Why a fillable PDF is still a file, not a form
A fillable PDF solves the typing, not the collecting. It still travels as an attachment: someone downloads it, opens it in a reader, fills it in, saves a copy under a name of their choosing, and emails it back — assuming the fields survived whichever app they opened it in. If you asked for a copy of their driver's license too, that arrives as a separate photo in a separate message.
The collecting is the part that costs you the week. Which of the new hires has sent theirs back? Which version of the application is the current one? A web form makes those questions answerable, because the answers arrive as records rather than as attachments.
How do I convert a PDF to a fillable form?
Four steps, and the AI does the tedious one.
Step 1 — Upload the PDF. In the AI form builder, choose Upload a reference and select your PDF. Uploads are capped at 3MB. A photo of a paper form works the same way, as do Word, Excel, CSV and plain text files.
Step 2 — Say what should change. Type your changes in plain English: add a driver's license upload, split employment type into checkboxes, cut the section nobody fills in. The builder recreates the document with those changes applied.
Step 3 — Review the fields it picked. Read the generated form before you publish it. Yes/No lines come back as one radio field with Yes, No and N/A options, rows of tick boxes become a single checkbox field, signature lines become signature capture, and dates become date pickers.
Step 4 — Publish and share the link. Publishing gives you a permanent form link to send by email or text. People fill it in on a phone or a laptop, sign, attach or scan supporting documents, and submit.
Which field types does the AI create?
Twelve, chosen from the content of the document rather than from your dragging:
- text — names, addresses, job titles
- email — with format validation
- phone — phone, mobile and fax numbers
- number — salaries, ages, zip codes
- date — date of birth, start date, the date beside a signature
- textarea — explanations, reasons for leaving, anything long
- radio — Yes/No questions and single-choice lists
- checkbox — pick-all-that-apply rows
- dropdown — long single-select lists like states
- file — uploads, with a phone scanner for IDs and certificates
- signature — signature capture
- initials — initial-here boxes
The rules the builder follows are the ones that trip people up when they rebuild a form by hand. A blank line beside "Yes" and a blank line beside "No" is one question, not two fields. "Type of employment desired" with four boxes under it is one checkbox field, not four text inputs. Anything essential to the form's purpose — name, email, primary phone, signatures, the date beside a signature — comes back marked required.
What comes back after someone submits
A signed PDF, not a spreadsheet row. It contains the document as they completed it, their signature drawn in place, whatever they scanned or attached, and an audit trail at the end recording who submitted it, the UTC timestamp and the IP address.
Files land in private storage. Nothing sits behind a public URL — uploads are served through links that expire after an hour, and each response can be filed into a record folder, where a compliance checklist tracks what that person still owes you.
What it costs
Form building is free to start and unmetered on Professional and above:
- Free — $0. 3 live forms at a time, 50 responses a month, 5 AI form builds a day, 3 record folders, 1 GB storage. Drafts are unlimited.
- Starter — $9.99/month. 10 live forms, 250 responses a month, 25 record folders and 30 AI form builds — the whole platform, at small-shop volume.
- Professional — $49.99/month. 50 live forms, 2,000 responses a month, 150 record folders and 100 AI form builds, plus compliance checklists, automated reminders and your branding removed.
Every paid plan includes unlimited users, so the price does not move when you add the person who actually chases the paperwork. Full breakdown on the pricing page, and the wider document-collection workflow — permanent links, records, reminders — is on the forms overview.
Start with your worst form
Pick the PDF that generates the most follow-up email — the employment application, the intake packet, the annual renewal nobody returns on time. Upload it at getdocssigned.com/signup-free, read what comes back, publish it, and send the link to the next person who asks for it.