Leveraging a Document of Record Template to Generate a Print Version of Your Adaptive Form

Last time we looked at the simplest and fastest way to generate a print version of an adaptive form, the auto-generate feature. Although this is the easiest way to get a print version for your data capture it is very restrictive on the final output of the print document. Rarely is the out of the box auto-generate feature enough to satisfy a business print requirement.

We can expand on the auto-generate feature be leveraging a different document record template. When we first explored the different attributes which could be customized within the auto-generate feature we did not look at the template properties, instead to reduce effort and time we leveraged the default document of record template.

Out of the box there is a default template provided by Adobe so that you can create a print version without any configurations. Although this does give you the ability to start generating print ready documents most organizations have a strict branding guideline that dictates how the elements need to appear on the final version, which are not met with this base template.

The document of record template holds the instructions on how field types in the form should appear in the print ready document, like how the theme specifies how the element should appear on screen. Creating the document of record template is done outside of the Adobe Experience Manager web interface and instead is created within the desktop application, Adobe Designer. Unlike most documents created in Designer the document of record template is not a pixel perfect layout. The document of record template does not define the exact position and appearance for each individual element but rather defines how each element type would appear.

Although it does take time and effort to create document of record template you are able to define a guide on how print elements should appear. This time effort is also an upfront cost that can be leverage with other adaptive forms as well. Leveraging the auto-generate document feature with a custom template does often meet many business requirements for print versions of their adaptive forms.