How to fill out a PDF form, even one that is not "fillable"
Quick answer
If the form has boxes you can click, open it in your browser and type. If it does not, use ShushPDF Fill PDF: tap Text, then tap where you want to type. Tap inside a box, a table cell or a line, and the text lines up by itself.
PDF forms come in two kinds, and knowing which one you have saves a lot of frustration.
Step 1: Find out what kind of form it is
- Fillable form: when you open it, there are highlighted boxes you can click and type into. These were made on purpose by whoever created the form.
- Flat form: it looks like a form, but it is really just a picture of one. Clicking the boxes does nothing. Scanned paper forms and many government forms are like this.
Filling in a fillable form
Chrome, Edge and Safari can all fill in fillable forms. Open the PDF in your browser, click each box and type, then download or save it. Make sure you save a new copy, because some viewers only keep the answers until you close the tab.
In ShushPDF, fillable boxes show up in blue. Type into them, then tick Lock the form when I download if you do not want the answers to be changed later.
Filling in a flat form
- Open ShushPDF Fill PDF and choose your form.
- Tap Text, then tap where the answer should go and type.
- Use Tick or Cross for checkboxes, and Date for today's date.
- Drag anything that is slightly out of place. On a computer, the arrow keys nudge it one step at a time.
- Tap Sign if the form needs a signature, then Download.
Forms with one letter per box
Many official forms ask you to write each letter or number in its own little box, for dates, ID numbers or postcodes. Typing these one box at a time is slow. In ShushPDF, tap Text and tap inside the first box. It spots the whole row of boxes, and as you type, each character lands in its own box. Type a space to skip a box.
Text that lines up neatly
- Tap inside a table cell and the text is placed in the middle of the cell, at a size that fits.
- Tap just above a line like "Name: ________" and the text sits on the line.
Before you send it
- Zoom in and check every answer. Small mistakes are easy to miss on a phone.
- If the form must be under a certain size for an upload, use Compress PDF afterwards.
- If you closed the page by mistake, open Fill PDF again. Your work is saved on your device and you can continue.