tutorial part:
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how to create

Business Forms

The Form Grid

If you don't feel like learning a new application just for creating professional forms, and you happen to have Adobe Indesign installed, you can download our Indesign template, created to follow the "1/10x1/6 inch standard". Use this document as your template, and make sure your form elements snap to the background grid.

You can also create your own form grid if your favourite application supports it. Simply change the grid settings into the ones shown in the picture to the right.

Note: If you're creating forms for the web, you can "afford" to use other colors than white as background, instead making the background of the fields white. In the Indesign template I have included a paragraph Field text (white background) style, which will do just this. Type for example "Address" and click the paragraph rule, and you will instantly have an address field on white background and the right typeface in the right size, according to international forms standard.

And remember that check boxes are to take up 2x2 squares of the background grid, IF you want to follow form standards, that is.

Other than form elements, you should consider including these in your form as well:

• The header: who the form belongs to (you/your logotype).
  
• How the customer should fill out the form ("Move to the next field by pressing TAB" is NOT superfluous information!).
• How many pages the document contains (add 1 to this value if you're going to make the form submittable later on)
• How the participant should "submit" the form (print, fax, mail, or if you're using re:PDF, click the added send button).
• The footer: company info and address.
• What will happen after the form is submitted? Will there be a response eventually?
• If you're conducting a survey, will the results be published? Tell the participant when and where.

< Tutorial: How to create a form

An Example Form >