How to fill a PDF form online, without printing

How to fill a PDF form in your browser

In AtlasDocs, the Add text or Fill a PDF form page has two modes. If the PDF already comes with fields (text boxes, checkboxes, lists), the Fill form mode turns each field into a box you type in or check, with an option to lock the answers. If the PDF is a "flat" page with no fields, the Add text mode writes over it, at the spot you click. Either way you download the finished PDF, with no printing or scanning. To place a signature or a stamp as an image, see how to add an image to a PDF.

1. Open the Add text or Fill a PDF form tool, upload the PDF and pick the mode with the two buttons at the top: "Add text" or "Fill form".
2. In "Fill form" mode, the preview shows the pages that have fields, each one numbered. On a computer, type straight into the fields on the preview (for small fields, use "Zoom in" and "Zoom out"; the full list is under "See all fields as a list"). On a phone, tap the field's number to jump to it in the list and type there. Check the boxes and pick the options from the lists. To keep anyone from changing the answers later, check "Lock the filled values (no longer editable)". Click "Fill and download": the file is saved with the suffix -preenchido.
3. In "Add text" mode, write in the "Type the text" field, set "Bold", the "Color" (Black, Red or Blue) and the "Size" slider (1 to 10; starts at 2), pick the page in the "Page" selector, which appears when the PDF has more than one page, and click the preview where the text should go; drag to fine-tune. Click "Add and download": the file is saved with the suffix -editado.
4. Need more than one text in Add text mode? Each download writes one text: re-upload the file you just downloaded and repeat for the next field.

Form fields or text on top: which mode to choose

Some PDFs come ready to be filled in: clickable boxes where the file itself expects you to type. Many, though, are just a "flat" page, scanned or exported without fields. To find out which one you have, open it in Fill form mode. If the tool lists numbered fields, it's a real form: fill it in there. If you see the notice "This PDF has no form fields" (the case for a plain PDF, a scan, or a form format the tool doesn't open, called XFA), switch to Add text and write over the page. Some forms, often government ones, open with technical names on the fields (such as "topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].TextField1[0]") because the file carries no readable labels: in that case, follow the numbers on the preview, which show where each field sits.

• Fill form: fills text boxes, checkboxes, radio buttons (shown as a list to pick from) and lists; the answer lands in the right field, at the size the form defined. Fields that already hold a value show it, ready to be corrected. One PDF at a time: with several uploaded, it uses the first in the list.
• Fill form: the text you type uses the browser font; in the final file it comes out in a default font, so it may look a little different from the preview.
• Add text: works on any PDF, scans included. You place one text at a time, with bold, color and size; it comes out fixed on the page. With several PDFs uploaded, the "Document" selector picks which one gets the text.
• Add text: doesn't check boxes or pick list options. For an X in a box, type the letter X and place it over the box.

Locking the filled values: when to check it

Fill form mode has the option "Lock the filled values (no longer editable)". When checked, the answers are merged into the page: whoever opens the file sees the completed form but can't change the fields. Leave it unchecked if the document still has to go through someone else who needs to complete or correct something. Add text mode has no such option, because the text is already drawn onto the page and isn't editable. If the completed form still needs a signature, see how to sign a PDF for free.

When this saves your day

• Government forms and applications that only exist as a PDF.
• Registration and enrollment sheets you need to return filled in by email.
• Contracts and authorizations that just need a few details written in, like name, date and city.
• Any PDF with no clickable fields that you used to print only to fill in by hand and scan back.

Common mistakes

• Trying to fill a scanned PDF in Fill form mode: it has no fields. Use Add text.
• Expecting several texts in one pass in Add text mode: it's one per download. Re-upload the downloaded file for the next one.
• Locking the values too early: once locked, not even you can fix an answer. Keep an unlocked copy.
• Text that's too big: the "Size" is proportional to the page height; start with the default and adjust while watching the preview.
• An emoji or a symbol outside the Latin alphabet in a field: the tool can't write it and shows "Couldn't fill the form." Delete the symbol and try again; accents work fine.

Everything happens in your browser: the form is filled in on your own device and is never sent to any server. Your personal data, such as name, ID and address, never leaves your computer.