Technology Department - Technology How To's

How to Convert a Hard Copy Form to an Electronic One

To convert a hard copy form to an electronic form, do the following:

  1. Scan the form and save it as a file or scan it directly into Word.
    1. If you have a scanner that will scan an object directly into Word, this is recommended. Be sure to have a Word document open before you scan
    2. If you do not have a scanner that will scan an object directly into Word, save the scanned object as a file and Insert the picture file into Word.
  2. The object is now in Word.
    1. Change the Page settings to minimize the margins. Set all to zero, and then select Fix when the popup window appears.
    2. Format the object by right clicking on the object and selecting Format Picture.
    3. Click on Size. The size should not exceed 95%.
    4. Click on Layout and select Behind Text. Click OK.
  3. Right click on the object. This time choose Order followed by Send Behind Text.
  4. Control Home should place the cursor at the top of the page. From there you can press the Enter key until the cursor is on the appropriate line. If the object moves down with the cursor, click on it and move it back. Click off the object, and arrow down to where you left the cursor and continue placing the cursor by using the tab, space bar, and enter keys. Complete the form.
  5. It may be necessary to be creative with spaces to get the words to line up with the blanks.
    1. If the words are above the blanks, make the space above it larger.
    2. If they are below the line, decrease the size of the preceding space.

You may print this document and save it for future use.

Last Update 4/26/2002