Work with automatic field detection

Overview

When uploading a new form to the authoring environment, Adobe Acrobat Sign evaluates the document and identifies landmarks on the page that indicate where candidate fields are likely needed.

Candidate fields that are in close proximity to a signature field type are further evaluated to determine if the field types are predictable, and will attempt to place the logical field type (for example: Full names, Signature dates, Titles, Companies).

Candidate fields can be accepted as placed, deleted, or converted to other field types by the author.

How it's used

Field detection is automatic when a document is sent to the Authoring environment. This includes the process for creating a template, a web form, or during an individual sending event.

• If candidate fields are identified, a "Place All Fields" pop-up dialogue is displayed at the top center of the authoring window.
  
• All pages in the document are evaluated and all fields are placed if the Place All Fields button is selected.
• Selecting the X at the upper-right of the pop-up closes the dialogue without placing any fields.

• If the field placement dialogue is closed and you want to redisplay it, select the Reset Fields link in the lower-right corner of the window (above the Back and Send buttons).

• If no candidate fields are detected, then the Place All Fields dialogue is not presented.

The author should evaluate each field to set the field properties, particularly if the agreement is designed for more than one recipient.

• Acrobat Sign does not intuit what the field name should be, so all fields have a generic name applied (for example: Custom Field 1). 
• Acrobat Sign cannot determine which recipient the field should be assigned to. By default, all fields are assigned to the first recipient in the recipient list.

It is recommended to first delete any extra fields that were placed incorrectly.

Then resize/move any fields that were misplaced.

Place any missed fields as required.

Once the form has only the fields needed, review each field in turn by opening it with a double click.

Provide a meaningful name so that reports are easier to read, and data-mapping is easier to design.

To rename a field, click the Edit icon next to the field name, and then type in the full name of the field.

If the form requires the first recipient to enter all content, then the default Assigned To value is exactly what you need.

However, if there is a need for the sender to prefill any fields, or if there are multiple recipients, the Assigned To field should be checked and adjusted as needed.

Another thing to evaluate at the field level is the Field Type.

Most placed candidate fields are Text fields. However, they can easily be converted to most of the other common single-line field types:

• Signature Fields
• Signer Info Fields
• Text Fields

Progress through the document, updating/verifying the fields as you go.

When all fields are in place, click Save, or Send to complete the authoring process.

If you are creating a template, the fields are fully editable from the Manage page.

If you leave the authoring environment before saving or sending, the document can be found on your Manage page in the Draft section, but all field placement is lost.

How to enable or disable

The Automatic Field Detection feature can be enabled or disabled at the Account and/or Group level by Acrobat Sign Support only.

Group level settings are permitted and will override the Account level values. 

Things to Know

Agreements with a total page count over 25 pages will not trigger automatic field detection.