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4.2. LincDoc markup - PDF

Using a PDF as a source document provides some advantages over the use of a Word document - including the ability to set source level constraints on the layout of the document, utilize certified digital signatures and more. However, the use of a PDF source document is not without a unique set of challenges. This page will provide information about setting up a PDF document, the challenges that appear and possible solutions.

PDF optimization

Before adding fields to a new PDF, please optimize the size of the document by following the recommendations in the Best Practices chapter.

PDF markup & field creation

To create a field in a PDF source document, follow these steps:

Note: These steps assume Adobe Acrobat software. Please consult the documentation for your PDF creation software if using an alternative.

  1. Create a source document, and upload it into Adobe Acrobat.
  2. Select Forms -> Add or Edit Fields...
  3. Right click on the document near where you want to add the field.
  4. Select the type of field you want to add.
  5. Place the field in the appropriate location on your source document.
  6. Name the field.  Note: Field names in LincDoc may contain letters, numbers, and underscores.  If field names contain spaces, these will be automatically replaced with an underscore character.   Checkboxes must be named with a group name prefix followed by an underscore followed by the check box item name.   See Check Box for more information.

PDF signatures

PDF documents provide enhanced methods for securing data. For an overview of Digital Signatures and LincDoc, see here.

PDF limitations

A PDF document's fields cannot be modified by LincDoc during execution of the data entry process. What this means is that if the amount of data being input into a field exceeds the available space provided by the PDF field in the source document, data will be lost from the final, generated document. (Note however the full data is still captured in the LincDoc database repository.) To avoid this problem, there are two options which can be enabled inside of Acrobat which will allow text fields to adapt to the amount of data being entered.

  1. Multiline
    • Enabling this option allows a text field to contain multiple lines of input. Depending on the font size, this can lead to two or three times the amount of data being displayed.
  2. Automatic font sizing
    • Enabling this option allows the PDF software to resize the font depending on the amount of data being entered - (down to a minimum size). As the amount of data increases, the font size will be reduced.

In order to maximize the amount of data displayed (and simulate a text area), you should enable both of these options. However, this combination must be evaluated for its effect on the readability of generated documents.

 

 

LiveCycle (XFA forms)

Adobe LiveCycle forms are created using LiveCycle Designer, a product which is included with Acrobat (since version 7). See this link for a little more background/history on XFA forms.

LiveCycle forms (also known as XFA forms) can be used as LincDoc source documents only if they are static PDF documents.  LincDoc will basically handle these types of forms in the same way as traditional AcroForms (Adobe's original interactive form technology).  

LiveCycle format

LiveCycle has 2 formats, dynamic and static.  If a LiveCycle form is added to LincDoc in the dynamic format, LincDoc will not be able to parse the fields and nothing will appear in the fields/section. You can find the format by editing the PDF in the LiveCycle designer and select form properties.

If the form is dynamic you will need to "Save As" and save the format as Static.

 

Note: All fields must have a title, otherwise the parsing engine will not detect the field when it is imported into LincDoc.

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