Personal Technology Tips in Plain English
How To Edit and Fill Out PDF Forms Without Adobe Acrobat
While the Adobe Acrobat file format is very useful and welcomed by all, the price of the Adobe Acrobat editing software is not.
For years, people would plunk down literally hundreds of dollars to be able to create PDF documents. I’ve written about various ways to convert documents into PDF format for free – both via virtual PDF printer drivers which allow you to save PDF files to your drive from any program like PDFCreator or online services like Zamzar or Koolwire.
But what about the times when you want to actually edit or fill out a PDF form you are given? For example, many of the IRS documents found online now or a simple passport application, etc.
Recently, I’ve been using a free online pdf editor service which allows you to open up PDF files from your computer or elsewhere on the Internet. And then you can easily add text to the various form fields. They even have a neat little “checkmark” maker to add check mark boxes found on many forms! I love this new website I’ve found. . .
Why do I like PDFescape? Here’s some reasons why that you’ll probably stop reading mid-way in order to jump over to the site and start using it rightaway:
- It is completely free. Yes, $0.00.
- Open any document on your hard drive or online
- Allows you to save it to your computer and/or email it to yourself when you’re done
- Saves copies of your documents online for 30 days if you register
- No watermarks, advertising, or other stuff added to your document
- Easy to learn – very intuitive menus and options
- Did I mention this is completely functional and free?
- They have a FireFox extension which allows you to open any PDF document in PDFescape directly
- Even allows you to edit the document properties like author, title, keywords, etc.
- You can use the service without registration, no email address submission, no hassles.
They offer a paid offline version of their software that does even more for only $29. Based on the experience of the online PDFescape.com service, I’m seriously considering buying this Adobe Acrobat replacement competitive software.
What more can they offer for free? Well, if you need to CREATE a PDF form where people should easily fill out the fields, they offer that service too. Along with hosting and ways to distribute the PDF documents as well.
Isn’t it wonderful when you find services that are USER-experience-focused that do what they claim to do in a way that is pleasant?
LINK: http://www.pdfescape.com/pdf/

I love tech, gadgets and the web. Hope you pick-up a useful tip or two here today that helps you use technology to your advantage! Better yet, why not share your own expertise in a comment on a post today to help the other readers that land here for answers!
October 20, 2008 - 5:57 pm
http://pdffiller.com is a nice alternative.
October 20, 2008 - 6:13 pm
@KIM: Thanks for the suggestion. PDFfiller is easier in typing anywhere on the form since you just click and type away — and you can easily change the font/size too in the menu bar above.
However, I’d still stick with my first recommendation PDFescape since you don’t have to register in order to save, print, or email the document; you have more options for formatting/editing the document other the strictly simple type anywhere on the page option.
But definitely good to know about both free sites!
December 3, 2008 - 9:51 am
Really superb site. I’ve faced a lot to fill the forms. Good site It’s so useful.
December 20, 2008 - 12:50 am
I tried the software at the website you menionted before I found your website. It loaded my document then after it stated, “Loading…” followed by “Preparing…”, it displayed a message saying, “No pages found”. A different website had no problem loading and displaying the pages correctly (but I was looking for something free).
March 18, 2009 - 6:16 pm
pdfiller.com is not free. You fill out your form and then you are asked to register and pay at least $9.99 to save or print. Booo….
April 3, 2009 - 9:27 am
The most pimp site I have ever seen. This website is absolutely amazing.
September 1, 2009 - 6:48 am
I’ve been looking for something like this for years (on and off, of course.) I just found PDF-XChange Viewer and I’m ecstatic! It has a Typrewriter feature, and it’s free. You can even change the default font for the Typewriter to whatever you want.