How to fill in a PDF form that isn't fillable
In short
Open the form in the PDF Editor, choose Add, then Text, and click above each line or inside each box to type your answer. Use Checkmark or Crossmark for the tick boxes, then download the completed form. It works the same way on a scanned form.
Plenty of forms arrive as PDFs with nothing to click: lines and boxes drawn on the page, meant for a pen. Printing, filling in by hand and scanning it back is the slow way. Typing directly onto the page gives a neater result in a fraction of the time.
Open PDF EditorEdit text, images and signatures in placeStep by step
Open the form in the editor
Drop the PDF onto the PDF Editor. If clicking the printed text does nothing at all, the form is a scan. It can still be filled in exactly the same way.
Type into each blank
Choose Add at the top, then Text. Click right above the line, or inside the box where the answer goes, and type. Drag the text box to line it up. The panel on the right sets the font, size, colour and alignment. A plain font at 10 or 11 points usually matches a printed form best.
Tick the boxes
In Add, choose Checkmark, or Crossmark from the same button's menu. The mark is placed on the page you are viewing; drag it onto the box.
Save and send
Review & download writes everything into the page and shows you the result; Download PDF saves the completed form, ready to email or upload.
If the form already has fields you can click
Some PDFs are real forms, with boxes that take typing in Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Acrobat. Fill those in there: the editor does not fill in a form's fields, and text placed over them sits on the page rather than in the field. If you are the one who needs to send a form out, PDF Forms turns a flat PDF into a fillable one.
Signing and dating the form
The editor's Signature tool lets you draw a signature and place it. If the form also needs initials, a printed name and today's date, Sign PDF has all of those in one panel, with the date written in the format you choose.
Common questions
Can I fix a mistake after I have placed the text?
Yes. Click the text box to retype it, drag it to move it, or delete it. Nothing is final until you save.
Can I change something printed on the form?
You can cover it. Whiteout hides an area under a white box, and you can type over it. The original is hidden rather than deleted from the file, so do not rely on it for anything confidential. Redact PDF removes information for good.
Will the answers show up in any PDF reader?
Yes. They are written into the page itself, not held in a separate layer, so the form looks the same in every reader and prints as you see it.