How to Combine Bold and Regular Text in Acrobat Form Fields
Question details
The user needs to format a single PDF form field to display a combination of bold and regular text, specifically to emphasize certain extracted data like names.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Creating or editing a custom PDF form that merges data from multiple fields into a single destination field while highlighting specific parts in bold.
- Observed behavior
- Standard form fields only display plain text. Achieving mixed text weights within a single text field requires enabling rich text and applying a script.
Ensure you have access to Adobe Acrobat Pro, as the free Adobe Reader version does not support editing form properties or creating custom calculation scripts.
Use Rich Text Formatting and JavaScript in Acrobat
Enable the rich text option for the target field and write a custom calculation script using the event.richValue property to apply different font weights.
Acrobat allows text fields to contain rich text. To mix font weights like bold and regular in a single field, you need to construct an array of text spans in JavaScript. By specifying the fontWeight property (700 for bold, 400 for regular) for each part of the combined text, you can dynamically format the merged content.
Right-click the destination form field in Form Editing mode, select 'Properties', navigate to the 'Options' tab, and check the 'Allow Rich Text Formatting' box.
Switch to the 'Calculate' tab within the same Properties dialog. Select the 'Custom calculation script' radio button and click 'Edit' to open the JavaScript editor.
Build an array of rich-text spans for your data. For example, create span variables: var span1 = {text: "Name: ", fontWeight: 700}; var span2 = {text: getField("NameField").value, fontWeight: 400};
Apply your created array to the field event by adding 'event.richValue = [span1, span2];' at the end of your script. Click 'OK' and close the properties window.
Edit and Format PDF Text Easily with WPS Office
If writing complex JavaScript calculation scripts in Acrobat seems too complicated, you can use WPS PDF to directly edit text, create forms, and apply rich text formatting (like bold and regular text) intuitively from the visual toolbar.
- 1. Open the PDF File: Launch WPS Office and open your PDF document using the built-in WPS PDF application.
- 2. Enter Edit Mode: Navigate to the 'Edit' tab located on the top ribbon and select 'Edit Text' to make the document's content editable.
- 3. Select the Target Text: Use your cursor to highlight the specific text, words, or names you wish to emphasize within the text block.
- 4. Apply Bold Formatting: Click the 'Bold' icon in the floating text properties menu, leaving the unselected text in a regular font weight.
- 5. Save Your Changes: Click 'File' and then 'Save' (or press Ctrl+S) to permanently save your formatted document.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I mix text formatting in standard PDF text fields without scripting?
No, standard PDF text fields natively display only plain text. To mix fonts, colors, or weights (like bold and regular) in a single dynamic field, you must enable the 'Allow Rich Text Formatting' option and use scripting to assign the formats.
Why isn't my rich text calculation script working in Acrobat?
Ensure that the destination field has the 'Allow Rich Text Formatting' option checked in its Properties > Options tab. Also, verify that your JavaScript assigns the array to 'event.richValue' rather than 'event.value'.
What does fontWeight 700 mean in Acrobat JavaScript?
In Acrobat's rich text scripting model, 'fontWeight' defines the thickness of the font characters. A value of 400 is standard or regular text, while 700 renders the text as bold.
Can I combine bold text pulled from multiple different form fields?
Yes. By utilizing the 'getField("FieldName").value' function in your calculation script, you can capture values from various fields, assign them to different span objects with specific font weights, and merge them into one rich text array.
