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Create Fillable PDF Forms with PDF Editor. With JotForm’s Fillable PDF Form Creator, you can generate customized forms with blank fields that allow people to fill it out on their digital devices, submit it, and share the information with you automatically. How to Create Fillable Forms with Microsoft Word Martin Hendrikx Updated July 30, 2016, 12:30am EDT Creating forms with Microsoft Word is easy, but the challenge comes in when you decide to create fillable forms with options that you can send to people and have them fill out digitally. Creating fillable forms using Adobe Acrobat DC. How to AUTOMATICALLY Fill PDF Forms Using Microsoft Excel in 1 CLICK. How to Create an Adobe Acrobat Form and Collect Responses. Apr 01, 2014 How to create fillable forms in Word - Duration: 6:00. Business Management Daily 772,976 views. How to create a fillable PDF form: Within Acrobat, click on the Tools tab and select Prepare Form. Select a file or scan a document. Acrobat analyzes your document and adds form fields automatically. Add new form fields from the top toolbar, and adjust the layout using tools in the right pane. Learn how to create a fillable PDF form with Adobe Acrobat DC. Sign up with free trial and start converting scanned paper forms or digital forms to fillable PDF documents.
To create a form in Word that others can fill out, start with a template and add content controls. Content controls include things like check boxes, text boxes, date pickers, and drop-down lists. If you’re familiar with databases, these content controls can even be linked to data.
Creating a fillable form begins with six basic steps. Let’s walk through them below.
Step 1: Show the Developer tab
- On the File tab, go to Options > Customize Ribbon.
- Under Customize the Ribbon, in the list under Main Tabs, select the Developer check box, and then click OK.
Step 2: Open a template or a document on which to base the form
To save time, start with a form template. To start from scratch, start with a blank template.
Start with a form template
- Click the File tab.
- Click New.
- In the Search online templates box, enter the type of form you want to create and press ENTER.
- Click the form template that you want to use, and then click Create.
Start with a blank template
- Click the File tab.
- Click New.
- Click Blank document.
Step 3: Add content to the form
On the Developer tab, click Design Mode, and then insert the controls that you want.
Note: You can print a form that was created using content controls, but the boxes around the content controls will not print.
Insert a text control where users can enter text
In a rich text content control, users can format text as bold or italic, and they can type multiple paragraphs. If you want to limit what users add, insert the plain text content control.
- Click where you want to insert the control.
- On the Developer tab, click Rich Text Content Control or Plain Text Content Control .
To set specific properties on the control, see Step 4: Set or change properties for content controls.
Insert a picture control
A picture control is often used for templates, but you can also add a picture control to a form.
- Click where you want to insert the control.
- On the Developer tab, click Picture Content Control.
To set specific properties on the control, see Step 4: Set or change properties for content controls.
Insert a building block control
Use building block controls when you want people to choose a specific block of text. For example, building block controls are helpful if you’re setting up a contract template, and you need to add different boilerplate text depending on the contract’s specific requirements. You can create rich text content controls for each version of the boilerplate text, and then you can use a building block control as the container for the rich text content controls.
You can also use a building block control in a form.
- Click where you want to insert the control.
- On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click a content control:
To set specific properties on the control, see Step 4: Set or change properties for content controls.
Insert a combo box or a drop-down list
In a combo box, users can select from a list of choices that you provide or they can type in their own information. In a drop-down list, users can only select from the list of choices.
- On the Developer tab, click Combo Box Content Control or Drop-Down List Content Control .
- Select the content control, and then on the Developer tab, click Properties.
- To create a list of choices, click Add under Drop-Down List Properties.
- Type a choice in the Display Name box, such as Yes, No, or Maybe.Repeat this step until all of the choices are in the drop-down list.
- Fill in any other properties that you want.Note: If you select the Contents cannot be edited check box, users won’t be able to click a choice.
Insert a date picker
- Click where you want to insert the date picker control.
- On the Developer tab, click the Date Picker Content Control.
To set specific properties on the control, see Step 4: Set or change properties for content controls.
Insert a check box
- Click where you want to insert the check box control.
- On the Developer tab, click the Check Box Content Control.
To set specific properties on the control, see Step 4: Set or change properties for content controls.
Step 4: Set or change properties for content controls
Each content control has properties that you can set or change. For example, the Date Picker control offers options for the format you want to use to display the date.
Adobe Acrobat
- Click the content control that you want to change.
- On the Developer tab, click Properties, and change the properties that you want.
Step 5: Add instructional text to the form
Instructional text can enhance the usability of the form you create and distribute. You can change the default instructional text in content controls.
- On the Developer tab, click Design Mode.
- Click the content control where you want to revise the placeholder instructional text.
- Edit the placeholder text and format it any way you want.
- On the Developer tab, click Design Mode to turn off the design feature and save the instructional text.
