Filozy

Three-step form workflow

Fill, sign and return a form

Fill in a PDF form's fields, add a signature, then flatten it so the answers cannot be edited or accidentally cleared by the next reader.

By the Filozy team, with AI assistance Reviewed How we write and review

One file · 3 connected steps

Start the workflow here

Choose the PDF once. Each completed step passes it directly to the next tool on this device.

The whole job, visible up front

What will happen

  1. 01

    Fill the fields

    Type into the form's fillable fields: text boxes, checkboxes, dropdowns and radio buttons.

    Open Forms by itself
  2. 02

    Sign

    Draw, type or upload a signature and place it on the page.

    Open Sign by itself
  3. 03

    Flatten

    Make the answers permanent page content. The signature is already part of the page.

    Open Flatten by itself

Common questions

What if the form has no fillable fields?
Then the Fill the fields step reports that the PDF has no fillable fields and cannot go on, because it fills fields rather than typing on the page. Use Edit PDF instead: its Type text tool writes answers onto the page, the Check and Cross stamps fill tick boxes, and its Sign menu places a signature. What it adds is drawn into the page, so there is nothing left to flatten afterwards.
Will a typed or drawn signature be accepted?
That is for whoever asked for the form to decide, so ask them before you send it. The Sign step adds a visible signature: your drawing, a photo of your signature or your typed name, placed on the page. It is not a certificate-based digital signature, so it does not prove who signed or show whether the file was changed afterwards. If the recipient needs that kind of signature, they can tell you which service to use.
Can I add the date next to my signature?
Yes. In the Sign step, Place the date adds today's date, written the way this browser writes dates, wherever you click, and Place initials adds initials taken from the name you typed. Both can be dragged into position like the signature. The font they are saved in has no non-Latin digits, so on a browser set to a language with its own digits, such as Arabic or Persian, Place the date saves question marks; Add date, which writes the month as a word, does the same in more languages, including Russian, Greek and Chinese.
Why flatten the form after signing it?
Until it is flattened, every answer is still a live field that the next person can change or clear by accident, and some viewers draw fields badly enough that a filled form looks empty. Flattening makes the answers part of the page and checks that no fields are left. Nobody can edit them afterwards, including you, so keep an unflattened copy in case an answer needs to change.
Can I fill in a form in Cyrillic, Greek, Chinese or another alphabet?
Not reliably. Answers, typed names, initials and dates are saved in a font that covers Western European letters only. Cyrillic, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Arabic text, and Latin letters such as ł, ř and ş, come out as question marks, with no warning, although the page showed them correctly while you typed. The Fill the fields step redraws every field you can edit this way, including answers already typed in another app, and the Flatten step makes the question marks permanent. Fill such a form in Adobe Reader instead, and draw or upload your signature rather than typing it.
Why will the form not fill in at all?
It is probably an XFA form, a format some government and tax forms use, which keeps the real form in hidden XML that browsers cannot fill. The Fill the fields step refuses these rather than saving one half-filled; open them in Adobe Acrobat or Reader instead. A form protected with a password needs unlocking first.