What software is typically used to create professional-looking fill-in forms (application forms, etc.)? Here are some examples of what I have in mind:
[ul]
[li]Income Support claim form[/li][li]NSERC personal data form[/li][li]Canada Revune Agency T1 adjustment request[/li][/ul]
I don’t think most word processors or spreadsheets are well suited to this task — certainly it’s possible to make forms with them, but I think it would be rather tedious. I normally do my typesetting in LaTeX but I haven’t found any packages that produce output like the examples.
Is there some dedicated form-making software anyone could recommend? Would prefer something available for GNU/Linux but I suppose if it’s only available for Microsoft Windows I could make do with running it through WINE or a virtual machine.
You can create quite nice forms in Microsoft Word if you put the time in and know some of the more advanced formatting techniques. OpenOffice or NeoOffice should be able to do it too.
I’ve also use Adobe Illustrator to design forms where I needed more control. I think someone mentioned Inkscape as an open source vector drawing app similar to Illustrator.
You’re crazy. Fn crazy. It’s up there with the worst abuses of MS Word of all time.
This may be an obvious answer, but the default application for making Acrobat forms is… Adobe Acrobat. It does its intended job nicely. However, there are probably 3rd-party packages that attempt to the job even more effectively. A good workflow might be to start with a pro layout package like QuarkXPress, export to PDF, and add the actual fields in Acrobat. However, this really isn’t something I’ve worked with.
EDIT: I notice not all of your examples have actual editable fill-in boxes. Those are what Acrobat excels in. If you just need to draw some lines, any layout program will do (probably even LaTeX, even though it’s ridiculous crap, not a real program, etc). QuarkXPress is the pre-eminent one, also Adobe InDesign. The MS equivalent, btw, is Publisher.
Um … no, it’s not THE DEFAULT, and using Word or any word processor to create forms is not an “abuse.” Adobe Acrobat is good for electronic forms that will be filled out online. Using Acrobat to create forms from scratch is a lot clunkier than using a layout program or a word processor, though. That’s why Acrobat has a feature that lets you import a Word form and it will convert the fields to fill-in fields for you. Same with layout programs like InDesign, Publisher, etc. Using a word processor app is a LOT easier, and you still have options for making it electronic or just printing out.
I would bet hard cash that the second and third forms linked to were created in a word processor, with high chances that it was Word – there are just some “tells” that you wouldn’t get using a layout program. The first one could have been done in Word, could have been a layout program. The trick is that to produce forms like this in any program you have to know how to use some intermediate and advanced tools to do it right. In word processors, to start you need a good grasp of tables, which a lot of people who taught themselves by just bumping around the program isn’t going to have.
As for using a database program to create forms that will just be paper … THAT’S nuts.