How to Increase PDF Form Character Limit (5 Steps)

By Cooper Temple

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Portable Document Format (PDF) documents are a popular format for creating, distributing and submitting forms. PDF forms offer a wide variety of form fields, including buttons, drop-down menus and text fields. Using a PDF writing program, form fields can be edited in a variety of ways, including the size and number of characters allowed in a field. By downloading and using a PDF writing application, such as Adobe LiveCycle, you can easily increase the character limit of a PDF form.

Step 1

Download and install a PDF writing program that comes with a form designer. Most PDF writing programs are fee-based, but there are freeware versions available (see the Resources section of this article.) Adobe LiveCycle designer is used in the following steps.

Step 2

Launch LifeCycle Designer and open the PDF form in which you want to change the character limit. Click on the “File” menu and select “Open.” Select the appropriate folder in which the form is saved using the “Look in” drop-down menu. Click on the form name and then click on the “Open” button.

Step 3

Click on the field in which you want to increase the character limit. After the field is highlighted, right-click within the field. Click on the “Palettes” option and select “Object.” This action launches a window to the right of the PDF form.

Step 4

Click on the “Field” tab from the “Object” palette. Highlight the number in the “Max Chars” field and type a new number to increase the maximum number of characters allowed in the field. There is no limit to the number of characters that may be allowed in a text field. To make the number of characters unlimited, uncheck the box next to the “Limit Length” category.

Step 5

Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each field in which you want to increase the character limit. Don’t forget to save the changes to the form by clicking on the “File” drop-down menu and selecting “Save.”

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