FormsCentral vs LiveCycle

What is the difference between FormsCentral and LiveCycle.  I started using LiveCycle and now see the FormsCentral product.  Is this an overlap in products?  Our use is to collect data and import it into a sequel database for compilation.

LiveCycle is focused at IT/enterprise. You have to deploy and configure servers.
FormsCentral is targeted at "normal busiess users" - it enables them to create, distribute and collect data using forms without any help from IT. Because of that our service is not extensible like LiveCycle.
Randy

Similar Messages

  • Compatibility of adobe forms

    I am a newbie to Adobe forms. We have a requirement in which we need to create forms and ask our customers to fill those forms. Most of the form elements would be long text fields for essay type questions , or simple text fields for (name, title, date etc). We are worried about the compatibility of these forms across different versions of Acrobat reader and different Operating systems (Mac, Windows XP , Vista, 7 etc). (We didn't have a good experience with PDF forms due to compatibility issues.)
    Would you please advice on best practices? Points that we need to take care of. Does Adobe provides server to build forms for customer (based on their requirements?)
    thank you

    Hi,
    Let me point you to the overview of Adobe FormsCentral and LiveCycle products:
    FormsCentral: http://forums.adobe.com/docs/DOC-1413
    LiveCycle: http://www.adobe.com/products/livecycle.html
    LiveCycle Designer: http://www.adobe.com/products/livecycle/tools/designer.html
    It depends on what kind of workflow you will have, FormsCentral will not provide you to customize the form server, whereas, LiveCycle will allow you to do so.
    Based on your example (your first paragraph) you can try FormsCentral Web form, these are HTML forms and user will use common web browsers (for example, IE, Safari...etc) to fill out and submit their form.  As for FormsCentral PDF form, as long as you use Adobe Acrobat/Reader or mobile Reader in your form workflow then incompatibility issues should be very minimum.
    I believe you could sign up as a free user to try the products out and see which one fits your needs best.
    Thanks,
    Lucia

  • Block fields / Copy reply of fields in other pages

    Hello,
    I am using Adobe Acrobat Pro version 11 and I prepared a PDF Form using FormsCentral. I have got two queries please.
    1) in my PDF form, there are one block of fields that is repeated 5 times. Is there a way to hide the blocks of fields that are not necessary; i.e. if the applicant does not need more than one block, the four other blocks do not appear on the pdf form ?
    2) can datas entered in various fields on page 1 of the PDF form be used on other pages; i.e. can the info introduced by the applicant in various fields be copied in other pages automatically because reply(ies) is(are) the same on page 5 for instance?
    If the Adobe "standard" does not allow the above actions, which product should I use ?
    Many thanks in advance for your help.
    Kind regards

    Hi;
    For #1 - No, there is no "Show/Hide" available for the PDF from FormsCentral, it is supported in the web/HTML form, but not for PDF.  The only tool that does accomplish this in PDF is "LiveCycle Designer".   LiveCycle creates a different type of form than FormsCentral and if you created a form there with this type of "Show/Hide" functionality it would not be compatible with FormsCentral. 
    LiveCycle Designer was available with Acroat X but not Acrobat XI - however it is still available to users who have purchased Acrobat Professional XI:
    http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/upgrade-livecycle-de signer-acrobat-xi.html
    For #2 - Also a "no", not through FormsCentral.  However, this is something you should be able to do in Acrobat Pro by opening the PDF in Acrobat and further editing the form there.  You would want to get additional help for how to make the changes from the "Acrobat Forms Forum" here: http://forums.adobe.com/community/acrobat/forms
    You would also want to review this FAQ about editing a FormsCentral form in Acrobat: http://forums.adobe.com/docs/DOC-3661
    Thanks,
    Josh

  • Location of Labels

    I am attempting to create a new form (I am new to this software).  Some of the data fields require labels to appear on top of the data field while other labels should appear to the left of the data field.  When I try to change the appearance for one - it changes the appearance for all.  Please help!

