"Tabbing" between form boxes - Adobe Acrobat

Basically the tabs are set by the order you entered the fields. To fix them you have to use the set tab order. There are some options indicated in the manual that allows you to right click on the page thumbnail, select properties and set the tab order. There is also set tab order menu item if you right click on a field. However, I have never been able to get the item to activate and suspect that is what you need. In the past (what I just mentioned was for both AA6 and AA7), you were able to go though and select the fields in the proper order to set them. But then all of the fields displayed, not just the field type you are in.

This is not really an answer, but sort of a statement of frustration in looking for a solution. I assume some of the regular form folks will have the answer. Bill

I have been frustrated with setting TAB ORDER for a couple of days now. I've tried everything mentioned in the Forum to no avail including deleting "Traversal" entries in XML. (It did help, but I still have problems). From a use standpoint, I would say tab order ranks right near the top in terms of making this product a winner or loser. I'll keep watching the Forum responses, but so far, this continues to be a major bug.
NMH

Hopefully one of the regular form developers will drop by to help. In the meantime, you might also check at either PlanetPDF or the PDFZone.

Well...shoot.

That's about all I can say.

I'll try working on it from here but I doubt I'll have much success. My experience with acrobat is minimal. If you guys come up with anything, please let me know.

Thanks-

This is right out of the Acrobat 8.0 Professional Help:

In the Pages panel, you can set the order in which a user tabs through form fields, links, and comments for each page.

Click the Pages button on the left.
Select a page thumbnail, and choose Page Properties from the Options menu.

In the Page Properties dialog box, click Tab Order, and select the tab order: Option Description
Use Row Order Moves through rows from left to right, or right to left for pages with a right-to-left binding.

Use Column Order Moves through columns from left to right and from top to bottom, or right to left for pages with a right-to-left binding.

Use Document Structure Moves in the order specified by the authoring application.

Note: For structured documents—PDFs that were created from desktop publishing applications or that contain tags—it’s best to select the Use Document Structure option to match the intention of the authoring application.

If the document was created in an earlier version of Acrobat, the tab order is Unspecified by default. With this setting, form fields are tabbed through first, followed by links and then comments ordered by row.

That's great.

I have Acrobat 7. I guess it's time to upgrade.

dweinin

Changing the tab order is easy once you learn the secret; unfortunately, Adobe does not make it obvious. The following applies only to AcroForms, I'm not familiar with Designer Forms.

First of all, on the Advanced Editing Tool Bar you must have the Select Object Tool selected (or Tools > Advanced Editing > Select Object Tool). Then Right Click on any field, this makes the Set Tab Order feature active so you can select it. Begin clicking starting with the field you want to be number 1 and continue clicking fields in your preferred order.

One caution, if you mess up or want to revise the tabbing order, this is the other secret.

With the Select Object Tool selected, right click on any field and select, Set Tab Order. Then with the Control key pressed, click the field prior to the field where you want to start renumbering, then select each field in the new order. For example, you have 4 fields tabbing in the order of 1, 4, 3, 2, and you want to change them to 1, 2, 3, 4. With the Select Object Tool selected, right click on any field and select Set Tab Order. Then with the Control key pressed click on the last field that is in the correct order (in your case it would be field number 1), this will initiate the renumbering sequence. Now release the Control key and begin your new sequence, clicking the field you want to be number 2 and continue in your new sequence. Also, please note, for this to work the Page Properties Tab Order must be set to Unspecified (Right click the Page thumbnail > Page Properties > Tab Order).

Hope this isn’t too confusing.

Henry

I thought I remembered something like that, but it is not in the manual and I did not remember the trick to provide the info. Glad you knew. Bill