First, work out which kind of form you have
Open the PDF in any viewer and click a blank line. If a cursor appears and you can type, the form has interactive fields and your viewer can fill it directly.
If nothing happens, the form is flat: the boxes and lines are drawn on the page with no fields behind them. That is the common case for scanned forms, forms produced in design software, and anything downloaded from an older institutional website. It is not broken — it just needs text placed on top instead.
Fill in a flat form with text boxes
- 1Open the Edit PDF tool and drop in the form.
- 2Choose Edit Text, then Add text box.
- 3Click on the first blank and type your answer.
- 4Set the size so your text sits comfortably on the line — start around the size of the printed labels.
- 5Repeat for each field, tick checkboxes by typing an X or drawing a check with the pen, then sign, date and download.
Making a completed form look properly filled in
Use one consistent font and size for every answer. Mixed sizes across a form are the clearest sign it was filled in piecemeal.
Sit your text on the line rather than above or through it, and zoom in to check alignment on the fields that matter — name, date, reference numbers. Use black unless the form asks for a specific colour.
For checkboxes, either type a capital X or use the pen to draw a tick. Both read clearly when the form is printed at the other end.
Read the whole form back before downloading. Correcting a field is trivial now and awkward once it has been submitted.
Signing and dating
Most forms end with a signature and a date. Switch to Sign, create your signature by typing, drawing or uploading a photo of one, and place it on the signature line. Add the date in a text box next to it.
If the form needs initials on several pages, place them page by page — each one can be positioned and sized independently.
Why filling forms in the browser is the private option
Forms carry more personal information than almost anything else you handle: full name, date of birth, address, national insurance or social security numbers, bank details, medical history, income.
Filling one out on a site that uploads your file means all of that lands on a server you know nothing about. Here the form is completed inside your browser tab and downloaded straight back to your device, so nothing is transmitted at any point.