Have you ever considered how to convert a word document to a fillable pdf for free? Fillable forms are everywhere from your tax forms to novels that are available for download. While the latter may seem somewhat uncommon, numerous authors have discovered that offering their books for free in this format leads to increased sales.
If you need to convert a Word document to a fillable PDF, the process is almost identical to the one used for Adobe Acrobat. Follow these instructions to learn how to use both freeware and paid programs for this purpose.
Before dealing with any technology, you should know what word to excel convert and how to converter word to pdf. There are some best options when you have read this article on convert pdf to editable word free or pdf to word converter free offline. This is something important when you have time and want to know the overview of the work.
If you are looking to convert a Word document to a fillable PDF, you’ll likely want to do so because it becomes much easier for someone to input information into your documents. If you have hundreds or thousands of documents that need to be filled out, then using the fillable PDF option is best.
Convert Word to a Fillable PDF
After you launch Word, select Open, navigate to the location where your Word document is stored, select the file and choose Open.
When the document opens, select File and then choose Export. Select Create Adobe PDF from the menu, choose the Create Adobe PDF button, type a file name for the converted file and choose Save.
Launch Adobe Acrobat Pro to open the PDF document and create a form from it. Choose File. Select Create and then Create Form.
Choose Select a file, navigate to the location where you stored the converted Word document, select the file and choose Open. Leave the form field auto detection set to On and choose Start to create the form from your converted Word document.
Converting with Acrobat Pro
You can convert Word to a fillable PDF in a single step using Acrobat Pro. Choose Create Form, Select a file, change the file selection type to All Files (.) and select your Word document. Acrobat converts the Word document to a PDF and creates a form from the converted document without your having to launch Word; however, Word must be installed on your computer.
Adding Form Fields
Review the form that Acrobat Pro automatically created and modify it as necessary. Use the editing icons next to Prepare Form to add new writable fields to the document, use the formatting buttons at the top of the right column to align your labels and data fields; you can also modify the names of the data fields assigned to the writable values if you want them to be different. Choose the blue Preview button on the Prepare Form line to preview a copy of the form.
For example, to add a field that wasn’t converted from Word, such as the Comments field, choose the button to add a new text field, position the field on your form, use the handles on the bounding box to size the field and type a name for the new field.
Click the Save button at the top of the screen to save your changes.
Convert PDF to Fillable Form for Free
If you don’t have Adobe Acrobat, there are many free tools available online. According to PCWorld, free online PDF editors typically let you add text and other simple elements and may allow you to move sections around. They generally don’t have the capabilities needed to do anything beyond simple edits.
In many cases, an online PDF editor app will be available for free for a 30-day trial period, after which you’ll be charged a subscription fee. Adobe offers a one week free trial for Acrobat, during which you can create the form you need or decide the application is worth the purchase price. As an alternative to both Acrobat and free PDF editors, there are budget editors like pdfforge PDF Architect that perform many of the same functions as Acrobat for a lower price.
Create a Fillable PDF Form from a Word Document
1. Open the Word document that you want to make into a PDF form.
2. Go to File -> Print, make sure “Adobe PDF” is selected as your printer, and then click the Print button.
3. Word will ask you where to save the PDF file you’re creating. Select your desktop or Fileshare and click OK.
4. Your computer will create a PDF file, which will then open automatically in the Adobe Acrobat PDF editing program.
5. At this point you have a basic PDF document, but you still need to tell Acrobat to make it a fillable form. To proceed, click the Tools button, then the Forms button, and then Create.
6. Acrobat will ask you a couple of questions. On the first screen, make sure “Use an existing file” is selected, then click Next.
7. On the next screen, make sure “Use the current document” is selected, then click Next.
8. Acrobat will attempt to recognize all the fillable fields in your form. It’s not perfect. You’ll probably have to edit a few of the fields manually, since Acrobat usually sets decorative lines incorrectly as fillable fields.
9. If you see a form field you want to remove, click on it (it will highlight in blue) and press the Delete button on your keyboard. You aren’t deleting the line, merely the field that Acrobat set incorrectly.
10. When you think your form is ready, click the Preview button to see how it appears to someone who is filling it out.
11. If you want to make additional changes, click “Edit” to return to the form editor. Otherwise, go to File -> Save As and save your finished form.
Understanding Fillable Form Technology
Ordinarily if you create a form for something like a survey or a contract as a Word document and send it to someone, you run the risk that they will accidentally or intentionally alter the document before filling it out and sending it back. This can be an issue if people haven’t signed and completed the forms that you expect.
