To access PDF forms, you must have either the commercially available Adobe Acrobat, the free Adobe's Acrobat Reader or another PDF reader (see below for options) installed on your system.

 Download the latest version of Acrobat Reader for FREE

Standard Legal currently has two versions of PDF forms available, each operating with some slight differences (note that a software title uses either one or the other, but not both):

- the original PDF Version 4 (v4)
- a newly revised PDF Version 5 (v5).




To use the PDF FORMAT VERSION 4 Forms:

(Note that nearly all of Standard Legal's primary legal forms utilize PDF Version 5 as detailed below; however, there are still some state-created and provided forms that function as v4 described here.)

- Access a form by double clicking it or by using File>Open within Acrobat or Acrobat Reader to browse to and open the file directly. (Users of the full version of Adobe Acrobat may want to save a copy of each original form provided using SAVE AS before entering any information, so that a "clean" copy of each PDF file is available to use again later. If you do not remember to "save as" before entering information, the information can manually be deleted from each form field.

- Select the hand tool from the Acrobat toolbar menu. Use the hand tool to move the page around to view all the areas, if necessary.

- When the hand tool is positioned over the top of a form field, the hand tool becomes an I-beam tool for text input. (You can also select the "Highlight Fields" box in newer versions of Acrobat, and the form fields will be presented in color for easier selection.) Double-click the I-beam tool into the first form field, and type in the required information.

- Once the information is entered, press Tab to accept the information and move on to the next field. (Press Shift + Tab to go back to the previous field.)

- Some of the fields in the form will fill in automatically; the form is set up so that if a name or other information appears in more than one location in the document, that information only has to be entered once and the remaining fields are automatically populated with the same answer. HOWEVER, if this default information is not appropriate for a specific field, you must manually change the information by clicking the I-beam into that field and then deleting and typing the correct information.

- Once you have completed all of the fields, use your mouse to click into an area of the form that is not a form field before printing your form. If a form field is active (i.e. contains the blinking I-beam), the contents will not print! If the form is displayed within your web browser', be sure to use the printer button within Acrobat's toolbar menu to print the form -- NEVER USE THE PRINT BUTTON OF YOUR WEB BROWSER'S MENU.

ISSUE OF NOTE: THE FREE VERSION OF ACROBAT READER DOES NOT ALLOW THE USER TO SAVE THE FORM WITH THE ANSWERS ENTERED INTO THE FORM FIELDS OF VERSION 4 FORMS! USERS OF ACROBAT READER CAN ONLY TYPE THE ANSWERS INTO THE FIELDS AND THEN IMMEDIATELY PRINT OUT THE FORMS -- THE ANSWERS TO THE FORM FIELDS CANNOT BE SAVED IN VERSION 4 FORMS!

SOLUTIONS TO THIS ISSUE: the commercial version of Adobe Acrobat software (purchase required) allows its users to save a PDF with the answers entered within the form's fields. Users of this full commercial version of Acrobat can save a form and its answers, close the form, and then return later to complete unanswered or incorrectly answered fields.

There is another free solution to Reader's "no save" limitations: a program called FyTek PDF File Save allows Acrobat Reader users to save the content of completed forms using a work-around. CLICK HERE TO GET FYTEK PDF FILE SAVE FOR FREE. After downloading this software, simply double-click the installation icon and follow the instructions provided to install the software to your PC (no Mac version is available). Once the FyTek software is installed, click on the Windows Start button (in the lower left corner of the screen), and select Programs>FyTek>PDF File Saver>Documentation to get complete details on the installation and use of this software.

PDF users can also complete their work in a non-Adobe PDF program -- which is MUCH less expensive than buying the full version of Acrobat. Some PDF program options that still allow a form field user to save their work are PDFill ($19.95) or CutePDF Filler ($29.95).

If you do not wish to use the FyTek PDF Saver or purchase one of the commercial PDF programs, then IT IS CRITICAL THAT ACROBAT READER USERS CAREFULLY REVIEW EACH FORM IN ITS ENTIRETY BEFORE FILLING IT OUT! Review each form looking for questions that you might have to research to provide an answer. Then, find or determine the answers to ALL of these types of questions prior to starting, as you will not be able to save any of your answers within the form. (SUGGESTION: Acrobat Reader users may wish to print out a copy of the blank forms, hand-write the answers to each question as a first draft, then finish by typing the final answers into the forms and printing the final draft.)

CLICK HERE FOR A SAMPLE VERSION 4 ACROBAT PDF DOCUMENT

GET COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS v4 FORMAT (PDF Document)



To use the PDF FORMAT VERSION 5 Forms:

Standard Legal is constantly updating its software forms and is in the process of making all of its PDF format even more user friendly. We are halfway through converting all of our PDF legal forms to "Version 5".

The primary benefit of this new format is that it allows Acrobat Reader users (the FREE PDF software available here) to fill in the answers to the legal form fields and then SAVE the document with the fields fully completed and retained.

Also, this newly updated "Version 5" of our PDF forms handles the form field "prompt information" differently. Each form field in the PDF format has a corresponding "?" mark in a yellow circle that provides written guidance as to the wording or information that is to be entered into that specific line.

To use these form field prompts, follow these directions:

Hold the cursor over the "?" mark and the instructional information will appear for your review. (Or click the "?" to keep the instructions box open while moving the cursor away to complete the field, and then click the "X" in the corner of the box to close it when you are done.) Provide the requested information where required per the instructions and tab to the next field until the form is completed.

NOTE that some of the form fields do not have a "?" mark attached to them, as the information on these lines is automatically filled in for you.

CLICK HERE FOR A SAMPLE OF THIS VERSION 5 PDF FORMAT

GET COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS v5 FORMAT (PDF Document)





FORMS FORMAT #3: TEXT FILES