Create a fillable form

Updated October 21, 2026

Prepare Form turns a PDF into a form people can fill in on their computer.

Dynamic XFA forms can be filled in and saved, but their fields can’t be changed with Prepare Form.

Steps

1. Open the PDF and choose Tools › Prepare Form.
2. To have PDF Studio find the boxes, lines and check boxes already on the pages, choose Detect fields. Check what it found and fix anything it missed.
3. To add a field yourself, choose its kind on the Prepare form bar: Text field, Checkbox, Radio button, Dropdown, List box, Button, Image field, Barcode or Signature field. Then drag on the page to draw it, or click to place it.
4. Choose Select, then click a field to change its name and properties in the Fields panel. Drag a field to move it.
5. Choose Done, then File › Save (Ctrl+S).

Tips

• Give fields clear names. The names are what you see in the Fields panel and in exported form data.
• A Signature field shows people where to sign. They can sign in it with a digital ID.
• To send the form to the people who fill it in, choose Distribute… on the Prepare form bar.

To fill in a form yourself, see Fill in a form and sign it.