Adobe Reader is a great PDF reader when you want to write comments, sign a form, or digitally sign it. But Windows doesn’t seem to like me sometimes so I have to use another PDF reader from time to time. That is why I am going to show you the best software for filling out pdf forms.
If you’re looking for the best software to fill out PDF forms on your home or office computer, then this is the article for you. We’ll look at the top five pieces of software available today and their pluses, minuses and whether they are worth buying.
The best software for filling out pdf forms is Adobe Acrobat.
This software was created by Adobe to help you fill out and save pdf forms with ease. It can also be used to create pdf forms, as well as convert files from one format to another.
Adobe Acrobat is a great tool for anyone who needs to fill out a lot of pdf forms, as well as those who want to create their own. The program comes with many different templates that you can use when creating your own form, so it’s easy to get started right away!
Best software for filling out pdf forms
There are several free pdf filler on the market. Recently, more sophisticated PDF form filling software has become available that can do much more than just fill a form. Due to the number of free form filling platforms found both online and offline, users have a ton of options when it comes to finding free PDF form fillers. In this article, we’ll highlight the top PDF form filler offline and online on the market.
Part 1. Best 4 PDF Form Filler on DesktopPart 2. Top 4 PDF Form Filler OnlinePart 3: FAQs about PDF Form Fillers
Part 1. Best 4 PDF Form Filler on Desktop
Here are some easy-to-use PDF form fillers, including offline and online fillers. If you don’t want to download a PDF filler, you can choose an online PDF form filler to help you solve the problem of filling PDF forms.
1. PDFelement Form Filler [Compatibility: Windows/Mac/Online]
The ease-to-use functions associated with this particular PDF form filler have made Wondershare PDFelement – PDF Editor a recognized and respected program. You can download its free trial version to fill forms. It allows you to create edit, fill PDF forms, such as text box, check box, radio button, list box, push button, digital signature, and so on.
It is fully compatible with all Windows systems, from Windows XP to Windows 11. Download the free trial version of this professional PDF form filler to try it out! If you are a Mac user, try PDFelement and learn how to fill out a PDF form on Mac. It is compatible with the latest macOS Catalina 11. Here is a video that provides you with a step-by-step guide on how to fill out a PDF form on Windows, providing you with a more direct and detailed guide.
PDFelement allows you to create and fill PDF forms. It also has integrated features from other free PDF form fillers to allow for easy sharing and printing of forms. You can save your form to your device for future use and printing purposes. Also, PDFelement provides features that let you edit, sign, and perform OCR on PDF forms.
2. Adobe® Acrobat® PDF File Filler[Compatibility: Windows/Mac/Online]
Adobe Acrobat is a PDF tool that allows the user to edit, fill, and read PDF forms. It offers advanced form filling techniques and provides the most extensive features for creating PDF forms as well. However, Acrobat XI has ended all support, meaning there will be no more security updates, product updates, or customer support. In this case, you can click here to find out the best alternatives to Adobe Acrobat.
3. PDFill Form Filler [Free]
PDfill form filler has been integrated with top-notch functions and tools. From the PDfill form filler window page, the user is able to select the form format and select the editing font types, font color, and font size. This particular PDF form filler allows the user to be able to import and export filled forms and data to be filled in the editable fields.
4. Blueberry PDF Form Filler [Free]
Blueberry PDF Form Filler is free software that enables the user to fill and print PDF forms. It has enhanced functions that are on par with Adobe Reader filling capabilities. You can open your document in the program, and then fill in the data by selecting the appropriate fields. In the process, the filler converts the fields into editable fields that can be filled with data. This program provides several fonts and text sizes that conform to other text in the document as well.
Part 2. Top 4 PDF Form Fillers Online
Online form filling can make things quite simple and effective for you. Rather than entangling themselves with offline tools, users can consider utilizing online solutions to quickly fill forms and have them forwarded to the appropriate channel. The following discussion covers the top online form filler PDF platforms that users can consider for this purpose.
