User Guide Cancel

Fill and sign PDF forms

  1. Acrobat User Guide
  2. Introduction to Acrobat
    1. Access Acrobat from desktop, mobile, web
    2. What's new in Acrobat
    3. Keyboard shortcuts
    4. System Requirements
  3. Workspace
    1. Workspace basics
    2. Opening and viewing PDFs
      1. Opening PDFs
      2. Navigating PDF pages
      3. Viewing PDF preferences
      4. Adjusting PDF views
      5. Enable thumbnail preview of PDFs
      6. Display PDF in browser
    3. Working with online storage accounts
      1. Access files from Box
      2. Access files from Dropbox
      3. Access files from OneDrive
      4. Access files from SharePoint
      5. Access files from Google Drive
    4. Acrobat and macOS
    5. Acrobat notifications
    6. Grids, guides, and measurements in PDFs
    7. Asian, Cyrillic, and right-to-left text in PDFs
  4. Creating PDFs
    1. Overview of PDF creation
    2. Create PDFs with Acrobat
    3. Create PDFs with PDFMaker
    4. Using the Adobe PDF printer
    5. Converting web pages to PDF
    6. Creating PDFs with Acrobat Distiller
    7. Adobe PDF conversion settings
    8. PDF fonts
  5. Editing PDFs
    1. Edit text in PDFs
    2. Edit images or objects in a PDF
    3. Rotate, move, delete, and renumber PDF pages
    4. Edit scanned PDFs
    5. Enhance document photos captured using a mobile camera
    6. Optimizing PDFs
    7. PDF properties and metadata
    8. Links and attachments in PDFs
    9. PDF layers
    10. Page thumbnails and bookmarks in PDFs
    11. Action Wizard (Acrobat Pro)
    12. PDFs converted to web pages
    13. Setting up PDFs for a presentation
    14. PDF articles
    15. Geospatial PDFs
    16. Applying actions and scripts to PDFs
    17. Change the default font for adding text
    18. Delete pages from a PDF
  6. Scan and OCR
    1. Scan documents to PDF
    2. Enhance document photos
    3. Troubleshoot scanner issues when scanning using Acrobat
  7. Forms
    1. PDF forms basics
    2. Create a form from scratch in Acrobat
    3. Create and distribute PDF forms
    4. Fill in PDF forms
    5. PDF form field properties
    6. Fill and sign PDF forms
    7. Setting action buttons in PDF forms
    8. Publishing interactive PDF web forms
    9. PDF form field basics
    10. PDF barcode form fields
    11. Collect and manage PDF form data
    12. About forms tracker
    13. PDF forms help
    14. Send PDF forms to recipients using email or an internal server
  8. Combining files
    1. Combine or merge files into single PDF
    2. Rotate, move, delete, and renumber PDF pages
    3. Add headers, footers, and Bates numbering to PDFs
    4. Crop PDF pages
    5. Add watermarks to PDFs
    6. Add backgrounds to PDFs
    7. Working with component files in a PDF Portfolio
    8. Publish and share PDF Portfolios
    9. Overview of PDF Portfolios
    10. Create and customize PDF Portfolios
  9. Sharing, reviews, and commenting
    1. Share and track PDFs online
    2. Mark up text with edits
    3. Preparing for a PDF review
    4. Starting a PDF review
    5. Hosting shared reviews on SharePoint or Office 365 sites
    6. Participating in a PDF review
    7. Add comments to PDFs
    8. Adding a stamp to a PDF
    9. Approval workflows
    10. Managing comments | view, reply, print
    11. Importing and exporting comments
    12. Tracking and managing PDF reviews
  10. Saving and exporting PDFs
    1. Saving PDFs
    2. Convert PDF to Word
    3. Convert PDF to JPG
    4. Convert or export PDFs to other file formats
    5. File format options for PDF export
    6. Reusing PDF content
  11. Security
    1. Enhanced security setting for PDFs
    2. Securing PDFs with passwords
    3. Manage Digital IDs
    4. Securing PDFs with certificates
    5. Opening secured PDFs
    6. Removing sensitive content from PDFs
    7. Setting up security policies for PDFs
    8. Choosing a security method for PDFs
    9. Security warnings when a PDF opens
    10. Securing PDFs with Adobe Experience Manager
    11. Protected View feature for PDFs
    12. Overview of security in Acrobat and PDFs
    13. JavaScripts in PDFs as a security risk
    14. Attachments as security risks
    15. Allow or block links in PDFs
  12. Electronic signatures
    1. Sign PDF documents
    2. Capture your signature on mobile and use it everywhere
    3. Send documents for e-signatures
    4. About certificate signatures
    5. Certificate-based signatures
    6. Validating digital signatures
    7. Adobe Approved Trust List
    8. Manage trusted identities
  13. Printing
    1. Basic PDF printing tasks
    2. Print Booklets and PDF Portfolios
    3. Advanced PDF print settings
    4. Print to PDF
    5. Printing color PDFs (Acrobat Pro)
    6. Printing PDFs in custom sizes
  14. Accessibility, tags, and reflow
    1. Create and verify PDF accessibility
    2. Accessibility features in PDFs
    3. Reading Order tool for PDFs
    4. Reading PDFs with reflow and accessibility features
    5. Edit document structure with the Content and Tags panels
    6. Creating accessible PDFs
  15. Searching and indexing
    1. Creating PDF indexes
    2. Searching PDFs
  16. Multimedia and 3D models
    1. Add audio, video, and interactive objects to PDFs
    2. Adding 3D models to PDFs (Acrobat Pro)
    3. Displaying 3D models in PDFs
    4. Interacting with 3D models
    5. Measuring 3D objects in PDFs
    6. Setting 3D views in PDFs
    7. Enable 3D content in PDF
    8. Adding multimedia to PDFs
    9. Commenting on 3D designs in PDFs
    10. Playing video, audio, and multimedia formats in PDFs
    11. Add comments to videos
  17. Print production tools (Acrobat Pro)
    1. Print production tools overview
    2. Printer marks and hairlines
    3. Previewing output
    4. Transparency flattening
    5. Color conversion and ink management
    6. Trapping color
  18. Preflight (Acrobat Pro)
    1. PDF/X-, PDF/A-, and PDF/E-compliant files
    2. Preflight profiles
    3. Advanced preflight inspections
    4. Preflight reports
    5. Viewing preflight results, objects, and resources
    6. Output intents in PDFs
    7. Correcting problem areas with the Preflight tool
    8. Automating document analysis with droplets or preflight actions
    9. Analyzing documents with the Preflight tool
    10. Additional checks in the Preflight tool
    11. Preflight libraries
    12. Preflight variables
  19. Color management
    1. Keeping colors consistent
    2. Color settings
    3. Color-managing documents
    4. Working with color profiles
    5. Understanding color management
Note:

