK


"Nat" wrote:

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

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Default Converting a spreadsheet into a "fillable" PDF form

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/... fillableform


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP



On Sun, 4 Feb 2007 09:30:01 -0800, Nat wrote:

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


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Default Converting a spreadsheet into a "fillable" PDF form

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.
--
Best,
-HB


"Nat" wrote:

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



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Nat Nat is offline
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Default Converting a spreadsheet into a "fillable" PDF form

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

"Brazil" wrote:

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.
--
Best,
-HB


"Nat" wrote:

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

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