How to convert a Microsoft Excel Worksheet as a PDF Form

Quick question for all. I know how to convert spreadsheets to PDF, as we utilize various versions of Adobe professional. Will be testing 8.0 shortly, however I have a simple question (I hope). In our organization, there are over 500 forms created; many of which are either Excel or Word format. A lot of these forms have formulas in the cells to perform mathematical functions. When the user converts the existing spreadsheet, to PDF, I want to make sure that they will still be able enter data into certain cells in the new PDF. My question is where is this enabled? Is there a setting in the original XLS file, or is it somewhere in the new PDF file?

Adobe Prof is able to create fill-able forms including preforming calculations from any source documents including spreadsheets. However each form will have to be tailored in Adobe to give you the fill-able form you want. The alternative is to (a) carry on using Excel .xls but use protection & validation to make the forms more robust or (b) use Excel forms function & VBA script create the forms you want.

Definitely cannot be done from the Excel end. Adobe Acrobat 7.0 has a plug-in that allows you to convert a PDF document to a fillable form. Note the word "convert" cannot be done in PDF alone. Do a 'net search for "fillable pdf form" and see what you get.

Good way to start is to first convert your existing excel form to pdf and then open the resulting pdf in Adobe Designer. From there you can tailor fields as your requirements dictate. A solution is a little tricky to print the file, scan it and pass the character recognition. Advantage: it works even if the software does not recognize the format tiff or pdf only jpg or other image format. Disadvantage: you have to have a good feeling to have a good recognition. In any case, it is necessary that the format "array" is supported.

Look for Universal Document Converter. This is the most complete solution for converting PDF documents. Download the tool and install it. Open the Excel file in Microsoft Excel and click File > Print. Set the Universal Document Converter as the printer and click on Properties button. In the configuration panel, click Load Settings. Use the Open dialog box to choose Worksheet to PDF.xml and click Open. Click OK in the Print dialog box of Microsoft Excel to start converting. When the PDF file is ready, will be saved in the My Documents \ UDC Output Files by default.