Adobe is testing a new Fill & Sign experience in Acrobat. After updating to the latest release, if the steps and the user interface mentioned in this document don’t match with your version of Acrobat, see Fill and sign PDF forms | New experience.

Use the Fill & Sign tool to easily fill, sign, and send your forms or documents electronically. This document explains how to fill, sign, and send your forms from your desktop using Acrobat or Reader.

How to fill out your PDF form

  1. Open the PDF document or form in Acrobat or Acrobat Reader.

  2. Click Fill & Sign in the right pane, or click the Sign icon in the toolbar.

    Fill and Sign tool

  3. Click Fill and Sign. The specific tools and options are displayed in the toolbar. Use them to fill out your form.

    Fill and Sign toolbar

    A. Annotations to fill the form B. Choose color C. Sign form D. Request signatures 

  4. Hover the mouse over a form field and if you see a blue box, continue with this step (otherwise skip to the next step):

    • If you see a blue box over a form field on hover, that means the form is fillable or interactive - it contains fields that you can select or fill in. Click anywhere in the blue box, the cursor is placed at the right position automatically. Type your text to complete the field.
    • Similarly, for a checkbox or a radio button, click in the field to select the option.
    Hover the mouse over a field to display the detected form field
    Hover the mouse to display the detected text field

    Checkbox field auto-detected
    Checkbox field auto-detected

  5. Hover the mouse over a form field and if you see no blue box, that means it's a flat form. You can manually fill or add text.

