How to Create a Fillable PDF

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions.

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We'll show you how to create a fillable PDF form from a scanned document, spreadsheet, or other type of file using Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Building a Form from a Document

• To learn how to get Adobe Acrobat, see How to Install Adobe Acrobat.
• Adobe Acrobat Pro offers a free trial subscription. To sign up, follow this link to Adobe's website.

• If you'd rather scan a paper document, click Scan a document, and then follow the on-screen instructions to import it from your scanner.

• If you want to require a digital signature, check the box next to "This document requires a signature."

Click Start to build your form. This imports the file into Acrobat. The app will attempt to create fillable fields based on the appearance of the document. You can edit these fields and add new ones as needed.

Editing Form Fields

Click the Tools menu and select Prepare Form . It's at the top of the screen. This places you into form editing mode. Now that you've imported a form, you can edit the existing fields, create new fields, and add other elements like menus and lists.

• To change the size of a field, click it once so it's surrounded by handles, then drag the handles to the desired size.
• To delete a field, click it once to select it, and then press Delete on your keyboard.
• See Step 5 for more customization ideas for editing fields.

• To copy an existing field, right-click the field and select Copy instead.

• To place a copied field, right-click the desired location and select Paste.

• If you'd like to make filling out this field mandatory, check the box next to "Required field" below the "Field Name" blank.

Click All Properties to access the field's editing tools. This new dialog box allows you to edit the field’s appearance and add special options. [4] X Research source

• Click the Options tab to add features like spellcheck, multi-line typing, and character limitations.
• Click the Appearance tab to adjust colors and font options.
• Click Actions to make the field perform certain functions based on the text that's entered.
• Click Close when you're finished making edits to this text area.

• To add a list, click either the checkbox or radio button tool in the toolbar, and then click the desired location to place it. You can then click Add Another Button to add the next item or click All Properties to adjust the behavior of the list.
• To add a dropdown menu, select one of the menu options with small arrows in the toolbar, and then customize as desired.
• To require a digital signature, click the icon of a fountain pen and a signature line, and then click the location where you'd like to place it.
• To add a button, click the OK icon in the toolbar, place it at the desired location, and then click All Properties to customize it.

Saving and Distributing the Form

Click Preview at the top-right corner to preview your form. This allows you to view and test the fillable PDF.

Click Edit to return to editing mode. It's at the top-right corner. This brings you back into editing mode, where you can make final changes if necessary.

• You can re-open and edit this form any time you wish.

• If you don't see the Distribute option, make sure you click Edit at the top-right area of the screen to get back into editing mode.
• Depending on the types of elements you added to the form, you may be prompted to make further adjustments now. Follow the on-screen instructions if prompted.

Select how you want to receive the form results. If you'd like to receive the results via email, select the Email option. If you have a web server set up to collect results, select Internal Server, and then follow the on-screen instructions to specify a server.

Click Continue . If you're sending the form via email, you'll now be prompted to enter some more information.

Enter the recipients' email addresses. Separate each email address with a comma (,). If you aren't ready to send the form to other people just yet, enter your own address instead.

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Choose your tracking preferences. Select "Collect Name & Email from Recipients to Provide Optimal Tracking" if you want to see a person's name and email address in their form response email. You can also enable or disable the feature that allows anonymous submissions.

Follow the on-screen instructions to send the form. The form will appear in the recipients' inboxes as an attachment.

Community Q&A

I believe the version used in the tutorial is Adobe Acrobat DC. It must be purchased. The free trial will not allow you to create a fillable PDF.

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If your users see the error "This operation is not permitted" when filling out the form, it may be because the form contains hidden objects or unembedded fonts. Navigate to File > Properties > Font to check for unembedded fonts.

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