    There are a lot of difference between FormsCentral and LiveCycle Designer. If you need to create complexe forms you might want to keep using LiveCycle Designer.
    Here are instructions on how to upgrade if you used to have an older version of Acrobat. http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/upgrade-livecycle-designer-acrobat-xi.ht ml
    Adobe LiveCycle Designer Page :
    http://www.adobe.com/products/livecycle/tools/designer.html
    Gen

  • XFA Forms

    I have tried to import a form that an error message pops up stating it is an XFA form.  What product to I need to edit this form?  Is it posslble to edit with Adobe Form? 

    Hi;
    A few things about the FormsCentral "Import PDF" feature:
    1) FormsCentral does not enable you to "edit" a PDF form.  A PDF form (AcroForm) can be imported to collect and manage responses through FormsCentral, when you distribute the Submission enabled PDF from FormsCentral a "Submit" button is added and the responses are collected through FormsCentral for analsys.  No changes can be made to that PDF in FormsCentral, it allows you to download a submit enabled version of that form that will submit responses to FormsCentral and creates a Response Table and Summary Report in FormsCentral to display the results data.
    2) XFA forms are not supported by FormsCentral
    Adobe LiveCycle Designer is used to create/edit XFA forms: http://www.adobe.com/products/livecycle/tools/designer.html
    Here is a little information on XFA forms vs flat PDF files and Acroforms: http://blogs.adobe.com/an_tai/archives/172
    Thanks,
    Josh

  • LiveCycle to FormsCentral?

    Can I edit a form I have created in Adobe LiveCycle without recreating it. We have created a lot of internal fillable forms and title pages for our consultants to use.

    Hi;
    The "Import PDF" feature does not enable you to edit the PDF form you import, it allows you to collect and manage/analyze the responses in FormsCentral on the View Responses tab.
    These FAQ's might be useful related to the Import PDF feature:
    Tutorial: Importing a Fillable PDF Form and Collecting Responses
    Issues encountered while importing an existing PDF form
    Import PDF: Static XFA form PDFs (LiveCycle Designer)
    Import PDF error for Dynamic XFA form from LiveCycle Designer
    Thanks,
    Josh

  • LiveCycle Designer vs FormsCentral

    I had Adobe Acrobat Pro X which included LiveCycle Designer.  I used this to create a couple of forms which I now need to make changes to.  My firm has upgraded us to Adobe Acrobat XI which does not include LiveCycle but does have FormsCentral.  Can I use FormsCentral to make changes to my existing forms?

    You may be eligible for a free upgrade to the latest LiveCycle. See this link: Upgrade Adobe Designer | Acrobat XI

  • Feature Comparison: LiveCycle vs. FormsCentral

    I would very much appreciate being able to see a feature comparison between LiveCycle and FormsCentral. I get the basics of the differences, but I need to know much more specifically what I can and can't do in each product. And right now the most interesting feature to me is creating form fields that resize automatically as text is entered and will even span page boundaries.
    Thank you!

    FormsCentral is more about hosting forms and collecting submitted data than form creation, whereas LiveCycle Designer is all about form creation. The FormsCentral designer is rather limited when it comes to layout and form behavior. No scripting or automatic calculations are allowed, just skip logic. A PDF form generated from a form designed with FormsCentral is similar, but skip logic isn't supported. With Designer you have complete control over the behavior of a form, can use scripting, and it can do what you want with expanding fields.

  • FormsCentral + LiveCycle

    Hey guys, I know FormsCentral doesn't support any math functions during the creation of the form itself, so I'm wondering if it's possible to create a form in LiveCycle (with math functions such as a line that totals numbers in previous lines) and then upload it to FormsCentral to be distributed and analyzed?

