by Sally Cox 
During the first article in this series, I covered the process of creating a PDF. In the second article you learned how to add text fields to a postcard PDF. (You can download the PDF from that article if you want to follow along.)
This time I'd like to show you how to add a drop-down menu to the PDF form.
Below is an image of the postcard you learned to modify last time. There are three text fields and I've named them: "Date," "Name," and "City."
When the user submits the form, the data you get back is "Name=Value." If you leave fields unnamed and the user enters "Reno" as their city, you will receive "Text Field 3=Reno." It would make sense to receive "City=Reno." So please, name those text fields!
Adding a Dropdown Menu
I need a drop-down menu for the user to pick their state. In this example, I will just include a few states, but you will get the idea.
Note: Because I already turned the PDF into a form and I am just editing it, I chose Prepare Form and was taken directly to the form tools.
I clicked the Dropdown List tool from the Forms toolbar (6th from the left--blue when it's selected).
Click and drag to positon the drop-down object.
Editing the Properties
Double-click or right-click the object to edit its Properties.
On the General tab, name the drop-down list and add a Tooltip.
Tooltips are helpful in two key scenarios:
- If the user is disabled and is using a screen reader to read the content. The screen reader cannot read images but the tooltip will be read, so the user can know what content is intended there. You want your content to be accessible to everyone, don't you?
- If images are disabled by the user (some people do it for speed, although images are important to me!)
From the Appearance tab, choose a Fill and Stroke. I reduced the text size a bit, too (the default is 12, which is gigantic). You can preview the form and make changes as needed.
I usually skip the Position tab, but you can use this section to accurately pinpoint the drop-down's location on the page.
I added my responses via the the Options tab. (I tend to make Item and Export Value the same but you can name the Item differently if you wish.)
Tip: I typically add a final response called "Select One." It appears at the bottom of the list and I want it to be the default, so I move it up the list by selecting it and tapping the "Up" button.
The response that is highlighted will be the default--in the example above, the user will see Select One as the default.
Here is the Final drop-down List
Here is the postcard with the drop-down list added.
Next time: Submit buttons.
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