Online Forms: Creating a Fillable PDF Form

In the past, we have introduced Quicskchools Online Forms and how to create Custom Forms. Here, we will discuss the steps to create a PDF form.

Table of Contents:

STEP 1: Create the Form

STEP 2: Make the Form Fillable

• Create fillable form using PDF Escape
• Create fillable form using Adobe Acrobat Pro

STEP 3: Upload the PDF file

STEP 4: Map the fields

STEP 5: Test the form

STEP 1: Create the Form

To create a form from scratch, use Microsoft Word, Excel or other document making software. Skip this step if you already have a PDF form ready. 

Sample form created using Microsoft Word:

After creating the form, save a separate file as PDF.

STEP 2: Make the Form Fillable

There are two ways to create the fillable form: 

1. Create the form online via PDFescape. This website allows you to create fillable PDFs for FREE.
2. Create the form using the Adobe Acrobat Pro. Subscription is required to use this software.

Creating fillable forms via PDF Escape

1. Go to https://www.pdfescape.com/ and click the Free Online button.
   
2. Click Upload PDF to PDFescape > drop the file to the box provided or choose the newly created PDF from your computer folder

3. Use the page zoom option on the top right for easier viewing then click the paper icon on the right. Choose Form Field to add text fields, checkboxes, radio buttons, etc. 

To create a text field, follow the instructions at the top of the screen.

4. Once you’re done adding all the form fields, click any of the form field and select the tool icon at the top left of the page to bring up the Form Field Properties pop-up box.
   
5. Rename the field to match the fields in your form. This will help you later in mapping the fields in Quickschools.
   

6. When you’re done renaming all the form fields, click the download icon from the left panel.
   

7. Downloaded PDF File now looks like this when opened using a PDF reader or Google Chrome:

For a more detailed explanation on how to use PDF Escape, check out this video: How to Create a Fillable PDF Document for Free

Creating fillable forms using Adobe Acrobat Pro

1. Open the PDF form in Adobe Acrobat Pro
2. On the left panel, click the “Prepare a form” option.

3. If “Auto-detect form field” is “ON”, the software will automatically create fillable fields for you. If the fields are not created automatically, you’ll need to create them manually. Use the form components on the left panel to add or edit a text field, check box, radio button etc.

4. If the fields are created manually, edit the field names to match your form by right clicking on the field and choose Properties or Rename field.

TIP: When a form has multiple fields with the same name, make sure to rename each field uniquely. Eg. Father’s Work Phone, Mother’s Work Phone instead of Cell Phone for both fields. This will help you when mapping fields in Quickschools.

If the form requires an electronic signature, please make it a text field instead of the digital signature field. If not, Quickschools will not be able to recognize the digital signature field and will fail to create the signature button in Online Forms.

5. Save the PDF file.

STEP 3: Upload the PDF form

Create an Online Form packet. If you already have an existing form packet, click the Configure Form Packet button.

Click Upload PDF button.

Type the form name > attach the PDF form > Save.

This is how it should look like:

STEP 4: Map the fields

If you need to enroll the data to the student record, click Configure button to map the fields. 

Set the field if required or needs validation. You can also pick 3 fields that would be searchable on the main screen. On the Map To: column, select the appropriate fields that needs to be transferred over to the student record.

If a field is not available on the list, you can map it to Student Custom Field. Type the same field name on the Custom Field box provided then click Add New Item. This will either create a new custom field on the student record or map to an existing (make sure they have the same field name and no extra spaces or symbols are entered).

For parent information, only 2 parents can be mapped. If you need to add guardian or emergency contact informations, please use the Student Custom Field.

STEP 5: Test the Form

Test and submit the form if you want to see how it behaves. See Collecting Data via Online Forms to know more.

If you're having difficulties in creating the fillable forms, we accept customization with fees, depending on the scope of work. Chat with us or send an email to support@quickschools.com to request for a quotation.