An alternative is to send an image or uneditable PDF of a form, or even a paper copy. You can then ask people to fill it out by hand and mail it back, fax it to you or scan it and email back the completed form. This can be unwieldy, though, and requires your recipient to either have a printer and scanner or for you to wait for postal mail delivery.
An alternative is to use digital tools to create a form that someone can fill out on a computer and smart phone and send back to you digitally. If you’re going to be using the form to collect signatures or agreements, make sure you’re legally compliant with whatever requirements are in place in your area for legally binding digital signatures. If the form collects any kind of sensitive information, make sure you’re collecting and storing it in a way that preserves people’s privacy and complies with the law. You may not be able to use email to collect some sensitive information for this reason.
Creating a Fillable PDF
Use Adobe Acrobat or other PDF editing software to create a fillable PDF. Create a Word document and save it in Word, then open Acrobat. Click the “Tools” menu and click “Prepare Form.” Select the Word file to import. Acrobat will detect potential form fields and add them automatically, but you can use the tools in the right editing pane to adjust them, delete them or add new form fields. When you’re done, you can save the form and send it to other people to fill out.
You can also use Acrobat to distribute the form, emailing it to people and collecting their responses in your inbox or through a system such as Microsoft SharePoint. Click the “Distribute” button, select how you want to receive the responses and click “Continue.” Enter the recipient addresses or select them from your address book. Select “Collect Name & Email from Recipients To Provide Optimal Tracking,” if you want information about who’s received and filed out the form, or leave it blank to keep things anonymous.
Create Form in Word
You can also create a fillable form in Word itself that other people can fill out using Word. You must have the “Developer” tab visible in Word. To show it, click the “File” tab, then click “Options” and “Customize Ribbon.” Under “Main tabs,” select “Developer” and click “OK.”
Then, create a new document. If you want to use an existing Word form template, you can use the “Search online templates” option in the Word New Document menu to find one that fits your needs.
Once the document is created, use the options on the Developer tab to add form fields in Word. For example, you can insert a “Rich Text Content Control” for people to enter text or create drop-down menus and check boxes. Add text to the form as well to tell people what to enter where.
After the form is created as you want, protect it from other people editing it by selecting all the form elements and text, clicking “Restrict Editing” in the Developer tab. Then click “Yes, Start Enforcing Restrictions.” Email or otherwise distribute the form to its recipients to fill out, and then have them send it back to you.
Convert InfoPath Form to PDF
To do this, you need to make sure that novaPDF is installed as a virtual printer on the machine that you are using. After verifying that, you can proceed to do the following.
Step 1: Open Microsoft InfoPath and then go to File and then choose “Fill Out a Form”. After that, you will need to choose the template of the form that you would like to fill out.
Step 2: After filling out the form with the required information, you will need to go to “File”, and then choose “Print”. In the Printer section, choose novaPDF. Optionally, you can go to the Properties section and then make any changes in novaPDF, for instance auto-save options, PDF document information, page format, resolution and so on.
Step 3: Once you have done that, click OK and then choose the place where you would like to save the file on your computer. The PDF form is going to be opened once it has been created.
Conclusion
We all have a word document that we have created, but sometimes, this document contains information inside it that we do not wish to share with the world, and we want to convert it into something completely different. For example, you may want to convert your existing word document into an editable pdf file or perhaps a fillable pdf file to send it via email so another person can fill it out. Well, the good news is: there is no need for you to pay for any software. In fact, you can do this for free! PDF’s have replaced the need for paper copies of documents. Today, they’re used to record everything from scanned copies of your signature to insurance policies and mortgage papers. However, converting PDFs to fillable Word document format isn’t straightforward. That is where third-party tools come into play, which convert PDF to a Word format that’s editable.
Fillable forms are editable PDFs that allow you to create fillable fields for personal or business use. Fillable fields can be customized by shape, color, size and more to fit your specific needs. In this article we discuss how to create fillable forms within Word, starting with documents you create in Microsoft Word 2010 or later and ending with a completed form that can be filled out on any computer equipped with Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. We all have a word document that we have created, but sometimes, this document contains information inside it that we do not wish to share with the world, and we want to convert it into something completely different. For example, you may want to convert your existing word document into an editable pdf file or perhaps a fillable pdf file to send it via email so another person can fill it out. Well, the good news is: there is no need for you to pay for any software. In fact, you can do this for free!