How to create a fillable PDF form from an ordinary document

In the PDF editor, place fields over the blank form, give them clear names and keep “Keep form fields interactive” switched on. Then download the PDF and test filling it in the recipient’s viewer.

If your PDF has blank lines for answers, open the Edit PDF tool and place real form fields over those lines. The downloaded file should let the recipient type answers and save them. Typing ordinary text onto a blank line is not enough: that text becomes the author’s answer, not a field for the next person.

The steps below use a participant form as the example: a name, a comment, the way of attending (in person or remotely), a checkbox for agreeing to receive the newsletter, and a department chosen from a list.

Prepare the layout before adding fields

Finish the headings, instructions and question positions first. Fields sit on top of the page and do not move with the text: if you later rework the source in Word and save a new PDF, you will have to place the fields again. Leave enough room for long names and addresses. A short line that works on paper is often too narrow for an electronic answer.

Before you start, check whether the file already contains fields; the editor shows them on the page. New fields cannot reuse the names of existing ones, and such a field is flagged with “The document already has a field with this name.” Your original file is not changed: the result is downloaded as a separate PDF. Give it a clear name in “Output file name”, for example `participant-form-fillable`, so that you do not send colleagues the blank sheet instead of the form.

Where to find the field tools

Upload the PDF on the tool page and wait for the editor to open. The side panel has a “Form fields” block with four icon buttons. Hover over a button to see its name: “Text field”, “Checkbox”, “Radio button” and “Dropdown”. Choose a kind, then drag on the page to draw a field of the size you need, or simply click to place one of the usual size. When you have finished with that kind, press “Done” or click the same button again.

New fields get placeholder names such as `Text1`, `Check1`, `Group1` and `Dropdown1`. It is best to replace them with meaningful names straight away. Clicking a field opens its properties, and the panel heading shows its kind, for example “Field · text”.

Choose the right kind of field

Use a text field for the name. For the comment, turn on “Several lines” in the properties and make the box taller, otherwise a long answer runs past the edge. A checkbox suits a single independent choice such as newsletter consent. A radio group is for picking exactly one option out of several: attending in person or remotely. A dropdown lets people pick their department from prepared entries, so nobody spells it their own way.

Line each field up with its question label. The recipient sees only a box, and its position should make it obvious which question it belongs to.

Give fields meaningful names

A field name is what identifies the answer inside the PDF. Use clear names without dots, such as `participant_name` and `department`; the editor will not accept a dot. Widgets with the same name are one field, so what is typed in one shows in the others. That is handy when a surname has to repeat on every page. But if two different questions accidentally share a name, the answer will be duplicated. The “Make this widget a field of its own” button breaks such an unwanted link.

For a radio group, place the first button, then press “Add another button to this group” in its properties. Each button of a group has its own “Value when on”: the editor fills in `Option1`, `Option2` and so on, and you replace them with `onsite` and `remote`. In a dropdown, the “Entries” box already holds the placeholders `Option 1`, `Option 2` and `Option 3`. Delete them and type your departments, one per line. The starting “Value” must match one of the entries or stay empty.

Set properties without creating obstacles

The properties include “Required” and “Read-only” checkboxes. Leave “Read-only” off wherever you expect an answer, otherwise the recipient cannot type anything. A required flag does not replace checking the forms you receive: how it behaves depends on the viewer, and a filled-in field does not prove the answer is correct.

A text field has “Text size, pt (0 = fit the box)”: at zero the font adapts to the height of the box. The “Longest text (characters)” setting limits the length of the answer, and zero means no limit. Try typing a realistically long answer. If it is clipped, make the box bigger or reconsider the limit.

Set the Tab order

Below the field-kind buttons is the “Fields on this page” list, captioned “The order Tab moves through them”. The rows follow the order in which the cursor will jump between fields. The up and down arrows at the right of each row (labeled “Earlier” and “Later”) move a field by one position. At the bottom of the selected field’s properties you can see, for example, “Position 2 of 5 on this page”.

Each new field is added to the end of the list by default, so the order gets mixed up if you placed fields out of sequence. The order is set for each page separately, so go through every page of a multi-page form.

Keep fields interactive and download the file

As soon as the first field appears, a “Keep form fields interactive” checkbox shows up next to “Output file name”, and the editor switches it on for you. Do not turn it off: without it the fields are baked into the page, and the result is no longer a fillable form. If the checkbox does get cleared, the field block warns you about it.

When something is wrong with the fields, the block shows a “To fix before applying” list: an empty name, a dot in a name, a clash with an existing field, two buttons of a group with the same value, or a starting value that is not among the entries. While the list is not empty, the changes cannot be applied. Clicking a name in the list selects the problem field. Then press “Apply changes” and download the PDF that appears below.

Test the form in the recipient’s viewer

Open the downloaded PDF in the program your recipient will use. Type a name, switch the radio button, tick the checkbox, pick a list entry and move through the fields with Tab. Save a filled-in copy, close it and open it again. Make sure the answers were kept and appear when printed.

Also type a test answer in the language and alphabet your recipients will use. Values you enter in the editor in advance are drawn with an embedded font, but text the recipient types is set in the standard Helvetica font, and some viewers may not display letters outside its character set. If your recipients write in another script, try two or three programs before sending. For filling in a finished form, see How to fill a PDF form online.

The editor does not add automatic calculations, input format checks or a submit button. Organize the return of answers separately, for example by asking people to email the completed file back.