Please throw me a line here!!

[dougieck]

Hi all

I am having difficulty with a problem at work -

traditionally we have had forms printed by a printing firm. These forms were then loaded into our printer and filled in using a word file, which contained bookmarks placed in carefully positioned frames.

- I have never been keen on this method, because
1) it is a problem loading the forms into the trays if the printer is busy - ie forms always end up being overprinted.
2) the positioning of the printer isn't exact - leading to poor results
3) it is expensive to have the forms printed.

What I need to do is come up with an alternative to this. Firstly I thought I should design the form in Word, using text boxes, shades and frames. Then simply insert my bookmarks, and away I go.

I did this, I created a form in word format, using frames, shades and text boxes. It's a pretty form and it took me all day to make. What I want to do now is protect that form from accidental changes.

The problem is that it's not a form in the traditional sense of the word. - It's just a collection of word objects, with no form content.

Is there another way to solve this problem? - creating the form as a gif and placing it on the background of the document?? I don't know

I'm Stuck - - Help please...

Thanks

Doug

[Redbeard]

I am attaching a form that I once designed. Going from a paper form to one that you designed as an electronic document and may not be practical unless you use the end document frequently.

If you start with a computer document, making it into an electronic form is quite easy. Display the Forms toolbar and use that to put different types of form fields into the doc. There are form fields that allow you to enter text that you have automatically formatted such as caps even though the user eneterd it in lower case. There are fields that allow you to use drop down menus that contain the only acceptable answers for that field. You can see that when you tab from one field to the next that some fields have helpful information in fhe status bar at the bottom of the screen.

The advantage to this approach is that the user can only enter data where you want and can not change the basic form and you don't have to worry about aligning a preprinted form in the printer. You can elect to print the entire form including the data the user enetered or print the data only onto a preprinted form.

If this is the approach you take, I'll be glad to help you with hints.

Fred

[Redbeard]

I am attaching a form that I once designed. Going from a paper form to one that you designed as an electronic document may not be practical unless you use the end document frequently.

If you start with a computer document, making it into an electronic form is quite easy. Display the Forms toolbar and use that to put different types of form fields into the doc. There are form fields that allow you to enter text that you have automatically formatted such as caps even though the user entered it in lower case. There are fields that allow you to use drop down menus that contain the only acceptable answers for that field. You can see that when you tab from one field to the next that some fields have helpful information in fhe status bar at the bottom of the screen.

The advantage to this approach is that the user can only enter data where you want and can not change the basic form and you don't have to worry about aligning a preprinted form in the printer. You can elect to print the entire form including the data the user enetered or print the data only onto a preprinted form.

If this is the approach you take, I'll be glad to help you with hints.

Fred

[Anne Troy]

Yo, Doug. Sorry, it's been AGES since I stopped in here...

I provide near-complete instructions on how to create "fill-in-forms" over on the Word page at www.theofficeexperts.com/word.htm

I like to use tables---not textboxes! yuk!--to create my forms. Then, I just put borders where I want them, etc. Using, for instance, the "exact" row height on a table row can also "restrict" the user from making the form take more room than you intend (i.e., breaking to the next page).

I think using textboxes and frames and such is just asking for trouble. I see Redbeard's form, and it looks good, but I figured I throw this info in here so you'd know HOW.

Let us know if you need more help with it.