Not sure if it can be done...

Question

Hello all...
I'm sorry if this has been discussed already, I haven't seen it yet...
I have created a pdf with forms, now I would like to distribute it to anyone though a website link. I would like any user to be able to open it, fill in forms, click submit and have it go to an e-mail address (Ideally) or to Acrobat.com. While in the distribute form dialog box in acrobat 9, there is only an option to insert an e-mail address then click send. What can I do if I want form distributed through a website? Thanks for any help...

Answer 1

There are two general approaches you can take:
1. Set up the form so that the form data gets submitted to the web server. You would have to have a process on the web server that accepts the form submission and does something with the data, such as store it in a database or include it in an e-mail message, just as you'd do with an HTML form.
2. Enable the form to be saved and e-mailed by Reader users. Acrobat Pro 8 and 9 are able to give documents the necessary usage rights, but certain restrictions apply. In particular, your client would only be able to extract information from no more than 500 returned forms. It is possible with Adobe's LiveCycle Reader Extension product to have unlimited use, but this comes at a much higher price. There is a third-party service, http://www.formrouter.com/pdf/readerextensions.htm, that will for a fee enable individual documents that can be processed without restriction.
I would tend to lean towards option #1. It is generally far more reliable and secure than e-mail, but does require some expertise in setting it all up. The user could receive the form data as an e-mail attachment, which could then be used to populate the form, which could then be saved and processed. If you don't want to do that, consider looking into the FormRouter service.
George