interactive pdf with form fields

[patbaer]

form fields and interactive pdf export would be nice

[kgq]

Totally agree with this.

[Haba_Lunga]

it‘s a must. i hope it will be added.

[RitaV]

Please, add this. It's the only thing I use in Indesign. It's a sale point for me. 

[BalsallHeathen]

+1  I produce interactive PDFs from all my current documents. This is an essential for me too

[stmartin]

Please add this.

[Ca5pian]

Currently the whole PDF export is bare-bones. I'm crossing my fingers there is a team on this as that are not only making decent interactive PDFs as soon as possible but also go above and beyond for accessibility too. For me it's essential if I want to jump ship. It's just not right preventing such a huge number of people using a document (and it's a legal requirement in many countries too).

[edesigned]

As for me this is becoming more and more important. I notice that loads of clients are starting to send people digital forms instead of the old fashioned 'paper by post'. Currently i have three projects running that require both hyperlinks as form-possibilities.

[Eden4]

Interactive is what I have been waiting on the release of Publisher for! Please add this feature, rollover images, links, forms, etc.

[Meehan]

INTERACTIVE PDF

Hello all. will there be interactive pdf feature built into affinity publisher

I hope so!

[ArtemToderian]

Yes, we do need interactive PDF

[Smee Again]

Definite necessity for me. I create many forms for use in my dealings with the court system. Apparently my printing is "unreadable" in one of the courts I deal with, so I create forms to print everything in order to make it easier to read (you know, all of us trained draftsmen have terrible unreadable handwriting) and avoid delays in processing writs, agreements, etc. because of poor penmanship.

I'm still using your latest legacy product, and it will serve until such time as this feature might be added, along with epublishing.

Then I could pass on PPX9 to my daughter for her ebooks.

[dolfonzo]

Oh, please include this on the future roadmap...I decided to switch from ID to Publisher, but forms, where clients can add some text would be crucial for me to have the entire functionality I'm using right now in ID. Thanks! Keep it up...

[Warman]

I do not know if this recommendation of form field to be created using Affinity publisher was ever considered by Serif.

[eluengo]

it would be very wellcome.... using one only tool (AFPUB) instead of two (AFPUB+pdfFormCreatingApp) with the advantages of fine tuning design all in one.

please, if possible, put it in AFPUB roadmap (and not too late....)

thnx

[nine]

+1 from me.
would be really helpful.
thx

Edited September 8, 2019 by nine

[Smee Again]

Perhaps the lack of a response is a sign that this is a no go. Since 90% of my work involves interactive PDF forms, I guess I'm stuck with PagePlus until I find another solution.

That's strike 2.

Strike 1 was no support for exporting epubs.

Anyone know of a solution other than the two aforementioned programs?

[Tourmaline]

On 9/25/2019 at 9:03 PM, Smee Again said:

Perhaps the lack of a response is a sign that this is a no go. Since 90% of my work involves interactive PDF forms, I guess I'm stuck with PagePlus until I find another solution.

That's strike 2.

Strike 1 was no support for exporting epubs.

Anyone know of a solution other than the two aforementioned programs?

The lack of response just means they don't comment on roadmaps. 

 

We'll see what's next in the 1.9 update.

There's a lot of people demanding their features to be includes asap, so what to include next?

[Smee Again]

3 hours ago, Tourmaline said:

The lack of response just means they don't comment on roadmaps.

. . . and thus my statement began with "Perhaps."

"Possibly but not certainly" or "maybe". Could have just as well wrote "One of many possibilities for the lack of response is . . . " but possibly implies all of that, so I didn't.

Not upset, just disappointed.

I have an old bit of Serif software that I hoped Publisher would replace --- but it hasn't yet done so.  About the only thing I'm able to do with Publisher at this time is write. I don't design magazine layouts.

I do speak in public and love to have my notes available --- along with needed reference material available at a click. From what I understand we can do this with Publisher IF we export it to a PDF.

A PDF is usually fine on my tablet, but really isn't convenient on my phone. If I increase the font size, then there is the problem of overflow and I have to continually scroll back and forth. Very inconvenient.

[Medical Officer Bones]

On 9/25/2019 at 12:03 PM, Smee Again said:

Perhaps the lack of a response is a sign that this is a no go. Since 90% of my work involves interactive PDF forms, I guess I'm stuck with PagePlus until I find another solution.

