Using Acrobat Forms and Databases – Lyn Price - Adobe Acrobat and PDF for Architecture, Engineering, and Construction - page 158

Figure 11.21 The form includes two numeric fields
Adding and Modifying Buttons
Buttons are objects on the form the user pushes to execute a command. The form originally includes two
buttons based on our selected method of return. Most users also like to have a Reset button on the page, so
they can restart the form again without having to close and reopen the file. Adobe Designer includes such a
preconfigured option.
To add a button to the form, select the Reset Button object in the Standard tab of the Library palette and
drag it to the upper right corner of the form. Since the button is a defined object, Adobe Designer includes
the code for the button. If you want to create a button which executes a different command, drag the generic
Button on the form and you can attach the appropriate script to the button.
There are three buttons on our form. Let us change the two buttons' appearance at the bottom of the
form. Shift-click to select both the Print Form and Submit by Email buttons. Change their font size to 14pt,
the width to 2in, and the height to .75in. Center both buttons horizontally on the page.
Finishing Touches
The form looks presentable as it is, but is rather boring. We are going to add some boxes around the
sections to break it up visually by following these steps:
1. Select the Rectangle object in the Standard tab of the Library palette.
2. Click your mouse on the form at the upper left of the First Name section. You will notice the pointer
is now crosshairs with a rectangle to the lower right of it, which signifies you are about to draw a
rectangle (Figure 11.22).
Figure 11.22 The cursor identifies the object being drawn
3. Drag to enclose the section with a rectangle. Release the mouse to complete the rectangle.
4. Repeat with the remaining sections of the form, for a total of four rectangles (Figure 11.23).
5. To organize the rectangles' appearance, shift-click to select all the rectangles and then choose
Layout > Make Same Size > Width. Repeat choosing Layout > Align > Horizontal Center.