    • Click Add Text in the toolbar. Click at the place in the document where you want to add the text, and then start typing.
    Fill or add text

    • Use the field toolbar to make appropriate changes:
      • To resize a field, use the font up or down button in the toolbar - the first two buttons from left.
      • To move a field, move your pointer closer to field border until you see the drag handle, and then hold and move the field as required.
      • To delete a field or typed text, click the trash button.
      • To convert a normal text field into the comb field or vice versa, click the comb button - the second button from the right.
      • To use annotations or symbols, click the Options menu  and select the annotation.
    • Use Comb fields to fill or add text in continuous boxes in a line/row. The Comb field spreads the user-entered text evenly across the width of the text field, as shown below. While you are typing, if the characters do not fit in each box, adjust the spacing with the grab handle where the resize here points in the image above.
    Comb field and normal text field

    • Use Crossmark, Checkmark, and Dot to fill in check boxes and radio buttons. Use the Circle to circle text or the Line to strike out text. Click an annotation in the toolbar to select it, and then click on the form where you want to place the annotation. (Each click places the selected annotation at the respective location on the form.)
    Annotation tools

    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.

How to sign or initial your form

To sign a PDF form, you can type, draw, or insert an image of your handwritten signature or initials.

  1. Open the PDF document or form in Acrobat or Reader, and click Fill & Sign in the right pane.

  2. Click the Sign icon in the Fill & Sign toolbar, and then choose whether you want to add your signature or just initials.

    Add signature or initials

    If you have already added signatures or initials, they are displayed as options to choose from.

  3. If you've already added your signature or initials, just select it from the Sign options, and then click at the place in the PDF where you want to add your signature. Skip to the next step.

    If you are signing for the first time, you see the Signature or Initials panel. Below is an example of the Signature panel.

    Type, draw, or import a signature image
    You can choose to type, draw, or import a signature image. Added signatures and initials are saved for future use.

    • Type: Type your name in the field. You can choose from a small selection of signature styles; click Change Style to view a different style.
    • Draw: Draw your signature in the field.
    • Image: Browse and select an image of your signature.
    • Save Signature: When this check box is selected, and you're signed in to Acrobat Reader or Acrobat, the added signature is saved securely in Adobe Document Cloud for reuse.

    Click Apply, and then click at the place in the PDF where you want to place the signature or initial.

  4. To move the placed signature or initial, click the field to highlight it and then use the arrow keys. To resize or delete the field, use the options in field toolbar.

Note:

If you want to use an image as your signature:

  • 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.

How to send your form to others

After you complete your form, you can share it with others.

  1. Open the PDF document or form in Acrobat or Reader, and click Fill & Sign in the right pane.

  2. In the Fill and Sign toolbar, click Request Signatures.

    Click Next on the Fill & Sign toolbar

  3. Send your form using any of the following methods:

Send a link of the non-editable copy of the filled and signed form. The copy is certified with Adobe Acrobat Sign. Recipients won’t be able to modify the copy easily; any modification makes the certification invalid.

  1. Click Get A Link, and then click Create Link.

    Create link of your file to share with others

  2. Anyone with access to the link can view, but cannot make any changes to the document. Share the link in one of the following ways:

    • Click Copy Link, and share it with others in an email.
    • Click Attach link to Email. Your default email is displayed. The subject line is the name of the filled form and the body text of the email has the link to your filled form. Modify the subject and body text of the email if required. Add recipients’ email in the To field and click Send.
    Copy link or attach to email

Send a read-only copy of your completed document by email. Recipients can view the file but cannot make any changes to the document.

  1. Click Send a Copy.

    Send a copy of the filled and signed form

  2. Enter the email address of whoever you’d like to send the document. You can also use the Address Book link to choose email addresses.

  3. The Subject and Message fields are just like the ones you use for sending an email and appear to your recipients in the same way. Enter the desired information. Click Send.

  1. Click Request Signatures, and then click Get Started.

    Send the document to get signatures from others

  2. The Acrobat Sign window is displayed. The Name and Message fields are just like the ones you use for sending an email and appear to your recipients in the same way. Enter the desired information and do one of the following:

    • (Optional) To explore advanced options including signer authentication, reminders, and more, click More Options.
    • To add form fields and specify where to sign, click Specify Where To Sign.

    Enter the information as prompted. For more information, see Send documents for signature.

    Add signers

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