Use the Highlight Fields tool at Forms > Fields to make it easier to locate all fields in a form. To change highlight color for ordinary and required form fields, go to File > Options > Forms.
PDF forms can be of two types: static and active. Static ones look like forms but responses cannot be entered. Such forms may be just part of a longer PDF document. Active forms have controls that respondents can set (for example Yes/No) or choose from a longer set of options or provide text responses. Go to Form controls to see a list of form elements available in the program.
Use the Highlight Fields tool at Forms > Fields to make it easier to locate all fields in a form. To change highlight color for ordinary and required form fields, go to File > Options > Forms.
To fill an active PDF form
Open the form in the program. All its form controls will be active.
Check the controls are in order. Post-edit them only if necessary.
Choose the Hand tool at the top of the Panel bar.
Step through the form elements making choices and entering text.
Save the filled form, click its Submit button if it exists, or resend the form electronically.
Go to File > Options > Forms to select items that help in filling forms. Enable Automatically calculate field values, so that any calculations already defined in the form will be updated in the program. Enable the auto-complete feature to help you fill text boxes more quickly. Enable Display focus rectangle so you can always tell which is the current control. For easy navigation, choose hover text display, a highlight color for ordinary fields and a separate border color for required form fields.
To activate and fill a static form you have received
Scan or open the form, converting to PDF if required.
Use the Settings dialog box in the Form Controls panel to set a language for auto-detected labels.
Use it also to enable or disable font resizing for text fields, allowing longer entries to remain visible.
Run Form Typer to detect form controls, have them activated and labelled.
Post-edit the form if necessary, moving, adding or deleting fields.
Click the Hand tool, then fill the form.
To resend the completed form, do one of the following:
Send the filled form as a PDF.
Print the form and its contents, and send the printed form.
Print only your responses onto the blank physical form and resend that.
As an alternative, you can convert a static PDF form to an active Word form using form mode in PDF Convert – post-edit and fill the form in Microsoft Word and send that, electronically or physically.
To fill active XFA forms
Power PDF lets you open PDF forms with XFA components, fill such forms and save them.
XFA form controls allow you to securely capture, present, move, process, output and print information associated with electronic forms. XFA (XML Forms Architecture) is a set of XML specifications that enhance the processing of web forms by providing active tags, and ensuring that all instances of an XFA form template keep the specification of data capture, rendering, and manipulation rules from the original. XFA provides compatibility with other systems, and is resilient to changes in technology and standards.
Notes
Do not edit form controls or run Form Typer on a form with active XFA controls.
Forms filled by this program can be accepted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). A choice in the PDF Create printer driver makes it easier to conform with USPTO's PDF guidelines (For more information visit www.uspto.gov)