Q: What is the difference between standard PDF forms (Acroforms) and Adobe LiveCycle Forms?
A: Standard PDF forms (Acroforms) are the most commonly seen fields in PDF documents. Standard PDF forms are supported by nearly every single viewer and contain all of the standard fields such as text fields, drop downs, buttons, etc… PDF Studio fully supports creating & editing all of the standard forms specified in the Adobe PDF specifications.
Adobe LiveCycle Forms are Dynamic XFA forms that can integrate forms with core business systems by using advanced data binding to XML schemas, web services, databases, and XML data files. These are complex and uncommon PDF forms that are designed to be rendered dynamically from the drawing and layout information present in the XFA definition. LiveCycle forms are proprietary to Adobe and so will only work with Adobe products. Beginning with Acrobat XI, LiveCycle designer is no longer packaged with Acrobat and instead sold as a separate Enterprise level software package.
