XFA form frustrations are nothing new and understanding how to edit, convert, flatten to get them to work properly is something we help customers with all the time. Whether you are working with static XFA or dynamic XFA forms, we can help guide you through managing them in your workflows.
First Thing’s First: What is an XFA Form?
XFA, or XML Forms Architecture, is a set of proprietary XML specifications to be used with web forms. XFA forms can be created and managed using the Adobe Experience Manager, which was previously known as Adobe LiveCycle Designer software. XFA can be embedded in a PDF, and it is mostly used to edit forms and save changes for filled-in forms.
Unlike AcroForms, XFA forms allow for text reflow, so text fields in a form can be resized to allow more content if needed. XFA forms can either be static, which do not allow for interactivity, or dynamic, where information can be entered into a form field, and based on that information, another relevant form field can appear.
Beware: Understanding XFA Limitations
XFA was deprecated in the new PDF 2.0 format and is not permitted for use with special ISO formats for PDF documents, including PDF/A, PDF/E, PDF/X, PDF/UA, and PDF/VT. XFA is also not supported on mobile devices. Due to these limitations, most PDF forms documents today use AcroForm, as it is compatible with a much wider range of software applications, as well as with Acrobat itself.
But some industries, i.e., government institutions, are still using legacy XFA forms today, and often need to convert them to a more widely used format like AcroForm or standard PDF to make them easier to use or to use them at all.
The Fix: How to Edit XFA Forms
If you are working with XFA forms, here are the solutions we recommend:
Convert XFA forms to AcroForm
- This conversion allows the form to be recognized by Acrobat, and therefore you can open, edit, and otherwise manipulate the form to your liking.
- With AcroForms, it is easier to add comments to the form, highlight text, circle items, or markup the content to meet your needs.
Flatten XFA and AcroForm documents into regular PDF documents
- XFA flattening is another way of referring to converting XFA forms to a standard PDF document.
- Converting XFA forms to a PDF “flattens” the document data into one layer, making these PDF files usable with any standard PDF software.
Read How to Convert XFA to PDF >>
If you need to simplify the process of working with XFA forms, check out PDF Forms Flattener, a low code tool that can convert or flatten your XFA documents, including batch processing for multiple files.
Got more questions about XFA? Contact us today and our team of PDF experts will be happy to help!
