auto field detection

[David_Reiser@adobeforums.com]

When I try to create a new form from an existing pdf file in Acrobat 8 Pro on a Mac, the "Run Auto Field Detection" option is always grayed out.

I can't find any mention of this option in the help file.

What am I supposed to do to have the auto detect option available?

[Steve_Werner@adobeforums.com]

It's working for me reliably. Is this one particular file? Is the file locked? Do you have security set?

The command shouldn't be grayed. Even if it can't find form fields, it will tell you so in a dialog box.

[David_Reiser@adobeforums.com]

I'll try some other files. The file I'm trying isn't locked, because I can manually place fields. In File/Properties/Security, the pop-up reports "No security" and all the fields in the lower part of the dialog are shown as "allowed".

The file is a pdf created from a scan on a Canon Lide 30 scanner (not recognized for scanning directly into Acrobat because it does not have a TWAIN driver). I have tried resaving the pdf from Acrobat, but I still can't choose auto detection.

[graffiti]

The file is a pdf created from a scan on a Canon Lide 30 scanner




You need to OCR the form first. Acrobat is just seeing a big image so it cannot recognize the fields.

[David_Reiser@adobeforums.com]

You need to OCR the form first.




Thanks. Now at least Acrobat will attempt to identify fields. It doesn't do a very good job on the form I have -- but the form design isn't all that good in the first place. I guess I'm stuck with a bunch of hand field placements.

Any suggestions on where to find documentation about optimizing the paper form-to-pdf form conversion results?

[Steve_Werner@adobeforums.com]

There is a little help at the beginning of this tutorial:

<http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2007/form_field_recognition/>

[Jon Bessant]

Yes, OCR from scanned data and then usig the recognise feature is like a
double-recognise - tough to get working with sub-standard originals but
GREAT if you have live objects inside a skeleton form as such ...

Jon

[David_Reiser@adobeforums.com]

Thanks for the pointer to the tutorial. That helps my understanding quite a bit. Again, my form seems to be a bit pathological, so I still only get about 6 out of 40 fields recognized. The print quality on the original is pretty good, but the small font size on the labels probably gets in the way.