[Shane[_2_]]

Well, nothing about tables in general is clunky or unweildy. I don't have
the option of fixed column widths or row heights as the table has to conform
to a previously-created setup and many of the places for writing information
are not laid out in an easy grid format.
I'll end up having to cover the entire page with a table, then use lots of
merges and splits to get the cells in the right places and the right sizes.

I can do it, but it got me curious about whether or not one can create
form-fields that can be placed like text-boxes.

Shane


"Terry Farrell" wrote in message
...
Hi Shane

I'm not sure why you would think tables as clunky as a table set with
fixed column widths and fixed row heights would be appropriate and robust.
Insert text boxes making sure that they are set for an appropriate number
of characters so that they don't exceed the table cells but are sufficient
for the required information. You could even use the drop down box with
fixed choices where applicable. Once saved and protected as a table, users
only have access to the text boxes and it will be as robust as any other
option. If you bookmark the text boxes, you can automate information
retrieval too.

--
Terry Farrell - MS Word MVP

"Shane" Shane•Varnadore@DoYouLikeGreenEggsAndSpamBoweBell Howell.com
wrote in message ...
Greetings,
Using Word 2003 sp2 in Windows XP sp2.

I've been asked to use a PDF file with heavy tables/lines and limited
text to create a 'form our users can fill out and save electronically'
I use Acrobat and so can create "data fields" in that program, but the
end-users don't have Acrobat and so we've opted to use Word. No biggie,
should be workable.

Converting to Word has been... unpleasant. So I hit on the idea of
saving the PDF as a JPG and using it as a background. That way I figured
I could put in some 'data entry' fields in the right places and people
can fill out the form. The difficulty is that text boxes are not real
familiar to our end-users who would likely move them and/or delete them
while trying to enter text.
.
I tried a "Text Form Field" but that's based on the formatting of the
document text (It seems I have to put it on a line, and hitting 'Tab'
simply moves the cursor one tab-space), so I won't end up with something
they can open, fill in a field, hit 'Tab' to get to the next field, and
go from there.

Ultimately, I suppose I could create an 'invisible' table with
appropriate cells locked, but that's a rather heavy, clunky way to work.

Is there a way to insert something similar to the Text Form Field that
doesn't rely on the actual paragraph formatting? I need something I can
place anywhere, regardless of text formatting (There won't BE any text on
this document, just the background and the fields). Ideally, I'd want to
be able to have them open the document and find the cursor in the first
field, then when they fill it out and hit Tab or Enter, it would go to
the second field and on from there.

I think I was able to do this in WordPerfect, but I've not used it in
years.

Any ideas?? I figure there's some rather obvious thing I'm just missing!

Thanks,

Shane