Quik! Tips

This document contains QUIK! TIPS in bold blue font to help you quickly find the best practice for a particular topic. These tips are summarized below for your convenience.

Topic	Quik! Tip
Quik! New Account Process Solution	Quik! solutions offer straight-through processing and complete forms automation in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional methods.
Where Automation Occurs	Perform server-side automation whenever possible because programming forms directly is costly and subject to the changing design of the form.
Buttons	Buttons can be programmed to perform specific actions in specific events.
Security	Forms delivered to Quik! for automation should NOT be secured.
Font Size	Use no more than 4 different font sizes and use them consistently throughout the document: largest font for the form name or headlines, second largest for section headings, third for body text and a fourth size for large text sections (e.g. legal).
Font Type and Style	Choose no more than two fonts for the entire document – one for headings and one for the body.
Embedding Fonts in PDF	Always embed fonts when creating a PDF from your original document.
Other Font Attributes	Use other text spacing and other effects sparingly.
Field Length	Make a field long enough for the intended data, but not too big if less data is expected.
Field Height	Make the fields the same height from field to field.
Field Proportions & Consistency	Text fields should all be the same height and checkboxes should all be the same size.
Field Line Types	Underlines make forms easier to read than boxes or combs.
Boxes	Avoid using boxes for individual fields, instead use boxes to group sections together.
Combs	Avoid using combs and boxes for individual characters.
Spacing Around Fields & Objects	Use a consistent amount of white space around fields and objects.
Image Type & Purpose	Use as few images as possible to keep file size to a minimum. When using images, use bitmap or native file types.
Image Size	Use the smallest image file sizes as possible – the larger the image, the larger the PDF will be.
Colors	Use white backgrounds (or no background) for best printing and viewing results.
Images	Avoid using images in the background as they make the PDF take longer to display.
Section Headings	Use a concise section heading to help the user understand groups of information.
Document Instructions	Use concise instructions where appropriate to clarify what is expected of the user.
Symbols	Use symbols sparingly and use symbols that are common amongst the users.
Checkboxes	Use a box to indicate a checkbox and make all checkboxes the same size on the form.
Bullets	Do not use a checkbox symbol to represent a bullet – use a different symbol for bullets.
Checkbox Instructions	Include checkbox instructions when it is not obvious how to fill out a checkbox.
Literature Number	Include a unique literature number that never changes on every form.
Revision Date	Include the date the form was last revised on every form.
Barcodes	Barcodes are useful for automated systems to distinguish the form and page of the form.
Quik! Form ID	Quik! FormIDs can be used by customer processes to identify the form electronically in place of the literature number which is used to identify the paper version.
Quik! Signature Line	Quik! Signature Line is the Quik! Seal of Quality that ensures the form was built for automation by Quik!.
PDF Meta-Data	Meta-data is useful for identifying a form electronically.
File Size	The file size of a PDF form should be as small as possible.
Number of Pages	Minimize the number of pages in the PDF form.
Embedded Objects	Avoid embedding objects in PDF files.
PDF Links	Do not use PDF links in automated forms as they cause corruption.
Contracts, Disclaimers & Legal Text	If a field is nested within text-only pages, make the field large and obvious to the user.
Brochures & Marketing	Marketing information is best as part of a brochure or marketing document and is not necessary for most electronic form automation processes.