On or about 6/12/2006 11:36 PM, NoOp penned the following: > Giuseppe Castagno wrote: >> John, >> >> On 6/9/06, John Jason Jordan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> I know you can do this if you have Acrobat, but I don't. Also, I use >>> Linux (Ubuntu-64). What I want to do is create short documents (mostly >>> 1-10 pages, 20 pages max) as PDF files that can be e-mailed to >>> students. The students (using just Adobe Reader) will fill out the >>> answers and e-mail it back. The goals are 1) to create a paperless >>> homework system and, 2) have the students "hand in" homework that the >>> professor can actually read, as opposed to multiple-erased, smudged, >> >> Acrobat Reader, the free version, doesn't save filled in forms, you >> can only print them. Of course if the student has a PDF printer he/she >> can print the filled form and mail that back; >> > > Acrobat Reader 7.0 does. An easy example is to download a US Government > tax form (say a Form 1040): > > http://www.irs.gov/ > click Form 1040 and download as a PDF > enter data in the form and do a "Save As" > > Now whether you can create and save forms via OOo so that the PDF will > keep the form might be another story. I am not familiar enough with the > options for exporting to PDF: > > Submit forms in format: > Select the format of submitting forms from within the PDF file. > This setting overrides the control's URL property that you set in the > document. There is only one common setting valid for the whole PDF > document: PDF (sends the whole document), FDF (sends the control > contents), HTML, and XML. > > to say whether this will work or not. But I tried a test form that I > found via Google: > > http://www.schlegel.li/ebXML/direct-access/ebXML-CPA-form-0.1-openoffice-2.0.2-xform-for-windows.odt > [http://makeashorterlink.com/?B2462504D] > > and while the export to PDF funtion does export the form properly, it > cannot be saved due to the security settings in the form. > > The PDF security setting difference between the IRS Form 1040 and the > above form (when viewed in the PDF Document Properties|Security are: > > Above Form saved using OOo Extract to PDF: > > Printing: Allowed > Document Assembly: Not Allowed > Content Copying or Extraction: Allowed > Content Extraction for Accessibility: Allowed > Commenting: Not Allowed > Filling of form fields: Allowed > Signing: Not Allowed > Creation of Template Pages: Not Allowed > Submitting Forms: Not Allowed > > IRS Form 1040: > > Printing: Allowed > Document Assembly: Not Allowed > Content Copying or Extraction: Allowed > Content Extraction for Accessibility: Allowed > Commenting: Not Allowed > Filling of form fields: Allowed > Signing: Not Allowed > Creation of Template Pages: Allowed > Submitting Forms: Allowed > > The primary difference being that the Form 1040 allows: > Creation of Template Pages: Allowed > Submitting Forms: Allowed > > Perhaps someone that is more familiar with the OOo PDF extraction > features can advise on how those two security settings can be changed in > OOo. Once changed, the OP should be able to create the forms, export > them to PDF using the OOo PDF function, and have the students fill out > the PDF forms (using Adobe 7.0 Reader), save them, and send them back. > > The saved OOo PDF forms will accept changed data in the form field, so > the the alternative would be to fill in the form and then print as > another PDF using Ghostscript etc., but that would be somewhat > cumbersome. Note: I actually tested this without any difficulty using > PDFWriter and Acrobat 4.0; worked well, but defeats the OP's purpose of > having OOo do all the work and making it easy for his students to submit > their results.
Instead of Acrobat, you could have the students use the FREE 'Foxit Reader' program which will allow them to write on the PDF file using the 'typewriter' function, but not allow them to save the changes. They can print or e-mail the result to you. It's available at: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php -- Ed --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
