How to make a checkbox circle transparent

Question

I would like to use acrobat to insert checkbox fields on a heathcare form such as the one below.  I would like the checkbox option to be a circle that would circle the number but be transparent to show the number below it.  This may not be possible but I thought I would see if anyone has an idea.  Thanks.

Answer 1

AcroForms are the forms produced directly in Acrobat with the tools there. You can also get to Designer from Acrobat and create forms there. Once you go to Designer, you can not return to Acrobat for any editing since the Designer PDF is actually a XML package.
It sounds like you may have used the same selections as I did in AcroForms, though I think you used a check box and not a radio box. I used radio boxes that are a circle by default. The check boxes are squares by default. The basic difference is that the check boxes are either independent (with different names) or identical (with identical names). The radio boxes are either independent (with different names) or only one can be selected at a time (with identical names). Thus, if you name a group of radio boxes with the same name, but different responses, selecting any one will deselect all others with the same name -- probably what you want -- and the response or the name will be the one you have selected. You can change to a square if you want. In AA9 and such, the form will come up with a choice for the user to highlight all fields, in which case there will be a transparent color (typically light blue) for all fields. You can still see through it. When you select a radio button, the number under it will be hidden by the selected icon -- probably OK to clarify a selection. You could always move it to one side if you want, but I think that is the limit of what you can do. The appearance would be a lot like a scan form you fill in with a #2 pencil (like SATs or GREs).
I mentioned Designer since many folks get there without realizing it. Looks like you did not make it there, but you might want to explore that option on a copy of your form. Designer also has a separate forum named LiveCycle. The data files produced by AcroForms are typically FDF or XFDF (try exporting your data and look at the file differences). HTML is an option, but not as easy to use. Designer data files are XML files. The FDF, XFDF, and XML files can be imported to the form for printing/viewing/data management if you desire. There is no need to send the entire form, only the data. If you have the whole form sent, then you have to activate Reader Rights for users with Reader and come under the 500 use limit of the license (looks like that might be a problem for you, and the price to get around the limit is not something you really want to ask about unless you are flowing in cash).
Many folks try to use e-mail for form submission. This is prone to problems of having an e-mail package recognized or the computer setup for MAPI, depending on the version of Acrobat and the OS. It is just a potential problem that can be avoided by a web script submission. Your IT folks should be able to help create a short web script to accept the data file and save it for you. With the FDF toolkit, you can also manipulate the FDF data file to extract what you need to a database or elsewhere. There are a lot of options, but you will likely come upon a few more form issues like the one you asked about that will require a bit of a rethink of how you create the form.
Hopefully that answers your questions to some extent (even if not directly asked).