🚀 go-pugleaf

Answer to frequently asked question: "I have a PDF
form. How do I fill it?"

1. If you have Acrobat Reader (also called just
Adobe Reader from version 6.0) you can fill in a form
provided it has been made "fillable". Just move the
cursor over the form and it will turn into an
"I-beam" where you can type.

2. If you have the full Acrobat Professional product you
can add text to any PDF file which is not protected.

Follow-on questions:

"Aren't all forms fillable? What do you mean fillable?"

A form is fillable if the creator of the form prepared
it specially, using Acrobat. Here is a sample of
a fillable PDF, an ever-popular tax form.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-fill/f1040.pdf

"How can I tell if a form is fillable?"

You can only tell the difference by trying to fill the
form. There is no other reliable way to tell. If you
can't fill in that second file above, your copy of 
Acrobat Reader is too old or is broken.

"But the permissions say that form filling is allowed"

See the previous reply. This only means you could fill
it if it were fillable.

"How do I save the filled-in form?"

If you have only Acrobat Reader, you don't. You can
print the form though. The full Acrobat product or
Acrobat Approval ($39) can save a partially filled form
and reload it later.

"I've heard Reader can save filled in forms"

Indeed, this is true. But it can only save specially
prepared forms. It will cost the form creator tens of
thousands of dollars to do this, so it is only likely
for a very small number of forms. Only "enabled" forms
can be saved.

"I've enabled form saving in Acrobat, why can't I save it?"

You cannot enable Reader to save in Acrobat. The
product to do this costs tens of thousands of dollars.

"I have Acrobat Standard 6.0. How do I add form fields"

You don't. This is a feature in Acrobat Professional 6.0
(and earlier versions of Acrobat) only.

Aandi Inston