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How To Build A Form in InDesign CS5

This document provides instructions for building a form in InDesign CS5. It describes how to create text frames and fields, set tabs and leader tabs to create lines between fields, add radio buttons, export the form to PDF, and run form field recognition so the PDF form can be filled out. The tutorial uses the example of building a magazine subscription card form.

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DIXON SINAGA
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
92 views

How To Build A Form in InDesign CS5

This document provides instructions for building a form in InDesign CS5. It describes how to create text frames and fields, set tabs and leader tabs to create lines between fields, add radio buttons, export the form to PDF, and run form field recognition so the PDF form can be filled out. The tutorial uses the example of building a magazine subscription card form.

Uploaded by

DIXON SINAGA
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How to Build a Form in InDesign CS5

Subject Descriptors: InDesign CS5, Text Frame, Field, Form, Tabs, Leader, Radio, Buttons, New
Layer, Export, PDF, Recognition, Highlight

Application (Version): Adobe InDesign CS5- Windows

Task Description: Learn how to build a form in InDesign CS5. This is a handy skill for creating forms
that are meant to be filled out via computer.

Tutorial Date: 1 Jun 2009, by Virinia Smith. Updated 23 June 2010

Create a New InDesign Document

Either create a new InDesign document or open an existing document and navigate to a blank page or
blank area of a page so that you can create a text frame.

How to Build a Form in InDesign CS5 - 1


Create a Text Frame

In this example, we're going to create a magazine subscription card, so create a 4x3" text frame using
the Type tool (T). To make it exactly 4x3", select the text frame after you create it and key in those
measurements in the Control panel.

Key in Your First Field Name

Key in the name for your first field. For this example, type in the word "Name" in the text frame.

How to Build a Form in InDesign CS5 - 2


Bring up the Tabs Ruler

You could create the rest of your fields and then start drawing the lines where people will fill in their
information; however, if you ever need to make changes such as font type and size, you'll have to move
your lines too. That's why we're going to use leader tabs instead. Bring up your Tabs ruler by choosing
Tabs from the Type menu. By default the Tabs ruler magnetically sticks to the top of your text frame.
This will help you line up your tabs.

How to Build a Form in InDesign CS5 - 3


Set Your First Tab

Since the "Name" field is going to take up the entire top line, we're going to set our tab at the far right.
Select a Right-Justified Tab (the third icon from the left) in the Tabs ruler and type "3.75 in" in the X
field.

Add a Leader

Now that you've inserted your tab, the next thing you have to do is give it a leader of an underscore
character (_). So with the tab you just placed still selected, click in the Leader field on the Tabs ruler
and key in an underscore character (Shift+Hyphen). Now click back into your text frame after the word
"Name" and press the Tab key on your keyboard. You should see an underline from the word "Name"
to your tab stop. Hit Return (PC: Enter) twice to skip a line.

How to Build a Form in InDesign CS5 - 4


Add More Fields and Leader Tabs

Key in the word "Address" and press the Tab key to create the underline. The next line gets a little
more complicated because we need to set both tabs and leader tabs for multiple fields. Use
Left-Justified Tabs (the first icon) for the field names and Right-Justified Tabs for the leader lines.

Set the "City" leader tab at 2"; set the tab for "ST" at "2.15 in" and its leader tab at "2.75 in". Set the tab
for "Zip" at "2.85 in" and use the existing leader tab at "3.75 in". Don't forget to add the underscores for
the leader tabs.

Make Some Radio Buttons

The next field that we want is Email. In order to get back to one long leader tab, remove the extra tabs
from only that line by simply dragging them off the Tabs ruler. Type "3.75 in" in the X field and press Tab
after clicking on the text box.

How to Build a Form in InDesign CS5 - 5


Next, let's create some radio buttons. On the next line, type "New Subscriber" and "Renewal". (Now
that you have the hang of tabs, you'll probably want to create tabs for these two words to give you room
for the radio buttons). Use the Ellipse tool (L) while holding the Shift key to create circles in front of
each word.

Create a New Layer

Our form fields are done. Now let's lock it down and create a new layer for the rest of the subscription
card layout elements.

Bring up your Layers panel. Hold down the Option key (PC: Alt key) and click the Create New Layer
icon at the bottom of the panel. This will allow you to create a new layer and name it all at the same
time (we named ours "Graphics"). Double-click the name of the original layer and rename it "Form."
Then click the little box to the right of the Eye icon to lock the Form layer.

How to Build a Form in InDesign CS5 - 6


Add Graphics; Export to PDF

At this point you can place other text and graphics on your page. Be sure not to cover up any part of
your form's text or lines. After your design is complete, go to the Adobe PDF Presets under the File
menu and choose Smallest File Size (or the one that best meets your needs) to export this InDesign
document as a PDF. Be sure that View PDF after Exporting is checked in the dialog.

How to Build a Form in InDesign CS5 - 7


Run Form Field Recognition

Choose Run Form Field Recognition from the Forms menu in Acrobat 8 Professional. This should
create form fields over your existing lines and circles.

Highlight Fields

Click the Highlight Fields button to make sure the fields were recognized. Anyone can now type into
this form with Adobe Reader or the full version of acrobat. So now you can send a form that's actually
usable.

How to Build a Form in InDesign CS5 - 8

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