Long considered the Holy Grail of forms, giving users the ability to fill-in a form using their computers has become the standard in most offices today. With a little bit of know-how and the correct software, I think that you’ll find it is much easier to do than you ever imagined.

I have covered Creating a Fill-in-the-Blank Form in Microsoft Word and Converting a Word Document to PDF in previous Tips. Now it’s time to learn how to add the capability for users to type in their information. Please note: this Tip requires that you have Adobe Acrobat Pro or Adobe Acrobat DC installed on your computer.

Converting a PDF to a Form

Assuming you have a form you already created, or that you have downloaded the example file, follow these quick instructions to make your form.

1. Open the PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
2. Click Tools at the top of the page.
3. Scroll down (if necessary) and click on Prepare Form.
4. Be certain that the name of your form is selected, then click Start.
5. Observe that Acrobat has now created fill-in boxes for each field in your form.
6. Click the Preview button to exit Form Editing mode.
7. Try using your form to insure that it works.

Not sure where to start? Download the sample file and see if you can get it to work.