1. PDFescape PDF Form Filler Online [Batch processing supported but advanced features are paid]
PDFescape is known to provide an extensive list of PDF management tools across its online platform. While a versatile tool to work with, this online PDF form filling tool effectively fills out forms for its users. As it saves time and effort to work across the platform, users can effectively import data from another PDF to consume it across the current PDF form.
With a one-click reset button, resetting added data across PDF forms is as easy as it can be. Users can add text within their PDF forms, utilize data from the menus available across the forms and make the best use of the form with this PDF form filler.
Pros:
- Users can utilize both online and offline services of PDFescape.
- Form filling is effortless and effective across this PDF tool.
- Batch processing data across PDFescape is possible.
Con:
- Paid subscriptions for advanced features.
2. pdfFiller [Multiple templates available]
pdfFiller has based its vision on providing users with a paperless environment, covering all basic PDF editing and management tasks across the online platform. pdfFiller is available for form filling, with multiple templates available across the platform. This PDF form filler tool is the pioneer of fillable PDF forms. With comprehensive tools, filling out forms has never been easier.
While utilizing an existing form template or creating one from scratch, pdfFiller offers a variety of editing tools, enabling users to create the best PDF form out of it. The platform is a perfect example of creating forms, editing documents, organizing, signing, encrypting, and authenticating PDF documents.
Pros:
- Form fields can be easily filled with data retrieved from spreadsheets.
- Provides signature tracking and chain of custody to secure important documents.
- Highlight and draw across PDF documents effectively.
Con:
- It can be quite tricky for some users to apprehend in a single-use.
3. DocFly PDF Form Filler [ Free Online PDF Filler]
DocFly PDF Form Filler, one of the most straightforward PDF form filling tools that can be made available across the online market is DocFly. This browser-based solution features an extensive set of editing tools for PDF documents, allowing users to make significant changes across PDF files, which are equivalent to changes made within an offline PDF management tool.
DocFly features itself as a proficient online PDF form filler tool that offers a variety of editing tools to make changes across fillable fields of PDF forms. While encompassing a variety of tools to work with for filling out forms, its functionality can assert impressive results for users. DocFly should be indeed considered among online tools if required.
Pros:
- Users can essentially fill out forms within minutes.
- Managing PDF documents and manipulating them as per requirement is possible with DocFly.
- DocFly provides support across online help desk, email, and FAQs.
Con:
- The tool overloads or glitches over larger PDF documents.
4. PDF Buddy – Online PDF Form Filler [Edit up to 3 PDFs for free each month]
PDF BuddyPDF Buddy is an online platform that allows for editing and general form filling to your online hosted document. This particular PDF form filler gives you the ability to work anywhere, saves time, and is free to use. Plus, it is easy to enhance your PDF files.
Limitations of Online Form Fillers
Online PDF filling can be quite simple; however, it is not as effective as offline PDF form fillers. Although offline PDF form fillers require downloading, online PDF form fillers can only be accessed through the internet. With no internet connection, the platform is useless for functions such as form filling.
Along with that, online form filler platforms are not excessively feature-rich as compared to offline PDF tools. This makes offline tools a better option in the market than online form-filling tools. Users prefer consuming such tools which cover all tasks effectively.
Part 3. FAQs about PDF Form Fillers
1. What is the Best PDF Form Filler?
If you are looking for a PDF form filler, you need to make sure what it can do, and whether it will satisfy your needs. In general, a great PDF form filler can basically allow you to create, edit, fill and sign forms. For these features, what you can do: Add text box to fill text in form fields, and even create a flowable text field. Create check box, using it for creating lists of items where one or more items can be selected at once. Insert radio button when you need to make a list of items where only one item can be selected. Add combo box to set the other options for a list of items besides the default choice. Create list box to display a list of items. Insert push button to make you select some certain items. Add digital signature in forms to validate or protect the document. Add image into the form field for showing some information that cannot be shown as text. Recognize form to automatically create forms for you. Extract data from forms if you need the data of forms. Calculate order for selected form fields including numbers data. Export and Import data of the forms according to your needs. Align and center multiple form fields when you created several form fields if needed. Sumbit a form after filling forms to set a Submit form button.
