Creating intelligent forms can be challenging. Forms have to present critical information in a compact format. Interactive forms that respond to data entry by the user require some programming. Dynamic forms also have to work seamlessly with the database that collects customer information. Plus, forms need to be designed well to eliminate confusion and entice completion by the user.

As shown in this book, LiveCycle Designer addresses the many objectives of forms creation. It offers a digital handshake between the graphic designer and the data programmer. LiveCycle Designer lets form designers create more compelling and dynamic documents than is possible with Acrobat or Microsoft Word. Forms created with LiveCycle Designer automatically expand to accommodate different amounts of data and report that information back to a database. The new version of LiveCycle Designer (ES4) allows for the first time forms to be deployed in HTML5 format, so they can be used on a wider array of devices (page sizes can adjust to smaller screens) and in a wider range of software systems (no special reader or plugin needed to use them, just a Web browser).

Adobe LiveCycle Designer: Creating Dynamic PDF and HTML5 Forms for Desktop and Mobile Applications shows design strategies as well as the technical underpinnings of PDF and XFA (Adobe XML Forms Architecture), the tools necessary to create intelligent forms.