About printed forms and forms for use in Word

A form is a structured document with spaces reserved for entering information. You design the form, and others can fill it in on paper or in Microsoft Word. You can then compile the information you collected.

Kinds of forms

You can create:

A form that is printed and then filled in on paper. You can insert blanks for users to complete and check boxes that list choices, such as Yes and No.
A form that users view and complete in Word. This form is distributed and collected by means of e-mail or posting on a network location. You can use text fields, check boxes, and drop-down lists. You can compile data from this form and then analyze it in Microsoft Access or Microsoft Excel.
Some advantages to using forms that users complete in Word are that Word can automatically verify user input (such as an employee number), update other fields based on the input in an associated field (such as the city and region associated with a particular postal code), and offer Help messages to make the form easier to fill out.

Designing a form

When designing a form, you can sketch a layout first, or use an existing form as a guide. Many forms, such as contracts, consist solely of text, with form fields inserted throughout the document so users can provide specific information. Other forms are based on a grid, in which you can combine features such as:

Tables to help you align text and form controls.
Tables generally work well when you're creating a form with a simple layout. However, if the layout is more complex, you can insert several tables and separate them with blank paragraphs; use the Draw Table tool; or use nested tables.
Text boxes. These are useful when you want to precisely position a block of text, a graphic, or a chart. You can then format the text box borders, background color, text color, and so on.
Borders and shading. These can designate text areas to be filled in, and generally help make key elements in the form attractive and easy to follow.

Advanced options for creating forms

If you want to create more powerful forms, you can use the form controls in the Control Toolbox, which are ActiveX controls.

To use these controls, a knowledge of Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications is recommended so that you can customize their behavior.

Note The controls in the Control Toolbox do not function in many browsers, so it is recommended that you use them for forms that will be filled out in Microsoft Word, not for Web forms.