Date pickers, picture fields and Send buttons in PDF forms

Three kinds of field make a PDF form feel less like paper and more like something built for the screen: date fields with a calendar, picture fields, and Send buttons. PDF by Zaweba can make and fill all three, and each one solves a small but real annoyance for the person filling the form.

Date fields with a calendar

Typing dates is where forms go wrong. People write them in different orders, use different separators, or simply make a slip. A date field in PDF by Zaweba shows a calendar, so the person picks the day instead of typing it. The result is a date in one consistent shape every time.

There is a second convenience: earlier entries are offered again. If you fill the same kind of form often, perhaps a weekly timesheet or a delivery note, dates you used before come back as suggestions, which saves a few clicks each time.

When you make a form, use a date field for every date question rather than a plain text field. It costs nothing extra in Prepare form, and combined with a date format it means any data you export later holds dates you can sort and compare properly.

Picture fields

A picture field is a button that asks for a picture when clicked. The person filling the form clicks the box, chooses an image, and it appears in place. That suits forms that need a photo of the applicant, a company logo on an order form, or a picture of an item for an insurance claim or a lost property report.

When you add one, size it to the shape of picture you expect. A passport photo box should be taller than it is wide, a logo box often wider. Make it big enough that the picture is clear once printed.

A word of advice for filling them: pick an image of sensible size. A huge photo straight from a camera can make the PDF much larger than it needs to be. If that happens, Reduce file size can bring the document back down.

Send buttons

A Send button gives the form a way to be returned. When clicked, it either posts the form's values after asking the person first, or it opens an email. That asking step is important. Nothing leaves the PC without the person agreeing to it, which fits with the way PDF by Zaweba keeps your documents on your own computer by default.

For a form you send out to many people, an email button is often the simplest option, since everyone has email. Posting values suits organisations that have somewhere to receive them.

Putting them together

A good form uses these fields where they help and nowhere else. A booking form might have text fields for name and address, a date field for the arrival date, no picture field at all, and a Send button at the bottom. A membership form might add a picture field for a photo. There is no need to use every kind just because it is there.

Build the form in Form, then Prepare form, place the fields, set the tab order so the Send button comes last, and test it yourself. Pick a date, add a picture, and click Send to see the question it asks. Then clear the form and share it.

If people fill it in other programs

The person filling your form may not use PDF by Zaweba. Fields made in the app carry standard calls that other readers run too, which helps your formats and calculations carry over. Even so, it is worth opening your finished form in another reader once, so you know how it behaves for someone who doesn't have PDF by Zaweba.

These three field kinds are small touches, but they are the difference between a form people tolerate and one they find easy.