How to fill in a PDF form that has no fields, then sign it, without printing
The short answer. Two tools, about four steps each. In Add Text to PDF, click each line of the form and type; the default 12-point text sits in a band 14.4 points (5 mm) tall, which fits most printed lines. Tick the boxes, save, then open the saved copy in Sign PDF and place your signature. Neither file is uploaded.
A fillable PDF has fields: click a box in any PDF reader and you can type in it. Many forms from offices, schools and landlords are made for printing instead, with lines and boxes but no fields, so the reader lets you type nothing. The usual answer is print, write, scan and send. Typing on the page gives a sharper result in a few minutes.
Step 1: type the answers
- Open Fill Out PDF, which is Add Text to PDF with Text already chosen, and press Select a PDF.
- Click on the first line and type. The text box starts where you clicked; press Enter for a second line, such as an address.
- Change Font (Sans, Sans bold, Serif or Mono), Size (6 to 96 points) or Colour above the page if the form needs it.
- Drag the grip at the top-left of a box to move it onto the line; drag the bottom-right corner to make the text bigger or smaller.
- Choose Tick or Cross and click a box on the form to mark it.
- Use the page buttons to go to the next page, then press Save PDF and Download.
The answers are real text in the standard PDF fonts, so the form prints sharply and can be searched. Letters outside English and Western European scripts, such as Devanagari or Arabic, are placed as a picture of the text: they look right and print, but cannot be searched.
Step 2: sign it
- Open Sign PDF and select the file you just saved.
- Draw your signature, type your name, or upload a photo of your real signature.
- Turn on Add today's date if the form asks for one, and choose a format such as 15/10/2026 or 15 Oct 2026.
- Click where you would sign on paper, drag it into place, choose the pages under Sign, and press Sign and save.
A worked example
A two-page application form on A4 paper. Page 1 asks for a name, a date and a two-line address, and has two boxes to tick. Page 2 has a signature line.
| What you add | Where | What the tool makes of it |
|---|---|---|
| Name, date, address | 3 clicks on page 1 | 3 text boxes at 12 points; each line takes a band 14.4 points (5.1 mm) tall |
| Two ticks | 2 clicks on page 1 | 2 marks, each 16.8 points (5.9 mm) square: 1.4 times the text size |
| Save | "Added 3 text boxes and 2 marks on 1 page." The file is application-form-edited.pdf | |
| A typed signature | page 2 | 178.6 by 59.5 points (63 by 21 mm): 30% of the page width, lower right, until you move it |
| Today's date beside it | page 2 | 15/10/2026, in 14-point text |
| Sign and save | application-form-edited-signed.pdf |
If the form wants a signature on pages 2 and 4 of a four-page document, choose Chosen pages and type 2, 4; the line under the box says "2 pages of 4". Every page or This page are the other choices.
Before you send it
- Covering a printed mistake. In Add Text to PDF, White box draws a white rectangle, 160 by 24 points to start with, that hides the words under it on screen and in print. The words are still in the file. For anything confidential, use Redact PDF, which removes them.
- A form that does have fields. If your reader lets you click into boxes, type in them there, then run the filled form through Flatten PDF so the answers become part of the page. Text added with Add Text to PDF is already written into the page, so it has nothing to flatten.
- A form that needs a digital signature. Sign PDF places a picture of your signature, the same standing as signing a printout. It does not replace a DSC, Aadhaar eSign or PAdES signature where a bank or a government portal demands one.
- A PDF that already carries a digital signature. Any change re-saves the file and shows that signature as changed. Keep the original as well.
Questions people ask
How do I fill in a PDF form that is not fillable?
Open it in Add Text to PDF, click each line and type the answer, use Tick to mark boxes, and move between pages with the page buttons. Press Save PDF and Download. The answers are real text in a standard font, so the form prints sharply. Nothing is uploaded; the PDF is edited in your browser.
Can I sign the form after filling it in?
Yes. Open the saved file in Sign PDF, then draw, type or upload your signature and click where it belongs. On an A4 page it starts 63 mm wide in the lower right; drag it onto the signature line and resize it from the corner. Add today's date beside it if the form asks, then press Sign and save.
Why can't I type in my PDF form?
The form has no fields. A fillable PDF has boxes a reader lets you click into, but a form made for printing has only drawn lines, so there is nothing to type in. Add Text to PDF places a text box wherever you click instead, so any page of any PDF can be filled in.
Will the text line up with the printed lines?
Click on the line and the first line of text is centred on the spot you clicked. At the default 12 points each line of text takes a band 14.4 points, about 5 mm, tall. If the form's lines are closer together, lower the size; drag the grip at the box's top-left corner to nudge it into place.
Is the typed text part of the page or a form field?
Part of the page. Add Text to PDF draws your answers into each page's content, on top of the original, rather than creating fields or comments, so every reader and printer shows them the same way. Words you covered with a white box are still in the file underneath; use Redact PDF to remove anything confidential.
Sources
Checked 15 Oct 2026. Every figure on this page is a setting or a rule of the two tools, read from their own code:
- Add Text to PDF: the four fonts, sizes 6 to 96 points (12 by default), a line band of 1.2 times the size, a tick or cross 1.4 times the text size, a white box of 160 by 24 points, the result sentence and the -edited file name; files up to 100 MB and 2,000 pages.
- Sign PDF: a new signature 30% of the page width (at most 190 points), placed 36 points from the right edge; the date at 0.3 times the signature's height, between 8 and 14 points; the page choices and the -signed file name.
- A4 is 595.28 × 841.89 points at 72 points to the inch; 1 point is 0.3528 mm.