Note: Do not select the Contents cannot be edited check box if you want form users to replace the instructional text with their own text.
Step 6: Add protection to a form
If you want to limit how much others can edit or format a form, use the Restrict Editing command:
- Open the form that you want to lock or protect.
- Click Home > Select > Select All, or press CTRL+A.
- Click Developer > Restrict Editing.
- After selecting restrictions, click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection.
Tip: If you want, you can test the form prior to distributing it. Open the form, fill it out as the user would, and then save a copy in a location that you want.
If you’re familiar with the desktop version of Word, you might know you can use it to create fillable forms. That option isn’t available in Word for the web.
To open your document in the desktop version of Word, click Edit Document > Edit in Word, or click Open in Word.
Then follow the instructions in Create a fillable form.
When you save the document and reopen it in Word for the web, you’ll see the changes you made.
Creating forms with Microsoft Word is easy, but the challenge comes in when you decide to create fillable forms with options that you can send to people and have them fill out digitally. Whether you need a form for gathering information about people or if you are trying to take a survey to test out user response to software or a new product, MS Word has the solution for you.
Note: the screenshots in this tutorial are from Word 2010 but this should work the same in Word 2013.
Enable the Developer Tab
In order to create fillable forms, you will need to start by enabling the developer tab by clicking on the “File” drop-down menu and then choose “Options.” Open the “Customize Ribbon” tab and select the “Main Tabs” option under “Customize the Ribbon.”
Now you will need to select the “Developer” box and press “OK.”
Once you have done this, you will notice that an additional menu has been added to the top of the screen with several new developer options.
To Template, or Not to Template?
There are two main options to get started with your form creation. Option one is easy to use if you can find a template that suits your needs. To find templates, Click on the “File” menu, select “New.” You will see many premade templates available for download. Simply click on “Forms” and look through the selection of templates to find one that suits your needs.
When you have found your template, just download it and edit the form as needed.
Since that is the easy way and you may not be able to find a template that fits your needs, we will discuss the best way to create forms from scratch. Begin by navigating to the template options again, but instead of selecting a pre-made form, select “My Templates.”
Now you will need to click the “Templates” check-circle and then press “OK” to create a blank template. Lastly, press “Ctrl + S” to save the document. We will call it, “Form Template 1”.
Populate the Form
Now that you have a blank template, you are ready to start adding information to the form. The form we will create in this example is a simple form to collect information about people who fill them out. First, you will need to enter the basic questions. For this tutorial, we will try to get the following information:
- Name (Plain Text Response)
- Age (Drop-Down List)
- D.O.B. (Date Response)
- Sex (Check Box)
- Zip Code (Plain Text Response)
- Phone Number (Plain Text Response)
- Favorite Primary Color and why: (Combo Box)
- Best Pizza Toppings (Check Box and Plain Text Response)
- What is your dream job and why? Limit your answer to 200 words (Rich Text Response)
- What type of vehicle do you drive? (Plain Text Response)
Click on the “Developer” tab which you added earlier and under the “Controls” section, choose “Design Mode” to begin creating different control options. If you want to see what it looks like in action, remember to deselect the “Design Mode” option.
Text Sections
For any answers that require a text based answer, you can add text sections. You will do this by selecting the Rich Text Content Control (allows users to edit formatting) or the Plain Text Content Control (only allows plain text without formatting) option.
Let’s enable a rich text response for question 9, and then a plain text response for question 1, 5, 6, and 10.
Remember that you can edit the text in the content control boxes to match the questions by clicking in them and typing as seen in the image above.
Add a Date Selection Option
If you need to add dates, you can add the “Date Picker Content Control.” Let’s Use this and add it to question 3.
Insert a Drop-Down List with Options
For questions that only allow one answer such as numbers (question 2), a drop-down list is handy. We will add simple list and populate it with age ranges. You will need to add the content control box, right-click on it, and select the “Properties” option. Next, click on add to add age ranges.
When you are done, it should look something like this (Design Mode Disabled).
Alternatively, you can add a “Combo Box,” which will allow you to add any options you want, as well as allow users to enter additional text if needed. Let’s add a combo box to question 7. Since it is a combo box, users will be able to select an option and type why they like the color.
Create A Fillable Pdf Form
Add Check Boxes
For the fourth question, we will add check box options. You will first enter your options (male and female). Now you can add the check box content control after each option.
Repeat the process for any other questions that require one or more options. We will add check boxes to question 8 as well. We will also add a plain text response box for any toppings not listed.
Wrapping Up
The completed blank form should look like the images below depending on whether you have design mode enabled or disabled.
Congratulations, you have just learned the basics of creating interactive forms. Feel free to download our completed sample form if needed. You can send the DOTX file to people and when they open it, it will automatically open up a normal word document that they can fill out and send to you since the template is automatically applied.
Image Credit: Ben Ward on Flickr
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