Meet PDF Forms: build, fill, and edit fillable PDFs in one place

Filling out a PDF form should be quick. Building one should be even quicker. But anyone who has worked with paper forms, scanned documents, or flattened PDFs knows the reality: you spend more time wrestling with fields than actually using them.

That is why we built PDF Forms, a single tool that handles everything from filling an existing form to creating one from scratch, with AI on hand to do the heavy lifting when you need it. Whether you are an HR team digitising onboarding paperwork, a legal department preparing client agreements, or someone who just received a non-fillable PDF and needs to send it back today, this tool is built to fit how you actually work.

Key takeaways

• PDF Forms gives you three modes in one place: fill, edit, and AI-powered detect.
• The AI detection feature works on flattened PDFs and scanned forms, turning static documents into interactive ones.
• You can add signatures, text fields, checkboxes, radios, list boxes, and combo boxes, then style each one to match your document.
• Detect with AI is included in your standard Premium plan and does not consume AI credits.
• Each field can be customised with properties like Required, Read only, Multiline, and more.

What PDF Forms actually does

The tool brings together three things that used to live in different places. You pick the mode that matches what you need at the moment, and the rest of the workspace adapts.

1. Fill Form

You received a fillable PDF and you just need to complete it. Open the file, switch to Fill Form, type or click your way through the fields, and download the finished version. No printing, no scanning, no back and forth.

2. Add or edit form fields

You have a clean PDF that needs to become a form. Switch to Edit Form and place the fields where you want them: a signature line at the bottom, a few checkboxes for consent, a list box for choosing a country. You stay in full control of layout, naming, and behaviour.

3. Detect automatically with AI

This is where things get interesting. Upload a flattened or scanned form, hit Detect automatically, and our AI scans the document, finds the form areas, and turns them into real interactive fields. What used to take an afternoon now takes seconds.

Where the AI detection really shines

Plenty of forms in circulation are not fillable in any meaningful sense. They are scans of paper documents, exports that flattened the original fields, or PDFs that were never built as forms in the first place. Manually rebuilding them is tedious work.

Detect Automatically is designed for exactly these cases:

• Flattened PDFs, where fields were exported as static visuals.
• Scanned documents, where a paper form was digitised as an image.If the scan contains non-selectable text, you can first process it with OCR in iLovePDF to make the content easier to detect and work with. 
• Legacy templates that need a second life as interactive documents.

A short note on access: Detect with AI is part of the standard Premium subscription. It does not consume AI credits, so you can use it as often as you need without worrying about running out. 

The field types you can add

Each field type covers a specific kind of input. Choosing the right one keeps your form clean and your data tidy.

Add Signature. A dedicated space for someone to sign. Useful for contracts, agreements, and any document that needs sign-off. If your workflow also involves legally binding e-signatures and document tracking, digital signing workflows in iLovePDF can help keep everything in one place. 

Text. A box that must be filled in with information, like a name, address, or order number.

Free Text. Visible text that guides the form. Use it for titles, instructions, or option labels that should appear on the page but do not need to be filled in.

Checkbox. Lets the user select multiple options. Good for things like "Choose all that apply".

Radio. Only one option can be selected. When two or more radio buttons share the same name, they are grouped, so picking one automatically deselects the others.

List Box. A list of choices that supports either a single selection or multiple selections, depending on how you configure it.

Combo. A drop-down style field that allows only one selection. Useful when space is tight and the list of options is long.

Customising each field with properties

Once a field is on the page, you can shape its behaviour through the Properties panel. The available properties depend on the field type, but the most common ones are:

• Read only. The field is visible but cannot be edited. Useful for pre-filled data the recipient should not change.
• Required. The form cannot be submitted until this field is completed.
• Multiline. Lets text fields wrap onto more than one line, perfect for comments or addresses.
• Include field indicator. Adds a visual marker so users can see at a glance which areas need attention.
• Multiselect. Available on list boxes when you want users to pick more than one option.

These small choices add up. A well-configured form prevents missing answers, reduces support questions, and produces cleaner data on the other side.

Style fields to fit your document

A form should not feel like a separate thing pasted onto the page. PDF Forms lets you adjust the look of each field to match your document, so it reads as one coherent piece. You can control:

• Text size and text colour
• Fill colour
• Border colour and border width

The result is a form that looks like part of the document rather than something dropped on top of it.

Three ways to use the tool, step by step

Option 1. Turn any PDF into an interactive form with AI

This is the fastest route, especially for flattened or scanned documents.

A quick tip: if a few fields were not detected, switch to Edit Form from the top left and add them manually. The two modes work hand in hand.

Option 2. Build the form yourself

Sometimes you want full control from the start.

Option 3. Just fill in an existing form

If the PDF already has interactive fields, you only need to complete it.

Editing tips that save real time

A few small habits make form building noticeably faster.

Duplicate fields with ALT or Option drag. Hold the key while dragging a field to create a copy. Great for repeating elements like initial boxes on a multi-page contract.

Align and distribute multiple fields. Highlight several fields at once to snap, distribute, or align their edges. Forms feel professional when columns line up cleanly.

Lean on keyboard shortcuts. Standard actions like delete, duplicate, group, ungroup, and move all have shortcuts that keep your hands on the keyboard and out of menus.

When PDF Forms fits into a wider workflow

Forms rarely live on their own. They are part of bigger document flows: onboarding new employees, collecting client information, gathering signatures across teams. PDF Forms slots into that picture.

If your form is heading into a long-term archive once it is signed, our notes on PDF/A conversion for long-term archiving are worth a look. 

If you need to lock down a sensitive form before sending it externally, the basics in PDF security and encryption cover the essentials. You can also protect a PDF with passwords and encryption directly inside iLovePDF before sharing sensitive documents externally. 

And if your input is a scanned document with no selectable text, run it through OCR first so the AI has cleaner content to work with. We explain the process in our guide on how OCR works in iLovePDF.

iLovePDF is trusted by international enterprises and used every day by individuals who need a quick fix, which means the tool is built to handle both a single one-page form and a thousand documents shared across a legal team.

Common questions, direct answers

Does Detect with AI use my AI credits? No. Detect with AI is a standard Premium feature and does not consume AI credits.

Can I use the AI on scanned paper forms? Yes. Scanned documents and flattened PDFs are exactly where the AI detection performs best.

Can I edit a form after the AI has detected it? Yes. Switch from Detect automatically to Edit Form and you can add, remove, or change any field.

Are the form files I create truly fillable? Yes. The output is a real interactive PDF, which means the fields work in any standard PDF reader.

In summary

PDF Forms turns a job that used to be split across several tools into one clean workflow. Fill an existing form, build a new one by hand, or let AI detect the fields for you. The output is an interactive PDF that looks like part of your document, not bolted onto it. For flattened files and scanned forms in particular, the AI detection is the kind of small change that quietly reshapes how a team handles paperwork.

Open any PDF, choose how you want to work, and let PDF Forms do the rest.

Try PDF Forms now