    HI Andrew and Adobe Staff,
    My experience...thus far...with FormsCentral and Adobe is that they are not compatible.
    To Andrew: I feel your pain. I have used LiveCycle to make lots of great forms. You can't beat it. It is the best and smartest tool out there. One of a kind. JavaScript and all kinds of logic and math and cool things. Great editing and devlopment environment. And so of course...you would want to use something like that on FormsCentral. I totally get your question. But...I "think" that LiveCycle plus FormsCentral equals Impossible.
    To Adobe: It is time for you to get better in your whole set of "forms" technology. As I see it, you offer three mismatched possibilities:
    Web Forms in FormsCentral: This is easy and gorgeous and has all the advantages of FormsCentral...But...no math and not much in the way of logic either. Just your basic "fill in the blanks and aggregate the results" experience.
    PDF (AcroForms) in FormsCentral: Labor intense. Starts with Word...then Acrobat for the fields and some logic...then upload to FormsCentral. Not as pretty as the Web Forms mentioned above. JavaScript is available in AcroForms, but it is not nearly as easy or powerful as LiveCycle.
    LiveCycle in FormsCentral: Not possible, but it should be. FormsCentral is the perfect aggregator and forms deployment vehicle. LiveCycle is the perfect forms development platform. Put the two together and life would really be sweet.
    Thanks all,
    Joe

  • Livecycle Designer 7.0 - How do I link a text box in a form to a radio button or checkbox?

    Hello,
    I am using Livecycle Designer 7.0 to create a form. I have a scenario where I have several options on a question where they choose one radio button. The last option of the radio button has a text box accompanying it and I only want it to be able to be filled out/typed into if that particular radio button is chosen. Not to be able to be typed into if that particular radio button is not chosen as an answer to that question.
    How do I do that?
    Also how to I do the same for a text box to be entered into and typed into only if the accompanying checkbox is checked?
    Help?

    This forum is for the Adobe FormsCentral  (formscentral.adobe.com) which is a service that allows you to create,  collect and analyze data using an online web form. You should ask  Designer related form questions in the Designer forums: http://forums.adobe.com/community/livecycle/livecycle_es/livecycle_des igner_es
    I'll move your post to that forum so you don't need to retype it. They can help you out...
    Randy

  • Is there a way for managers to approve a form in FormsCentral?

    I want to create an online purchase order form.  Our school board policy requires that a purchase order be approved by both the department manager and Director of Finance. Is there a way for managers to clear the form for approval through FormsCentral?  If a PO is held up, I want to be able to tell if the manager or Finance Director has seen it yet.  Thanks.

    Hi,
    Sorry, FormsCentral currently does not support form-approval workflow. Please check Adobe Acrobat product, or the Adobe LiveCycle product
    Acrobat forum: http://forums.adobe.com/community/acrobat
    LiveCycle forum: http://forums.adobe.com/community/livecycle
    Thanks,
    Lucia

  • Cannot Edit a Form in Adobe Acrobat Pro Xi - use Livecycle

    Hi all,
    I was advised to buy Adobe Pro XI yesterday by the Direct Sales Adobe team because it includes "everything I need" to create and EDIT PDF forms.  I actually rang up to buy X but was told it was now XI.
    I tried to edit a form today and got this message:
    "this form cannot be edited in Acrobat. Please use Adobe Livecycle Designer to edit this form"
    I was told this was included in Pro but can't get past this message.  I previously had a trial of Adobe Pro X and WAS able to edit this very form.
    It is very frustrating.  I cannot edit anything I have been working on.
    FormsCentral seems too basic as I need to be able to edit the field name in the properties of the field.
    Can anyone help?
    Thanks
    David

    We created forms in acrobat 9 pro and now with XI pro cannot edit them.  Error message states that livecycle designer is required to edit forms previously created in acrobat.  Called tech support and waited for over an hour before being told that another product needed to be purchased for $300 more than the upgrade cost for acrobat pro XI!!!  From the XI FAQ - The web site states:
    The following customers are eligible for a free upgrade:
    Customers who purchased a prior license to Acrobat and have purchased an upgrade to Acrobat XI Pro
    Customers who have an Adobe Maintenance and Support contract or purchased Upgrade Plan eligible for an Acrobat XI Pro upgrade
    Active Creative Cloud Complete members whose memberships started before October 15, 2012
    The one-time LiveCycle Designer upgrade is available in English, French, German, or Japanese. Eligible customers can choose which language they would like to receive. Visit the Customer Support Portal to request an upgrade.
    After entering in the needed info on the support portal was told that adobe will Not honor the sales rep & web site which both said we are eligible for the free upgrade.  We asked for a full refund and will not longer be using any new adobe products.  We went back to 9 pro forms work fine and adobe lost $.  Nice work adobe - lie to customers and then act surprised that the customers want their $ back!  They told us to just toss their software DVD in the trash where IT belongs, so we did!
    Cheers,
    Actiondan

