| What
is the new eForm PDF+Forms Module product? The PDF+Forms Module is a
new add-on to eForm that delivers professional design,
publishing, collection and automated processing of forms using the Adobe PDF 4 file
format.
The PDF+Forms Module includes:
- PDF Export add-on for eForm Form Designer
- eForm Internet Server
- eForm Sendform CGI application
- PDF+Forms User Guide
- One full copy of Adobe Acrobat 4.0
What can PDF+Forms Module do?
PDF+Forms turns the Adobe PDF file format into a "professional online forms"
format. Using the product organizations can:
- Design new forms with point & click tools and publish them in Adobe PDF format
- Convert existing paper forms into fill-able PDF forms with point & click tools
- Add "submit" features to online PDF forms that automatically process form
information to server and back office applications
- Embed data validation and verification features into PDF forms that are submitted online
via Web or Email clients
- Allow users to print PDF forms, complete them by hand, and scan or fax them into the
automated process
Who should buy the PDF+Forms Module?
Adobe PDF is the de facto standard for online warehousing of digital documents, where
organizations place documents online and allow employees and customers to print documents
on demand. These online documents include data sheets, memos and "forms", which
are commonly printed and completed by hand.
PDF+Forms allows these same organizations to publish online forms that can be completed
online, and processed automatically on the server. PDF+Forms also lets users print blank
PDF forms, complete them by hand, and scan or fax them into the automated processing
system on the server.
PDF+Forms lets organizations use PDF for complete forms publishing, collection and
processing. While many online forms will remain HTML forms, it is expected that
"online professional forms" will become PDF forms.
Some direct targets of PDF+Forms include:
- Users that have adopted PDF as a document standard within their organization and who
want to support online form filling and processing with PDF
- Users who publish internal forms via online forms warehouse.
- Users who want to maintain a common look & feel for paper and online forms
- Users who want to automate the collection and processing of digital and paper forms
- Users who want to integrate forms processing into workflow and knowledge management
environments
- Users who want to publish forms via email, ftp or file systems
What is in the PDF+Forms Module?
The PDF+Forms Module includes:
- PDF+Forms Module product
- Installation Guide
- User Guide
- Adobe Acrobat
Where are demonstrations of PDF+Forms?
Sample PDF forms are available now on the ITSthe1 Web site at
http://www.itsthe1.net/eformsample.html
What's the difference between eForm Internet Solution and the PDF+Forms
Module?
Both products have excellent feature sets and are affordable reliable ways to collect
and validate accurate information from the Internet. In general, Internet Solution
supports publishing and processing of HTML forms while PDF+Forms supports publishing and
processing of PDF forms.
|
Internet Solution (HTML) |
PDF+Forms
Module |
- Convert existing paper forms into digital forms
|
|
X |
- Point & Click Form design
|
X |
X |
- Works with any browser, no plug-in required
- Broadest reach, Internet focus
|
X |
|
- Professional use, Intranet and Corporate Web target
|
|
X |
- Consistent look and feel of paper form
- Standardized forms, no retraining of form users
|
|
X |
- Use paper forms as online forms without re-design
- Ideal for forms warehousing
|
|
X |
- Automatically collect digital and paper forms with a single server process
|
|
X |
- Forms publishing with digital signature authentication
|
|
X |
- Publish forms via Web servers
|
X |
X |
- Publish forms via Email servers
|
|
X |
In supporting end users with PDF+Forms, when is a full copy of Adobe Acrobat 4.0
required vs. the free download of Acrobat Reader?
|
FREE
Reader |
Full Version Acrobat |
| Print PDF Forms |
X |
X |
| Submit PDF forms as an Email attachment |
|
X |
| Submit PDF forms within a web browser |
X |
X |
| Embed Digital Signature in published form |
|
X |
| Save form to hard drive |
X |
X |
| Save form to hard drive and submit later |
|
X |
Can I export a PDF into my backend imaging system?
Yes. Exporting documents or forms as PDF is a feature of eForm.
There is no requirement for the PDF+Forms product for this feature. This capability does
require the installation of Adobe Acrobat 4.0 on the eForm
workstations in the configuration.
What validations are performed on the client side at the time of user form
completion?
Client-side validations include:
- Field-length enforcement
- Type checking (e.g., alpha, numeric)
- Enforcement of templates (character level type checking)
- Entry required
- Pre-filled values
- Range checking for numeric values
- Range checking for dates
Can I include drop down lists in my PDF form? Are the lists automatically
updated?
Dictionaries or database look-ups setup in Designer can be automatically converted to
drop-down lists. Because eForm embeds the list data into the PDF
at the time it is exported from eForm, the list will remain
static after export.
Does PDF+Forms convert existing forms into PDF?
Existing paper forms can be scanned and put into the Form Designer, where fields can be
applied using the standard tools in Designer.
All existing eForm forms can be published as PDF via the
Export feature. Simply select PDF as the export format.
How does PDF+Forms support Digital Signatures?
Adobe Acrobat Version 4.0 provides the ability for a user to digitally sign a PDF.
PDF+Forms creates standard PDF files that can be opened with Acrobat 4.0 and digitally
signed. This is valuable for revision control or for proof of authorship.
Acrobat provides base line digital signing and also supports Entrust signatures.
Can I use PDF to distribute forms to remote locations? Including existing forms?
One of the key benefits of PDF over other electronic formats like HTML is its
portability. Forms created within, or scanned into, eForm
Designer can be exported to PDF and distributed by email, FTP, disk or CD, or posted to a
web site.
What is FDF and does PDF+Forms require this?
FDF is a companion file format for Adobe PDF. PDF+Forms is able to deliver complete
forms capabilities without requiring the use of additional FDF files.
What options are available for submitting data? What is required for each?
Submit forms via the Web. Online submission sends PDF form data directly to the server.
Requires an online connection, a web browser, and Acrobat Reader 4.0 (free).
Submit forms via Email. Submitting completed PDF forms from within an Email requires
Adobe Acrobat 4.0.
Print forms and fax them into the eForm server.
Print forms and scan them into the eForm server.
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