Shape the PDF version of your form

This guide shows you how to edit the PDF version of a classic form, and how to download it as a clean file or a fillable one.

Plenty of forms end up on paper eventually. Printed for a clipboard, attached to an email, filed against a record. The PDF is a second layout of the same form, and it is worth ten minutes of attention.

Open the PDF tab

In the classic builder, switch to the PDF tab. Your form appears laid out as a document, on real pages, with the header and footer in place.

Everything you change here is stored separately from your form. Reorder the PDF and the web form stays exactly as it was. That separation is the whole point: what reads well on screen and what reads well on paper are not always the same thing.

The PDF tab: the same form, laid out as a document.

Pick a layout mode

Open Layout from the rail on the right edge. Layout Mode shows which one is active, and a button switches you to the other.

Flow keeps the positioning, so two short fields can share a row and you can drag the right edge of a component to resize it. Drop a sibling beside a field and they share a line.

Single column stacks everything full width, top to bottom, and you reorder with the up and down arrow keys. This is usually the better choice for anything that gets printed and filled in by hand, because a single column of full width lines is easier to write on.

In Flow mode you also get a Prettify button above the preview, which tidies the vertical spacing for you. It is hidden in single column mode, where the stacking is automatic anyway.

Layout Mode tells you which one is active and offers the other.

Reorder and hide

Move components into the order that makes sense on paper. A form that opens with a friendly welcome paragraph online often wants the reference number at the top on paper.

You can also hide components from the PDF. Anything decorative, any instruction that only makes sense on a screen, any video: hide it. Hidden components collect in an amber bar above the document that says “3 hidden from PDF”. Open it to see what is in there, and each one has a Show button to bring it back. Nothing gets lost silently.

Set the header and footer

Open Header & Footer from the rail.

The Header is a brand band across the top. Add your company name, upload a logo, choose whether the logo sits beside or above the text, and decide whether the band appears on every page or only the first. There is a Logo shadow switch and a Show divider switch for the rule underneath.

If your form already has a brand logo set in Page & Brand, the PDF uses that, and these settings are the fallback for when it does not.

The Footer takes its own text, something like ”© 2026 Acme Corp”, and has a Show page numbers switch. Show on last page only is useful for a terms line or a signature note that should not repeat on every sheet. It gets its own Show divider too.

Header and footer settings, including page numbers for the response PDFs.

Adjust the spacing

The Layout panel also has spacing controls: Title padding, Subtitle padding, Paragraph padding and Input padding, each running from 0 to 80 points. Each one shows its default and gets a reset button, and there is a Reset all if you have wandered too far.

Input padding is the one that matters most for a printed form. More space around the answer fields means more room to write.

Keep it in step with your form

The PDF layout keeps your manual edits, which means it does not automatically pick up fields you add to the form afterwards. That is deliberate, but it does mean you have to bring changes across yourself.

Sync Form does it. It re-applies additions and deletions from your form while keeping your ordering, hiding and spacing. Click it whenever you have changed the form and want the PDF to catch up.

Download it

The download menu sits in the top bar while you are on the PDF tab, and gives you two options.

Download PDF produces a clean document. This is the one for printing, for attaching to an email, for filing.

Download Fillable PDF produces a real PDF form. The fields are typable, so somebody can complete it in Preview or Acrobat, save it and send it back. No website, no account, no link. For anyone who will not use an online form, this is the answer.

The same layout is used for responses

One more reason to get this right. When somebody submits your form, the PDF of their response is built from this same layout, logo, header, footer and all. Tidy it once and every response PDF you download afterwards looks tidy too.

See View, export and manage your responses for where those PDFs live.