  • Extending a document in Adobe Acrobat if you have purchased and own LiveCycle Reader Extensions

    I work for an organization that has purchased adobe livcycle designer suite which includes Livecycle reader extensions. However we do not really have a need (besides perhaps per the EULA), nor the technical support to extend reader documents using the server based LiveCycle Reader extensions. We will definitly be collecting info from over 500 receipients so per the adobe acrobat license agreement:
    16.8.3 For any unique Extended Document, Customer may only (a) Deploy that Extended Document to an unlimited number of recipients, but Customer shall not extract data from more than five hundred (500) instances of such Extended Document (or any hardcopy representation of that Extended Document) that contains data from a recipient; or (b) Deploy an Extended Document to no more than five hundred (500) recipients without limits on the number of times Customer may extract data from a recipient from that Extended Document. Obtaining additional licenses to use Acrobat Standard, Acrobat Pro, or Adobe Acrobat Suite shall not increase
    the foregoing limits (that is, the foregoing limits are the aggregate total limits regardless of how many additional licenses to use Acrobat Standard, Acrobat Pro, or Adobe Acrobat Suite the Customer may have obtained). For the avoidance of doubt, if Customer purchases another Adobe product or service that allows Customer to send a greater number of PDF files or forms (e.g. Adobe FormsCentral or Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions), then the terms of that Adobe product or service shall supersede the terms of this Section 16.8.3
    Given the very last sentence, it sounds me like since my organization has provided me with a copy of LiveCycle Reader extensions I can extend the adobe document using adobe acrobat if I wish, and still be within the terms of the EULA, is this the correct interpretation? I would prefer not to actually use the LiveCycle reader extensions as once again we do not have the technical support, nor the need for this server based solutions.

    Hi Ben,
    Thank you for providing the detailed description of the problem.
    The contents of the password-protected PDF document are encrypted (so that nobody can read the contents until the correct password is entered).
    Acrobat DC mobile products (for iOS and Android) have the known limitation where changes cannot be saved to encrypted PDF documents.  Therefore, users are not able to make any changes (e.g. adding comments/annotations or filling out forms) to encrypted PDF documents.
    Sorry for the inconvenience.

  • Can you create a form in Adobe XI without using formscentral?

    I am trying to create a form that does not fit with any of the templates offered by Adobe.  I used Adobe LiveCycle to create my form last time.  I now have Adobe XI and want to do a simialr type of form but none of the offered formats allow me the freedom of LiveCycle.  Is there a way I can still create a form without using FormsCentral?

    Hi,
    Tables are not currently supported in FormsCentral. Please cast your vote on the featue request at http://forums.adobe.com/ideas/1709. We take votes in consideration when planning new features.
    Thanks,
    Wenlan

  • Form Created in InDesign doesn't open in FormsCentral

    I'm relatively new to FormsCentral and I'm having a difficult time getting it work. I was supplied a form from my client. I took the PDF form into InDesign CS6 because there was some other changes that needed to be made. I added all the form fields and exported as an interactive PDF. When I try to open it or import it into FormCentrals, I get this error:
    FormsCentral could not import the PDF document because there was an error parsing the document.

    Same issue. I'm new to Acrobat & pretty new to Forms Central.
    I took a form from MSWord 2010 and convert to form in Acrobat XI. When I try to either "Distribute" from Acrobat via Forms Central, or even to "Import a PDF Form" from Forms Central, I get the same error message:
    "FormsCentral could not import the PDF document because there was an error parsing the document."
    I reviewed the article here on issues encountered while importing an existing PDF form but I don't see that there should be a conflict.
    Before anyone comments, I do not have InDesign and wasn't grandfathered into LiveCycle.
    Wanting to publish and put to use this week so would love any trouble-shooting tips!

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