That's strike 2.

Strike 1 was no support for exporting epubs.

Anyone know of a solution other than the two aforementioned programs?

On Windows the answer is PDF-XChange editor. In the past I used to work with Acrobat Pro to create interactive fillable forms, but PDF-Xchange Editor is actually more usable than the "original" for this type of work. And full Javascript support.

I am a firm believer in a two-step process: design the document in a dedicated design/publishing app, then add the interactivity and form fields in a dedicated PDF form builder. The reason is simple: even if the design app supports inserting form fields and the like, it could never hope to compete with a specialist PDF form editor.

As for ePub export in Publisher: I hope for the best, but harbour no expectations at all. Besides, interactive FXL ePub files only work properly in Apple's ecosystem (iBooks reader), while on Windows, Linux, and Android such books break, because no good ePub reader exists which supports these. InDesign's FXL interactive ePub files are near to worthless to 90% of users.

Flowing ePub 2 output is however quite useful to have. But that means the output would differ completely compared to what is seen in Publisher: flowing ePubs' contents flow and adjust according to the screen size and user settings. Therefore it is debatable how useful such output would be in Publisher. To be honest, I never used InDesign's non-FXL epub export and instead opted to export text and import into Jutoh or Sigil. (Far more controllable and reliable in my experience.)

I would like to see plain old structured semantic html output from Publisher (no fancy CSS styling required but linked images would be with image quality export option), which is easily converted to flowing epubs with any of the above mentioned tools or even PanDoc.

Epub FXL output would be interesting to have once the reader software situation on OS platforms outside of Apple is resolved. But I am not holding my breath: I have been waiting for years now, and it only got worse since the demise of Readium on Chrome  due to Google's actions.

 

[garrettm30]

16 hours ago, Medical Officer Bones said:

Flowing ePub 2 output is however quite useful to have. But that means the output would differ completely compared to what is seen in Publisher: flowing ePubs' contents flow and adjust according to the screen size and user settings. Therefore it is debatable how useful such output would be in Publisher. To be honest, I never used InDesign's non-FXL epub export and instead opted to export text and import into Jutoh or Sigil. (Far more controllable and reliable in my experience.)

I agree. I see a lot of people requesting ePub export, and I do not wish to minimize their requests. Just my personal opinion, but I think fixed layout like printing and PDF is just a different thing from a free-flowing document, and it is best served with a dedicated solution. I have published books with InDesign, and I have also made eBooks from the same books, but I don't use InDesign's ePub export. I think ePup is such a different medium that it justifies going back to the text and reworking it afresh for a different purpose.

I'd be interested to know how the "big guys," the major publishers, do it. Obviously they would need to balance professional quality with time constraints, so their insight would be relevant.

[Smee Again]

21 hours ago, Medical Officer Bones said:

On Windows the answer is PDF-XChange editor. In the past I used to work with Acrobat Pro to create interactive fillable forms, but PDF-Xchange Editor is actually more usable than the "original" for this type of work. And full Javascript support.I am a firm believer in a two-step process: design the document in a dedicated design/publishing app, then add the interactivity and form fields in a dedicated PDF form builder. The reason is simple: even if the design app supports inserting form fields and the like, it could never hope to compete with a specialist PDF form editor.

Actually, I do a two step process as well except that I lay out the form in a design program then export to a graphic as most of my forms are produced by government agencies or local courts. Sometimes I open their form in the design program and export as a PNG graphic, other times I duplicate their form after scanning it in, then export as a PNG.

Then I import the graphic to PagePlus, place the fields in the appropriate places with the correct formatting export and export as a PDF. It takes time to create, but the results save me hours some days.

[Grant Botes]

I, too, would really love the same kind of interactive PDF form design tools as in the earlier Serif PagePlus app. One of the things that I often need is to open an existing PDF form into a layout app to make changes. Very often, these are legacy forms of one type or another and the only available copy is the PDF itself. Recently, I found this little gem that enables me to do just that: https://code-industry.net/masterpdfeditor/

I use it in conjunction with one of the dedicated PDF apps like Adobe Acrobat or Foxit PhantomPDF.

[jxsl13]

must have.

[Joz]

+1