Fill and sign PDF forms (2024)

Overview

You can easily fill, sign, and share your documents using Acrobat's Fill & Sign tool. The topics below provide information about:

The types of PDF forms
How to fill and sign PDF forms
How to share your completed forms

Try it in yourself
Fill and sign your documents in a few simple steps.

Open Acrobat

Types of PDF forms

Interactiveforms: Thesecontain fields that you can select and fill in. See how toFill in interactive forms.
Flat forms: These donot have interactive fields. It could be a paper form or PDF that hasn’t been optimized for form filling. The Fill & Sign tool automatically detects the form fields like text fields, comb fields, checkboxes, and radio buttons. You can manually add text and other symbols anywhere on the form using the Fill & Sign tool if required.

You can complete the forms by entering information and adding your signatures. Acrobat also allows you to send your completed forms to others and securely save them in Adobe cloud storage.

Fill and sign PDF forms

To complete and sign PDF forms, open the form in Acrobat, and then select Sign from the global bar. Alternatively, you can select All tools >Fill & Sign.

It displays the Fill & Sign tools on the left panel. You can now fill in the form fields and sign the form using the sign tools, as described in the following topics.

To fill text fields:

From the left panel, selectand then click on the field where you want to add text.
It displays a text field along with a toolbar, as shown below.
Select the text field again and enter your text.
Toreposition the text box to align it with the text field, select the textbox and hover over it. Once you see a plus icon with arrows, move the textbox to the desired position.
To edit the text, select the text box. Once you see the cursor and keypad, edit the text and then click elsewhere to enter.
To change the text size, select A or A as required.

Note:
Resize the first annotation you place to fit the check box or radio button in the document, and the next annotations you add will be of the same size and will fit the rest of the box/circle fields.
To change the text color, select the color from the quick toolbar and select a desired color from the color palette.
The default color for signatures is black. To change the color of signatures, you must deselect the Keep signatures black checkbox.
To change the text style from normal to combed, from the textbox menu, select> Character spacing.

It changes the text style from normal to combed. To increase or decrease the spacing, you can select the blue arrow icon and then drag it as desired.

Note:Combed Textis a text style where each letter of the text is equally spaced out with the help of a sequence of boxes.
Once done, select the next field space and then enter your text in the text box. Use the formatting options as desired.
Repeat the step to fill all the required fields in the form.

To fill radio option fields:

Hover over the field with the radio option.
It automatically displays the default checkmark or the selected radio field symbol.
Select the radio option field to enter the symbol.
To change the symbol, select the field again, and then from the menu, tapand then select another symbol.
It marks the field with the selected symbol.

To Add signature and initials:

Create your signature and initials if not already done. To do so:
1. From the Quick action toolbar, select
2. To add a signature, selectAdd signature. In the dialog that appears, type or draw your signature and then selectDone.
3. To add your initials, select >Add initials. In the dialog that appears, type or draw your initials and then select Done.
Note:You may also add an image as your signature or initials. To add an existing image, tap the image icon from the top menu. To take a new picture to be added as your signature, tap the camera icon and follow through with the workflow.
To add a signature:
1. From the left panel, select your signature, move over to the field where you want to add it, and then click there to place the signature.
  Else, from the Quick actions toolbar, select and then select your signature.
2. Your signature appears in the field.
  Note:Once you add a signature or initial to a form and save it, you cannot edit it again.
3. To adjust the placement of your signature, hover over the signature till you see a plus icon, and then click and move the signature as desired.
4. To adjust the size of your signature, hover over the blue circle at the corner, and then hold and drag it as desired.
Caution:
Once you add a signature or an initial to a form and save it, you cannot edit it again.
To add your initials:
1. From the left panel, select your initial, move over to the field where you want to add it, and then click to place the signature.
  Else, from the Quick actions toolbar, selectand then select your initial.
  Your initials appear in the field.
2. To adjust the placement of your signature, hover over the signature till you see a plus icon, and then click and move the signature as desired.
3. To adjust the size of your signature, hover over the blue circle at the corner, and then hold and drag it as desired.
Note:
If you want to use an image as your signature or initials:
Sign your name in black ink on a clean, blank sheet of white paper. Sign in the middle of the paper so you don't photograph or scan the edges.
Photograph or scan your signature. If you are taking a picture of your signature, make sure that the page is lit and that no shadows fall across the signature.
Transfer the photo or scan to your computer. Acrobat/Reader accepts JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, TIF, and BMP files. You do not need to crop the image. Acrobat/Reader imports just the signature if the photo or scan is fairly clean.

Share forms

After you complete and save your form, you can take any of the following actions:

Share the form with others to view or comment.
Share a link to the form with others.
Create a web form.
Save a certified copy of the PDF.
Invite others to sign the form. See how to Request signatures.

To share the form with others to view or comment:

From the top-right corner, select , and then in the Share document dialog that opens:
- To share the document with specific people, start typing the name or email address of the person you want to share the form with.
- To share the form via a link, select Get link.
In the Invite members dialog that appears:
1. Continue adding names of people you want to share with.
2. Modify the message if required.
3. To make the form view-only, deselect the Allow comments toggle.
4. To add a review deadline, select Add deadline and then enter a date.
5. Select Invite.
It sends a link to all the people you added to the form.

To share a certified copy of the PDF:

From the Sign panel on the left, select Save a certified copy.
It creates a certified copy of the form and displays a certificate banner at the top, as shown below.
From the sign-in prompt in the right panel, select Next.
It asks you to sign into your account again to help protect your signed agreements.
In the dialog that appears next, select Continue and then enter your account credentials to sign in.
Once you sign in again, the certified copy displays the file information and sharing options. Select a desired sharing option to share the form.

To share a link to the form:

From the top-right corner, select.
To share a view-only form, deselect Allow Comments.
Select Get link.

It uploads the form to Adobe cloud storage and generates a shareable link that is copied to your clipboard. You can paste the link anywhere you want to share from.

To share forms via a website or any online portal

From the Sign panel, select More options and then select Create a web form. Follow through the workflow to add the form to your website and share links to collect data online.