How to Make a Fillable PDF in Canva?（Step by Step）

Are you trying to create a fillable PDF in Canva and you're not quite sure how to do it? You have come to the right place! In this article, we will show you how to make a fillable PDF in Canva. This guide will be perfect for you if you want to create a digital survey, a planner or anything else that needs to have fillable forms. Thus, keep on reading to get the most out of this blog.

And as Canva is not a good tool to make a fillable PDF, we also introduce a better alternative, UPDF. Remember to download UPDF beforehand so that you can follow the steps along.

Part 1. Can I Make a Fillable PDF in Canva?

Unfortunately, Canva doesn't have the option to create digital fillable forms. This means that you can still create a form, but you won't be able to fill it out digitally. However, you don't have to worry. Canva can help you create a layout for your form, but later on, you would need to use another PDF software to convert your form to a fillable one. We will show you how to do all of these things today.

Part 2. How to Create a Fillable PDF in Canva?

In this section, we will show you how to create a static layout for your PDF form in Canva.

Creating a Form from Scratch

If you are creative, you can create your own form from scratch instead of using a template.

• Go to canva.com and sign in.

• Click "Create a design" and choose the A4 portrait format.

• Go to "Elements" to find elements such as rectangles, checkboxes, and so on.

• Type the name of the element you need in the search bar, for instance, type the "text box" to find it. Click it to place it on the page.

• Adjust the elements by clicking on them and then moving them and choosing settings from the top menu.

• Once you are finished creating your form, you can save it on your device. Click "Share" which is in the top right corner and then click "Download".

• Now you can adjust settings for your download. Select your file type as "PDF Standard" and click "Download" to download it as PDF from Canva. The file will be saved on your device.

Creating a Form from a Template

If you want to create a form as quickly as possible, we recommend you use ready templates.

• To find a template, go to the menu on the left and click "Design".

• In the text box, type, for example, "fillable form" and choose one of the templates.

• Your selected template will be applied to your previously blank page. Now you can adjust it by changing colours, fonts, and text. You can also move some elements if you wish. To edit the elements, click them and choose the editing options from the menu at the top.

• Now, you can download the PDF format for the PDF form.

Also Read: How to Edit PDF in Canva

Great! You created a layout for your form. Now you have to convert it to a fillable PDF. You can do this with UPDF. Download UPDF from updf.com and follow the steps below!

1. Open your file in UPDF and select "Prepare Form" from the left-side menu.

2. Use elements from the top menu to make your form fillable. For example, select the checkboxes icon and then place them on top of the checkboxes in your PDF.

3. To make your text boxes fillable, go to the last "Settings" icon and select "Form Field Recognition" and "Continue". This will allow you to convert your static tables and text boxes into fillable fields.

4. Now your form is fillable. If you wish to hide field names, go to "Settings" again and untick "Display Name".

5. To save your file, go to "File" > "Save".

Now, you get the PDF from canva fillbale.

Part 3. Problems When Using Canva to Create a Fillable PDF

When using Canva to create PDF forms, you may encounter several issues. As we mentioned previously, Canva doesn't offer tools to create fillable form fields such as checkboxes, text boxes, dropdowns, or radio buttons. Thus, after designing a layout in Canva, you would need to use a third-party tool to make your file interactive and fillable. All this requires more time and work, which many find inconvenient.

Moreover, users may notice that when transferring files to another tool to add fillable elements, the alignment of text boxes or lines is inconsistent. This can lead to more manual adjustments and lost time. These formatting issues can be simply avoided by using software that allows you to create fillable forms from the start.

Part 4. How to Create a Fillable PDF Form With a Better Tool UPDF?

There's a better alternative to Canva that you can use to create fillable PDF forms. UPDF allows users to create a digital PDF form from scratch, meaning you won't need any additional software.

Now we will show you how you can create your form in UPDF. Make sure to download the software and follow all the steps!

1. Open UPDF and go to "File" > "Create" > "Blank Page". This will open a blank page. If you want to use one of your PDFs as a background, you are welcome to open a specific file instead.

2. You can choose the size of your page and paper style. Then click "Create".

3. Once your page is open, go to the "Prepare Form" mode that you can find on the left.

4. Once the mode is selected, at the top, you will see various tools that you can use to create your form. From text fields, checkboxes, radio buttons to digital signatures. All this can be done in UPDF.

5. Let's start with the first tool – the text field. Select the tool and place the text field anywhere in your document. Drag the corners to adjust the length.

6. To adjust the colours and style of each element, you need to double-click it. Then the menu will open on the right where you can adjust everything. The "General" tab allows for changing text, the "Style" tab allows for changing colours and fonts, and the "Actions" tab allows for adjusting triggers.

Moreover, you can lock elements and prevent them from moving by switching on "Locked" in the "General tab".

Now select checkboxes or radio buttons. You can also make them bigger by dragging the corners or change their style by double-clicking.

You can repeat the same steps to add other elements like drop down list, signature filed, image field, and more.

7. Finally, hold on the "CMD or Ctrl + S" to save the fillable PDF form to your computer.

We hope that our guide was useful and you learned how to use UPDF to create your PDF forms. If you feel like you would benefit from more practice, we encourage you to watch the video below. It explains how to create, sign, and fill PDF forms step by step.

Final Words

Creating fillable PDFs can be quite satisfying and fun. That being said – only when you have the right software to do so. Just like we showed you in this article, you can either use Canva and UPDF to make a fillable PDF. Or you can simply do it all in one software, which will save you time and energy. With UPDF you can not only create beautiful forms but also make them fillable. Thus, the choice is obvious – download UPDF now and create hassle-free PDF documents. The downloaded version for the below button to a free trial version. If you like it after testing, you can buy it at a very low price.