2. The Best Tool for Filling PDF Forms
For all the above PDF forms features, the PDF form filler – PDFelement can help you achieve all of them, that is to say, you can fill the all form types in a PDF form filler rather than looking for multiple fillers to achieve your requirements. It not only allows you to fill in interactive form fields but also non-interactive PDF forms. Here are the scenarios in detail.
Scenario 1. Fill PDF Forms with Interactive Fields
PDFelement lets you easily fill in a PDF form with interactive fields. After you download and install the PDF form filler software, launch the program. Click the “+” button on the Home window to browse your computer or drag and drop the PDF into the program window. The form filler software will detect all of the interactive fields automatically once the file is open. Now you start directly typing in the fields or selecting the right responses from the options provided. Download it for free trial.
Scenario 2. Fill Non-Interactive PDF Forms
Not all PDF forms have interactive fields. Some forms are created from different types such as Microsoft Excel, Word, or plain text and covered in PDF. To fill one of these types of converted PDF forms, open it with PDFelement, then go to the “Form” tab and click on the “More” > “Recognize” option. It will automatically detect where the fields should be. You can then click the “Preview” button on the top right and start filling in the field like you would with interactive PDF forms.
Now you know how to fill in a PDF form with or without interactive fields using PDFelement. After filling out the PDF form, you can save the completed PDF form by clicking the “Save” icon in the top left-hand corner of the main interface. As one of the best PDF Form Fillers on the market, PDFelement also lets you add a handwritten or electronic signature to your PDF form as well. If you feel it’s useful and wants to know more, you can download it for free to try.
Part 5: Comparison of PDFelement and Adobe Acrobat
| Items | PDFelement |
|---|
| Adobe Standard DC | ||
|---|---|---|
| Compatibility | Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista, macOS 10.14 or later | Windows 7/8/10/11 |
| User Interface | Easy to use, with clear instruction of each different tab | Unlike Microsoft Office, the user interface is way more complicated, with a much higher learning curve |
| Create PDF | Create PDF from any source such as Microsoft Office, text, images, EPUB, webpage and more | Create PDF from documents and images |
| Edit Text and Images in PDF | Add, delete and modify texts and images in a PDF | Add, delete and modify PDF texts and images |
| Edit Pages in PDF | Insert, delete, crop, rotate, extract, replace, rearrange pages in a PDF | Insert, delete and organize pages in a PDF |
| PDF OCR | Turn Scanned PDF into an editable file with OCR plugin. Over 20 OCR languages are supported |
| Annotate PDF | Mark up PDF with highlights, sticky notes, comment boxes, freehand drawing tools, etc. | Highlight text, add comments, draw shapes, and use freehand markup tools. |
| Split PDF | Separate PDF into multiple files | Split a PDF into multiple files |
| Combine PDFs | Combine multiple PDF files into one single file | Combine multiple PDFs together |
| Convert PDF | Convert PDF to editable Excel, Word, RTF, PowerPoint, image formats (JPG, TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG), text documents, HTML, and EPUB | Export PDF to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, RTF, JPEG, TIFF and PNG |
| Protect PDF | Protect PDF with open password and permission password to restrict unauthorized viewing, copying, editing and printing | Encrypt PDF with a password to secure your document |
| Redact PDF | Permanently redact PDF to remove sensitive content from PDF |
| Bates Numbering | Add bates numbering to PDF to easily index legal documents |
| Sign PDF | Put electronic signatures or handwritten signatures on your PDF document | Electronically sign PDF documents |
| PDF Forms | Create fillable PDF forms and fill out both interactive and non-interactive forms | Create and fill out PDF forms |
| Compress PDF | Reduce PDF file size with offered or custom compression options | Optimize PDF to shrink the file size |
| Share PDF | Send PDF by email or upload it to Wondershare Document Cloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive for sharing | Share PDF via email and Adobe Cloud service |
| Print PDF | Batch Print PDF files with original formatting | Produce high-quality printout |
| Customer Support | Receive a guaranteed reply within 24 hours, including personal or commercial questions. | Poor customer support with slow response times |
| Price | $79.99/yr for Professional Version | Subscription Mode: $179.88/yr |
Free Download or Buy PDFelement right now!