Why doesn't the format of a form designed in Form Designer transfer into PDF?

  • IanFlint
    Asked on January 11, 2017 at 1:52 PM

    I have to send complex Questionnaires to clients in a PDF so they can save to the desktop and revisit to complete the questions.  When I design in your system I change the font to Ariel and increase the size, however, when it is converted to PDF it defaults to what looks like a Times Roman font that is so small it is hard to see.  The actual formatting of the form is lost also e.g. alignment on the page and equal indent left and right.  What can i do - it was so easy in FormsCentral.

     

    Best

     

    Ian

  • David JotForm Support Manager
    Replied on January 11, 2017 at 6:08 PM

    I see what you mean, example:

    Why doesnt the format of a form designed in Form Designer transfer into PDF? Image 1 Screenshot 30

    It looks different in PDF version:

    Why doesnt the format of a form designed in Form Designer transfer into PDF? Image 2 Screenshot 41

    I have forwarded this to our back end team in order to see if it can be fixed. You will be updated via this thread if there is any progress on your request.

  • Ian Flint
    Replied on January 12, 2017 at 4:56 AM

    Thank you.  I would appreciate your help on this issue as I have three parallel projects requiring similar forms and they need to be sent out next week. It could seriously damage the project and relationship with the clients who are receiving rough drafts of the questions for editing and expect the form to go out looking good. Even if we try to manually reformat in Acrobat DC - we come across problems with your formatting.  If FormsCentral was able to do it why is there a problem?

  • Nik_C
    Replied on January 12, 2017 at 6:18 AM

    On behalf of my colleague, you're welcome.

    And thank you for additional information provided.

    My colleague forwarded this thread to our backend team and they will receive your message. 

    We'll get back to you with an update regarding this ticket.

    Thank you!

  • Scott JotForm Developer
    Replied on January 12, 2017 at 11:57 AM

    Hey Ian,

    I get what you mean but to be honest this is more of a feature request and, during the time being our developers are really busy for this kind of an implementation. I don't want to misdirect you or give promises that we can't keep in such short notice.

    Just know that, what you are pointing out is indeed an important situation and will be prioritized. I will personally keep an eye and update you if something comes up.

  • IanFlint
    Replied on January 13, 2017 at 8:55 AM

    Thank you.  Unfortunately, I thought it was because the original form was imported into Jotform so took five hours creating the same form from scratch in your new v4 setup.  Result when complete - same problem when creating a PDF but worse.  Default to small fonts (not fonts in form); faded tables that don't work; questions and radial lists blurred and that don't work.  I have a deadline by Monday to get the revised form to my client or a pay a penalty of £5000. If this cannot be resolved, then we will have to work over the weekend to build the same form again in Acrobat DC form builder.  What a waste of time!

  • Boris
    Replied on January 13, 2017 at 9:19 AM

    We're sorry to hear of your inconvenience, Ian, at the moment our PDF forms are lacking in features and design customization abilities when compared to our online forms, which is why we primarily recommend using JotForm forms online as web-forms.

    You can read about some of the primary differences between fillable PDF forms and online forms on the following guide:

    https://www.jotform.com/help/312-Fillable-PDF-Everything-you-need-to-know-about-JotForm-Fillable-PDF-Creator

    For the reasons mentioned above, and if possible with your client, we would recommend that you send them the link to your online form right here on JotForm, which they can fill out inside their browser.

    If the ability to come back to a form and continue entering data is the primary concern why you were using PDF forms, you may be interested in one of the following methods that will allow your clients to continue filling out your form later on:

    1. Allowing your users to edit and update their submission on your online form:

    https://www.jotform.com/help/40-How-to-Let-Users-Update-Their-Form-Submissions-at-a-Later-Date

    With this method, your users first submit their form, and later whenever they wish to update some values, they can simply use the Edit Submission link they've received to go back to their submission and edit it.

    2. Allowing your users to continue filling out the form in the same browser on the same machine, until they finally submit it:

    https://www.jotform.com/help/227-How-to-Enable-Auto-Fill-on-Forms

    3. Allowing your users to continue filling out the form in any other browser on any other machine by using our session saving method, until they submit the form:

    https://www.jotform.com/help/97-How-to-Save-Forms-and-Continue-Later

    Any of the above three mentioned ways will enable your clients to be able to continue filling out the form over a period of time. I hope this helps for the meantime, and as mentioned by our colleague above, we'll let you know when there are any updates regarding your original feature request about the design of fillable PDF forms. Thank you.

  • IanFlint
    Replied on January 13, 2017 at 9:43 AM

    Unfortunately, my client has people in countries that have little connectivity to the internet.  They want the ability to have them complete a form in the field in their own time and when they are visiting a place with reasonable wifi - can then send the form.  This worked perfectly with FormsCentral and as you put yourselves up as a viable alternative to FormsCentral I used your product.   

  • Boris
    Replied on January 13, 2017 at 9:51 AM

    We are a viable alternative for FormsCentral users, but as we are different companies, naturally we have different features in our offer. I'm sorry that the exact feature you are looking for is not yet implemented on our side, but as soon as it is, we'll let you know here. Thank you.

  • IanFlint
    Replied on January 17, 2017 at 5:26 AM

    I have persuaded my client that most of the Forms can be completed online.  You mentioned that I can set it up so the form is saved and can be revisited.  This sounded easy in the video:

    1. Click "Setup and Embed"

    2. Find and Click "Preferences"

    3. On Preferences Tab, find and click "Advance Settings"

    4. On Advance Settings tab, find and click "Edit Auto Fill Settings"  (THERE IS NOTHING THERE)

    5. Set to "Enable" and choose "Time" interval to save changes. (THERE IS NOTHING THERE)

    Under Advanced there is "Continue Form Later" which is enabled but no means of setting frequency of save.  Are you able to check my forms under CMS to be sure they are setup correctly and will allow my client to auto save and revisit?  Your help would be appreciated as I have avoided the penalty even though the form is going out late and your various forum solutions are conflicting to say the least.

     

  • AIDAN
    Replied on January 17, 2017 at 6:18 AM

    Hi Ian,

    Please note that I have created a new thread for your request, as we try to keep every thread about a single question/request.

    We will get back to you ASAP on the new threadhttps://www.jotform.com/answers/1036628

    Thank you in advance for understanding.

  • eugene
    Replied on November 1, 2018 at 4:23 AM

    UPDATE: We are excited to announce that we have just released the new version of JotForm PDF Editor.