Build Fillable Forms

The Form Fields tab turns any PDF into a form that can be filled in — in DocuWrit or in any other PDF program. Everything it writes is standard PDF, stored the way Adobe Acrobat stores it: fields, fonts, formats, calculations and buttons.

The form designer: each field is a named box

Adding fields

Pick a field type in the ribbon, then place it on the page:

Field	How to place it
Text field, Multi-line, Dropdown, Signature, Button	Drag a box where the field should go.
Check box, Radio	Click where it should go; it is placed at the standard size (12 × 12 pt). Drag instead for a custom size.

The tool stays active so you can place several in a row. Click its button again, or press Esc, to stop. Each new field gets a name straight away (Text1, Check2 ...); rename it in its properties.

• Radio buttons that belong to one question must share a group. Add the first one, and while it is selected add the others: they join its group.
• Check boxes and radios draw their own square or circle. When the boxes are already printed on the form and the field should just sit over them, switch the box off: in the field's properties (Draw the box itself), or right-click > Hide the box / circle.
• Signature fields mark a place to sign: with the Sign tool (a picture of a signature), or with a digital ID — Digital sign offers every empty signature field for a click.
• Buttons do something when clicked: see Buttons below.

Arranging fields

With no field type selected, the Form Fields tab is the form designer:

To	Do this
Select a field	Click it. Ctrl+click adds to the selection; drag across empty space to select several; Ctrl+A selects every field on the page.
Move	Drag, or use the arrow keys (1 pt; with Shift, 10 pt).
Resize	Drag a handle of the selected field.
Copy	Ctrl+D duplicates below; Ctrl+C then Ctrl+V pastes below the originals. The right-click menu also has Duplicate to the right and Paste here.
Line up	Select two or more, right-click: align left / right / top / bottom, centre, same width / height / size. With three or more: distribute evenly.
Delete	Delete.
Change properties	Double-click the field, press Enter, or right-click > Properties.

For check boxes and radios the right-click menu also offers Use this size for new boxes (in this file, or always).

Changing several fields at once

Select the fields — ten check boxes, a column of text fields — and open the properties the same way (double-click one of them, Enter, or right-click > Properties of N fields). One dialog shows what they have in common:

• A setting that is the same in all of them shows its value; one that differs starts empty or undetermined.
• Only what you change is written, to every selected field. Everything else keeps the value each field had.
• The whole change is one step for Ctrl+Z.

Typical uses: switch the box of twenty check boxes off in one go, give a whole table of fields the same font and size, make every field of a finished section read-only.

Field properties

Field properties: a total that multiplies two other fields

The dialog has up to four tabs: General, Format, Calculate and Actions.

Property (General)	Applies to	Meaning
Field name	all	The name stored in the PDF. Fields with the same name share one value.
Group	radio buttons	Radio buttons in one group are one question: only one can be chosen.
Tooltip	all	Shown when the mouse rests on the field.
Default value, Max characters, Multi-line	text fields	Max characters 0 means no limit.
Choices, Default choice	dropdowns	One choice per line.
Caption	buttons	The text on the button.
Font, Font size	text fields, dropdowns, buttons	See Fonts. Font size 0 means automatic.
Text colour, Fill colour, Border colour	buttons	A colour from the list, or any colour as #RRGGBB. Fill and border can be None.
Mark style, Value when checked, Checked by default, Draw the box itself	check boxes, radios	The mark can be a check, circle, cross, diamond, square or star.
Visibility	all	Visible, Hidden, Visible but does not print, Hidden but prints. See below.
Required, Read-only	all	Required fields are outlined in red until they are filled in. A read-only field shows its value but cannot be typed into.

Hidden and read-only fields

Setting	On screen	On paper	Good for
Visible	shown	printed	ordinary fields
Hidden	not shown	not printed	values a script needs but nobody should see: an intermediate result, a code
Visible but does not print	shown	not printed	instructions, a Reset or Print button
Hidden but prints	not shown	printed	text that should only appear on the paper copy

In the designer a hidden field stays visible as a hatched box with a tag such as (hidden) or (does not print), so you can still select it; a read-only field has a solid outline and the tag (read-only). Read-only is the right setting for a calculated total: the form fills it in, the person filling the form cannot overwrite it.

Fonts

The font list of a field has three parts:

• Helvetica, Times, Courier (built in) — part of every PDF program; they add nothing to the file.
• Fonts already in this document — marked (in this document). A form made elsewhere keeps the fonts it came with.
• Fonts installed on your computer. The font you pick is embedded in the document in full, so the form looks the same on a computer that does not have it. That adds roughly 100 KB to 1 MB per font.

Only fonts whose license allows embedding in a document that others will edit are listed; fonts that forbid it, symbol fonts and a few font formats (PostScript-outline fonts, font collections) are left out. One style per family: there is no separate bold or italic for field text.

Format: numbers, money, dates

The Format tab of a text field decides how its value is shown and what may be typed:

Format	Options	Example
Number	decimal places; separator style (1,234.56 · 1234.56 · 1.234,56 · 1234,56); negative numbers with a minus sign, in red, in parentheses	1,234.50
Currency	the same, plus the currency symbol and whether it stands before or after the number	$1,234.50
Percentage	decimal places, separator style	0.256 is shown as 25.6%
Date	a pattern from the list or your own: m/d/yyyy, mm/dd/yyyy, dd.mm.yyyy, yyyy-mm-dd, mmm d, yyyy ...	Mar 15, 2026
Time	HH:MM, h:MM tt, with or without seconds	2:30 pm
Special	ZIP code, ZIP + 4, phone number, social security number	(555) 123-4567
Custom script	your own format and keystroke scripts

A number field refuses letters while you type; a date field offers a date picker. Formats are stored as the standard form functions (the ones Adobe Acrobat writes), so other PDF programs that run form scripts understand them.

Calculate: totals without writing a script

On the Calculate tab choose what the field's value is — the sum, the product, the average, the minimum or the maximum of other fields — and tick those fields in the list (type part of a name to shorten it). That is all: an order form with Quantity, Unit price and a Total that is the product of the two needs no script.

• Give the total a format (Currency) and make it Read-only.
• For anything the list cannot express, choose Custom script and set event.value to the result.
• Simple calculations are stored the way Adobe Acrobat stores them (as its own “value is the sum of” setting).

Buttons

A button has a caption, a font and colours (General tab) and one action (Actions tab):

When the button is clicked	What happens
Reset the form	Every field goes back to its default value.
Print the document	Starts printing, as Print in the ribbon does.
Open a web link	Opens the address in the web browser.
Run a script	Runs the JavaScript you enter.

Buttons usually should not appear on paper: set their Visibility to Visible but does not print.

Scripts

Besides formats, calculations and button scripts, the Actions tab holds a Validate script for text fields and lists (it can reject a value) and a Mouse Up script for check boxes and radios. Form Fields > Scripts lists every script of the document in one place. Every script is checked before it is saved. All of that is described in Scripts in documents.

Flatten form

Flatten form burns every field and annotation into the pages. What was typed stays visible exactly as it is, but can no longer be changed: the fields are gone. Use it on a finished form you are about to send. Ctrl+Z reverses it as long as the document is open.

Next: Pages, Printing & Export.