Adobe 9

The Adobe Acrobat Standard and Professional editions provide simple calculation options for PDF forms. Users can add a custom text field that sums, multiplies or calculates an average of the values entered on the form. Calculation options include computing the average value and maximum or minimum values in the range of data fields. Advanced calculations can be performed using JavaScript programming. However, users can build text fields containing incremental calculations and combine the calculated values in another text box.

Simple Calculations

1. Step 1

   Launch Acrobat Standard or Professional and open the desired PDF form.

2. Step 2

   Select “Edit Form in Acrobat” under “Forms” in the top menu bar to open a Forms toolbar.

3. Step 3

   Click the “Text Field” button in the Forms toolbar and draw a rectangular text box.

4. Step 4

   Double-click the newly created text field and type the name of the field under the “General” tab.

5. Step 5

   Click the box next to the “Read only” option.

6. Step 6

   Click the “Format” tab and select “Number” from the drop down menu next to “Format Category.” If applicable, select the numerical settings, such as decimal places and currency symbol, in this tab.

7. Step 7

   Click the “Calculate” tab and select the option, “Value is the — of the following fields.”

8. Step 8

   Select whether the calculation is a sum (addition), product (multiplication), average, minimum or maximum from the drop down menu.

9. Step 9

   Click the “Pick” button, select the form fields to be used in the calculation and click the “OK” button.

10. Step 10

    Click the “Close” button to save the text box.

11. Step 11

    Click the “Preview” button in the Forms toolbar to enter sample values and test the calculation(s).

12. Step 12

    Select “Save” or “Save As” under “File” to save the updated PDF form.

Complex Calculations

13. Step 1

    Click the “Text Field” button in the Forms toolbar and insert a text box. Note: Separate text fields will contain a mathematical component of the calculation.

14. Step 2

    Double-click the text box and click the “General” tab.

15. Step 3

    Type an identifiable name for the text field, click the “Read only option” and select “Hidden” from the drop down menu next to “Form Field” if you do not want to display the calculation. For example, type “Quantity x Unit Price1″ for the field to identify the value as an item calculation.

16. Step 4

    Click the “Format” tab and select “Number” from the drop down menu next to “Format Category.” Select other options for the number.

17. Step 5

    Click the “Calculation” tab, select “Value is the — of the following fields” and choose the type of calculation for this mathematical component from the drop down menu (i.e., sum, product, average, maximum, minimum). For example, choose “product (x)” to multiply entered values in the “Quantity1″ and “Unit Price1″ fields.

18. Step 6

    Click the “Pick” button, choose the fields for this calculation and click the “OK” button.

19. Step 7

    Repeat steps 1 to 6 to create a separate, hidden text field for other mathematical calculations (such as calculating each line item).

20. Step 8

    Repeat steps 1 to 5 to create a final calculation field (usually a sum) and click the “Pick” button.

21. Step 9

    Choose the calculation fields (such as “Quantity x Unit Price1″ and subsequent line calculations) and click the “OK” button.

22. Step 10

    Click the “Close” button and then click the “Preview” button on the Forms toolbar to test the calculations by entering sample values.