Mark Stephens Mark has been working with Java and PDF since 1999 and is a big NetBeans fan. He enjoys speaking at conferences. He has an MA in Medieval History and a passion for reading.

What is a PDF Form?

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What exactly is a PDF form?

A PDF form is an electronic document in Portable Document Format (PDF) which has interactive fields that let users fill in information directly.

Example of PDF forms

You can see some more example forms on our FormVu sales page.

This is one of my favourite features on the PDF file format because it makes the documents interactive and much more useful. This makes them very useful for collecting data, placing orders and creating invoices. People have even written games using them! This data can be saved as part of the document or submitted to a server.

What are the types of PDF Form?

There are currently 2 types of PDF form based on 2 different technologies:-
1. AcroForms are the original format and still widely used. It stores data in standard COS object format.
2. XFA (XML Forms Architecture) is an alternative XML based format which is no longer part of the PDF Specification.

They are very different technically and most PDF libraries do not support XFA.

What is a PDF form used for?

PDF forms have many uses, their primary objective is to collect data from users. Some examples include using PDF forms for conducting surveys, handling applications, facilitating agreements and obtaining electronic signatures digitally.

However, displaying PDF forms on web applications becomes a challenge when we look at the limitation of the PDF format.

Is it possible to convert to HTML?

Yes. Our FormVu software converts PDF forms into standalone HTML forms which look and feel exactly like the original PDF document.

How can I view a Form?

Most PDF Viewers will also display Forms and Edge, Chrome, FireFox and Safari are also able to render them. Our JPedal PDF library provides a Java PDF Forms viewer.

How can I fill-in a PDF Form?

Most PDF Readers also allow you to edit form fields and will save the changed values back into the original PDF file.

What are fillable PDF forms?

Fillable forms, as the name suggests, are forms in PDF that contain fields that can be filled with the text or numbers. In addition you can also choose from a list of options with a drop down menu, check boxes for selection and also sign documents electronically. These types of PDFs are used for surveys, applications where the users input is required.

Fillable PDF forms are often embedded into websites where user data is collected. They erase the need for manual entry and also support additional features like calculation and data validation.

What is an Interactive PDF?

Interactive PDF come from a wider category and include other interactive elements as well. With these types of PDFs you introduce features such as hyperlinks, scripts and buttons. Furthermore you can embed media such as videos, audio and GIFs which makes the content overall more engaging.

Interactive PDFs include uses such as that for educational purposes. By diversifying the type of content within the PDF and allowing greater level of interaction by the user, the end user experience is much more collaborative.

Where can I learn more about Forms?

Forms are part of the PDF file specification which can be freely downloaded from the PDF Association website. We also have a large number of related articles on our blog.

You can learn more about commonly used PDF terms through our extensive PDF glossary.



FormVu allows you to

Use Interactive PDF Forms in the Web Browser
Integrate fillable PDF Forms into Web Apps
Parse PDF forms as HTML5
Mark Stephens Mark has been working with Java and PDF since 1999 and is a big NetBeans fan. He enjoys speaking at conferences. He has an MA in Medieval History and a passion for reading.