I need to turn a simple one-page form into something people can type into, but everything I find wants a subscription. Is there actually a free way to make a fillable PDF?
Honestly, yes, the subscription prompts everywhere are annoying. If you already have Microsoft Word, you can enable the Developer tab, add the older legacy form controls, and then choose Save As PDF. To be fair, the fields usually stay typeable that way, which is what most people need. That is what I would try first before signing up for anything.
LibreOffice Writer can do this for free: add text boxes from the Form Controls toolbar, then export using “Create PDF form”. Just don’t print it to PDF afterwards, as that flattens the fields and people won’t be able to type in them.
LibreOffice Draw does it free. Open the PDF there, use the form controls toolbar to drop text fields, then export as PDF. Works fine for a one-pager. Is your form still a Word doc? If so, easier to fix it there first and export after.
I have done this in LibreOffice by adding form controls to the document, then exporting it as a PDF with “Create PDF form” enabled. My tip is to test every field after export, especially on a tablet. Avoid printing to PDF, since that usually flattens the fields and makes them unusable.
@cameron2002 you are so right about starting in the original Word doc first to keep the margins from jumping around! I send vendor intake forms all the time, and creating the form fields before exporting always saves me from pulling my hair out. Does LibreOffice keep the page layout exaclty the same when you export?
@rando72836 mostly yes, but not always exactly. Fonts can swap if they’re not installed and that nudges text around. I export and compare it side by side with the original, and keep a backup of the Word file before I start. Worth testing the fields on a tablet too.
If it’s just text boxes, free Adobe Acrobat online tools or PDFescape let you add form fields without paying, just annoying ad popups. For a one page form that’s all you need, no subscription required.
if it’s a simple form, PDFcap is probably the easiest free route. upload the PDF, add text fields, checkboxes, or signature spots where needed, then save a new copy. keep the original untouched in case you need to edit the layout later. are you starting with a PDF or a scanned paper form?
Honestly, LibreOffice Draw does it free with no limits. Open your form there, use the Form Controls toolbar to drop in text boxes, then File, Export as PDF and tick the create PDF form option. Worked fine for a checklist I made. Did you try that yet?