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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-20T01:04:47+00:00

My customer actually stores his documents, which are single page automotive forfeits, in a

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My customer actually stores his documents, which are single page automotive forfeits, in a single MS Word document… this method is of course generating a huge file which is slow to open, not to talk about searches.

After a user compiles a document, he may need to print it to manually sign it. Then the document is scanned back and stored in PDF format. The document may be printed again to be
signed a second time by a manager. The doubly signed document is scanned again and saved
overwriting the singly-signed one.

The user wants to be able to search the document using a couple of search keys (the doc number and a sort of a SSN). That is the reason they are using a single file, to be able to search in the file using Word’s search feature.

I have to propose an IT solution. I was thinking about giving them a software tool that:

  • reads a pdf form/template; the template rarely changes
  • shows the template on the screen and allows the user to input his variable fields in the form
  • some of the fields must be defined as searchable
  • the user saves only the form fields, not the whole pdf.
  • the sw is able to rebuild a document by coupling the template with the fields. I have to find a way to tie the template with the saved fields, so that the template can change (versioning) without breaking the old documents
  • the tool allows to search in multiple documents, using the defined search fields
  • the tool allows to print the document to manually sign it; this is the hard part. When the document is signed cannot be changed anymore, but if the document is simply scanned and coupled with the form/fields pdf, then I’ll loose the benefits of only storing the data decoupled from the template. Should I only scan the signature and attach it to the document as an image?

What do you suggest to use?
Adobe XML Forms?
Adobe Forms Data Format?
An already existing software?
Other?

For the existing documents, I want allow the customer to import his huge MS Word file into the new system.

Thanks.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Sounds like you want a PDF form template that submits data to a dB that can be searched.

    OTOH, if you just save the PDFs, Acrobat Pro can generate an index file from a directory, that can be searched (from reader?). Yep, you can run searches on an index from reader, but can only build them with Acrobat.

    I prefer AcroForms to LiveCycle forms myself. There’s a lot more software out there that works with ’em. If you go with LiveCycle, you’re almost completely locked into Adobe. And Adobe server software is EXPENSIVE.

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