Learn how to use Google Docs and PDFgear’s free online fillable PDF maker to make a fillable PDF form from scratch, without costing a dime.
When creating fillable forms, PDF forms are a better option compared with Google Docs forms, considering the layout and form controls.
However, Google Docs itself can’t create PDF with interactive fields (sorry, no magic buttons here), but you can design your form with it, and then use PDFgear to add fillable areas with ease.
Let’s walk through how to turn your Docs draft into a form ready for filling.
Want to create a fillable PDF form in Google Docs?
There are 2 necessary steps:
1. Create and edit a form in Google Docs, and save it as a PDF.
2. Use PDFgear online fillable form creator to insert fillable form fields into PDF, which makes the PDF interactive.
As mentioned, you’ll first want to get your form content set up in Google Docs, and use PDFgear as the final brushstrokes.
The best part? PDFgear is a free online tool, so there’s no need for downloads or installations. And, unlike some free tools, it won’t slap a watermark on your work.
Step 1. Go to the Google Docs official website and sign in to your Google account.
From there, you can either create and edit a new document or use a template in the Template gallery, which includes many document templates with the look of professional fillable forms.
Step 2. Enter all the content you want in your form. For the parts of the document that need fillable fields, use underscores or another placeholder to indicate where the fields will be. For example, “Name: _____________”.
Step 3. Click on “File”, select “Download” and then click “PDF Document” to download the form as a .pdf file.
Step 4. Go to PDFgear online form creator, and hit the Select PDF file button to open the PDF form we just saved from Google Docs.
Step 5. From the upper menubar, you’ll find a variety of fillable areas like textbox, password, checkbox, radio button, dropdown, list box, etc.
Click to choose the one you need, to textbox is most commonly used for filling out simple text.
Step 5. Lastly, click the Download button from the upper-right corner to download and save the fillable PDF form.
Step 6. That’s it! As you can see, now you’ve got a fillable PDF that can be easily filled out in any PDF reader, and even web browsers like Chrome or Microsoft Edge.
No, you cannot create fillable PDF forms directly in Google Forms. Google Forms is a web-based application that allows you to create online surveys and quizzes, but it doesn’t have the capability to create or export fillable PDF forms.
Google Docs doesn’t inherently support the creation of fillable PDF forms. You can create a document in Google Docs, but to make it fillable, you’ll need to use a dedicated fillable PDF maker like PDFgear.
In Google Docs, go to Files > Download and save it as a .pdf file. Go to PDFgear online fillable PDF maker, choose the needed fillable form fields from the upper menubar, and click on the PDF page to insert it. Lastly, click Download file to save the fillable PDF.
Once you’ve added fillable fields to your PDF, you can easily share it by emailing the file or hosting it on a cloud platform like Google Drive. Recipients can then open the PDF in a PDF reader or browser, fill it out, and send it back to you via email or another method.
While you can create the initial document in Google Docs on a mobile device, the process of converting it to a fillable PDF is better suited for desktop tools or applications.
In conclusion, creating fillable PDF forms always involves a dedicated tool like PDFgear, yet Google Docs does serve as a practical tool for inserting tables and shapes into PDF forms.
Make sure to follow the tutorial and have a try on your own, and I’m sure you’ll be impressed.