Make a PDF fillable
To make a PDF fillable, open it in Fill & sign, check the blanks it finds, and choose a Fillable copy: real form fields over each blank, which a PDF reader can fill in. CECO PDF checks that the empty copy looks exactly like yours, and refuses XFA forms and pages that read as an issued document.
Make a PDF fillable now — it opens the document workspace in Fill & sign, with nothing to install.
- What it does: adds a real form field over every blank it is sure of, and over each one you confirm or draw, for others to fill in later in a PDF reader.
- The check: the copy with every field empty is drawn with its fields and compared with your file at 300 dots per inch; if a pixel changed, the copy cannot be downloaded.
- The price: an empty fillable copy takes nothing from the free plan’s day. Downloading costs nothing when the files you started from have no corrections made here. A file made from a corrected document is priced as one. With answers typed in, it counts as one correction, as a filled form does.
The PDF you open is kept with your documents, and deleted after 90 days or whenever you delete it; so is each copy you make of it. The privacy notice says what is kept, and why.
How do I make a PDF fillable?
- Open the form. Press the button above and choose the PDF. Fill & sign outlines the places to write that it finds: the form’s own fields, and the lines, boxes, rows of letter boxes, dotted or underscored blanks and tick boxes on the page, read from the page itself, with nothing guessed by a model.
- Check the outlines. A solid outline will become a field. A dashed one is a place the finder is less sure of: it counts once you click it, and “Not a field” stops one counting.
- Add what was missed. Drag a box over a blank that is not outlined, and choose what it holds.
- Leave the answers empty, and open “Review answers”: “Check your answers” lists every field that will be made.
- Under “What you get”, choose “Fillable copy”, and press “Make fillable copy”. The result says how many fields it made, and “Empty, it looks exactly like the original.”
- Download the fillable copy, and send it to the people who will fill it in.
What kinds of field does it make?
Each blank becomes the kind of field its shape asks for:
| On your form | In the fillable copy |
|---|---|
| A line or a box for an answer | A text field of one line |
| A box for several lines | A text field of several lines |
| A row of letter boxes | One letter in each box |
| A tick box | A box to tick |
| Tick boxes on one row that answer one question, such as Yes and No, or a numbered scale | Option buttons: choosing one clears the others |
| A line for a date | A text field: the date goes in as typed |
| A line for a signature | A text field for a typed name; a drawn signature goes on a finished copy, with Sign PDF |
| A form field the file already has | Kept as it is |
Who can fill in the copy, and how will it look?
Anyone you send it to, in a PDF reader that fills forms. Each field is named from its label, and Tab moves through them in reading order. Typed answers are set in Helvetica or Times, whichever suits the page’s own type, at the size of its text, and the fields are set up to take letters such as ë and ç. Empty, the copy looks exactly like the PDF you gave: a field draws nothing until something is typed in it.
What is refused?
- An XFA form. Its fields are defined by a program inside the file rather than on the page, so a reader might show something else. Fill it in a reader that runs XFA forms, or print it to a new PDF and make that copy fillable.
- A page that reads as an issued document, one that already carries its values, a reference number, a stamp or a signature: writing fields onto it would change what was issued. Upload the blank form instead.
- A page where nothing looks like a place to write. Draw the fields yourself.
- A digitally signed PDF is not refused, but the result warns you: editing a signed PDF breaks the signature. Make the form fillable, then sign it again.
Make fillable only forms that are yours, or that you are entitled to change: the terms say who may alter a document. Identity documents are refused when they are uploaded.
What you can and cannot do here
| What you want to do | Here |
|---|---|
| Make a form written in Word fillable | Yes: its lines and boxes are read from the page |
| Make a scanned form fillable | Yes: its lines and boxes are found in the scan’s ink |
| Add a field the finder missed | Yes: drag a box over the blank |
| Make an empty fillable copy | Yes, and it takes nothing from the free plan’s day |
| Add calculations, required fields or scripts | No: real form fields, and nothing else |
| Choose each field’s font or size | No: they are chosen to suit the page |
| Make an XFA form fillable | No: it is refused whole |
| Put a signature on the fillable copy | No: marks go on a finished copy |
Questions people ask
Can I make a PDF fillable for free?
An empty fillable copy takes nothing from the free plan’s day. Downloading costs nothing when the files you started from have no corrections made here. A file made from a corrected document is priced as one. One with answers typed in counts as one correction, as a filled form does. Signed in, your first corrected download each day costs nothing; after it, one takes a credit or a plan. The plans are on the pricing page.
How do I make a fillable PDF from a Word document?
Save it as a PDF from Word, or make one with Word to PDF, then make that PDF fillable here. A form written in Word states every line and box exactly, so they are read from the file rather than guessed from its picture.
Can I make a scanned form fillable?
Yes. On a scan, the lines, boxes and rows of letter boxes are found in the ink, and a field is laid over each. Drag a box over any blank that is missed.
Can I make a PDF fillable on a Mac?
Yes: Fill & sign runs in Safari, Chrome or Firefox on a Mac, with nothing to install. The copy it makes is an ordinary PDF form, with no script in it, for a reader that fills forms.
What is the difference between filling a form and making it fillable?
Filling writes your answers onto the page, as a finished copy to send or print. Making it fillable adds empty fields, for other people to fill in later. Fill PDF is for the first.
Can I change the fields of a PDF that is already fillable?
A field the file already has is kept as it is: its name, its size and its kind. Fields can be added where a blank has none, by the finder or by a box you draw.
Why did it make fewer fields than my form has blanks?
A blank the finder was not sure of is dashed, and is left out unless you click it; one it did not see at all, you can draw. Any field that could not be made is listed with the reason.
Related pages
- Fill PDF, to fill in a form yourself
- Sign PDF, to place your own signature on a finished copy
- Word to PDF, to make a PDF of a form you wrote in Word
- Add text to PDF, to type onto a page that has no blanks
- Protect PDF, to give the form a password
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