Create a PDF Form in Adobe Acrobat, by Sharon Smith on YouTube. 12 min 28 s.
- Video length
- 12 min 28 s
- Time to do it
- 30 minutes
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Open Adobe Acrobat Pro and choose Tools, then Prepare Form. Pick a source file or start from a blank page to build the form layout.
If you start from Word, save the document as a PDF first, then open that PDF in Acrobat and select Prepare Form to convert it.
Let Acrobat auto-detect fields, or click Add a Text Field and drag boxes onto the page where people should type.
Double-click a field to open its properties. Set the name, tooltip, font size and tick Required so the form cannot be submitted empty.
Add a drop-down list field and enter each option on its own line in the Options tab so users pick from a fixed list.
For date fields, open the Format tab, choose Date and pick a format such as mm/dd/yyyy to keep entries consistent.
To total numbers, add a text field, open Calculate, choose the sum option and select the fields to add together.
Add a button field, set its action to Reset Form and choose which fields it clears so the form can be reused.
Click Preview, fill in the form yourself and test the drop-downs, dates, totals and reset button before saving.
Tips and common mistakes
Name every field clearly, since the names carry over when you export form data to a spreadsheet.
Use the Required option on key fields so users cannot leave important boxes blank.
Test the reset button in Preview mode to confirm it clears only the fields you chose.
Keep field names short and avoid spaces if you plan to export the data later.
Questions
Can I make a fillable PDF from a Word document?
Yes. Save the Word file as a PDF, open it in Acrobat Pro and run Prepare Form. Acrobat will detect lines and boxes and turn them into fields you can adjust.
Do I need Acrobat Pro or does the free Reader work?
You need Acrobat Pro to create and edit form fields. The free Reader can only fill in and sign forms that already have fields.
How do I stop people typing in the wrong date format?
Open the field properties, go to the Format tab and set the field type to Date with a fixed format. Acrobat will then validate the entry.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
