Adobe Acrobat XI - Manual (Page 238)

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Forms
Last updated 1/14/2015
• A button can change appearance in response to mouse actions.
• A button can be easily copied across many pages.
• Mouse actions can activate different button actions. For example, Mouse Down (a click), Mouse Up (releasing after
a click), Mouse Enter (moving the pointer over the button), and Mouse Exit (moving the pointer away from the
button) can all start a different action for the same button.
Buttons are an easy, intuitive way to let users initiate an action in PDF documents. Buttons can have a combination
of labels and icons to lead users through a series of actions or events by changing as the mouse is moved. For
example, you can create buttons with “Play,” “Pause,” and “Stop” labels and appropriate icons. Then you can set
actions for these buttons to play, pause, and stop a movie clip. You can select any combination of mouse behaviors
for a button and specify any combination of actions for a mouse behavior.
Add a button to an Acrobat PDF form
1 Make sure you are in edit mode by selecting Tools > Forms > Edit, and then select Button from the Add New Field
list. Your curser becomes a cross hair.
2 On the page, click where you want to add the button to create a button with the default size. For a custom size button,
drag a rectangle to define the size of the button.
3 Double-click the button field, and then specify a name, tool tip text, and other common properties.
4 Click the Appearance tab, and then specify options to determine the button appearance on the page. Remember, if
you select a background color, you are not able to see through to any images behind the button. The text options
affect the label you specify in the Options tab, not the button name in the General tab.
Note: If Enable Right-To-Left Language Options is selected in the International panel of the Preferences dialog box, the
Appearance tab includes options for changing the digit style and text direction for buttons.
5 Click the Options tab, and select options to determine how labels and icons appear on the button.
6 Click the Actions tab. Specify options to determine what happens when the button is clicked, such as jumping to a
different page or playing a media clip.
7 Click Close.
If you’re creating a set of buttons, you can snap the object to grid lines or guides.
Add a submit button
When you distribute a form, Acrobat automatically checks the form. If it doesn’t find a submit button, it adds a Submit
Form button to the document message bar. Users can click the Submit Form button to send completed forms back to
you. If you don’t plan to use the Submit Form button created by Acrobat, you can add a custom submit button to your
form.
1 If you are not in form editing mode, choose Tools > Forms > Edit. The Forms task pane opens.
2 Using the Button tool , drag across the area where you want the button to appear. Double-click the button and
set options in the General and Options tabs.
3 In the Options tab, choose an option in the Layout menu for the button label, icon image, or both. Do one or both
of the following:
• Type text in the Label box to identify the button as a submit button.
• Click Choose Icon and either type the path to an image file or click Browse and locate the image file you want to
use.