Got a Word form but they want a signed PDF back? The clean way

Sign the exported PDF now

Sign PDFDraw, type or upload; flatten on save. Free, runs on your device.Open

The Word part happens in Word or Google Docs, which already make PDFs. The signing part happens here, in your browser: the PDF is opened, signed and saved on your device, and nothing is uploaded.

The 2 routes, at a glance

Should I fill it in Word or in the PDF?

Fill in Word (route A) when typing does not wreck the layout. It is quicker: answers wrap inside table cells, spelling is checked, and the exported PDF carries the answers as real text in Word’s own fonts.

Export first and fill the PDF (route B) when Word fights you: a table cell grows and pushes the signature block onto a new page, lines shift as you type, the form was made in a Word version that renders differently on your machine, or you do not have Word at all. The PDF holds still; you place each answer exactly where it belongs.

A 2-column layout or a form with long free-text answers is usually better filled in Word, where text wraps; placing long paragraphs line by line on a PDF is slow.

Step 1: turn the Word form into a PDF

getPDF has no Word to PDF converter yet. The office suite you open the form in already has one, and it does the job better than an upload site would:

• Word on Windows: File, Export, Create PDF/XPS.
• Google Docs: File, Download, PDF document. Open the .docx in Docs first; check the layout, because Docs redraws Word files in its own way.
• LibreOffice Writer: File, Export As, Export as PDF.

Word’s export embeds the fonts it uses by default, so the PDF looks the same on the recipient’s computer. Create a PDF walks through every route.

What happens to the form controls. Text boxes, checkboxes and dropdowns from Word (“content controls”) do not become PDF form fields. The export writes what they show at that moment as plain page content; there is no setting that changes this (an Adobe Community expert and Microsoft Q&A answers both describe it, checked on 11 October 2026). So the PDF looks like a form and takes no clicks. That is why route A fills before exporting, and route B treats the PDF as a form with no fields. Why Word form fields stop working in a PDF explains the cause in full.

Step 2 (route B only): type the answers on the PDF

1. Open the PDF in Add text to PDF.
2. Set Size to 10 or 11 pt, matching the form’s own text, and keep it for every answer.
3. Click just above each line, type, press Enter. The text stays selected: the arrow keys nudge it 1 point at a time, Shift and an arrow 10 points.
4. For checkboxes, type a capital X and drag it into the box; it snaps to the box’s edges and centre.
5. Write dates in the form’s format, or with the month as a word. Dates on PDF forms has the formats.

Step 3: sign and date it

1. Pick Sign. The first time, the signature pad opens: draw with the mouse or a finger, type your name in a handwriting font, or upload a photo of your paper signature (the paper is made see-through).
2. Click the signature line. Drag the corners to make it about as wide as the line, not wider.
3. In the Sign bar, click Date and then click beside the signature. It places today’s date with the month spelled out.
4. If the form wants initials on every page, make them once in the pad, then pick them from the Sign bar and click each page’s corner in turn.

Step 4: check every page, then save

Read the PDF once top to bottom at a normal zoom before saving. The 2 things to look for: a page break that moved the signature block onto a page of its own, and a font swapped for a lookalike because the form was made on a computer with fonts yours lacks. Fix both in Word and export again; that is cheaper than patching the PDF.

Then Save. The signed copy is a new file with -edited at the end of its name. Rename it to something the recipient recognises, such as application-jane-cooper-signed.pdf, and send it; return a signed PDF by email has the message that goes with it.

Do I need to flatten it?

Usually not, and it is worth knowing why. Flattening turns form fields and annotations into page content. A Word export has no form fields, and getPDF’s editor writes your added text and your signature as ordinary page content already, not as movable annotations. There is nothing left to flatten.

Save flattened PDF (in the menu next to Save) matters in 2 cases: you added sticky notes or highlights, or the sender’s PDF did have real fields after all (the editor then shows “This file is a form” in the options bar). Flatten a filled PDF form covers that case.

The honest part

• getPDF does not convert Word to PDF today. Step 1 happens in Word, Google Docs or LibreOffice. Our own Word to PDF tool is planned; until it exists, your office suite is the better converter anyway, and it does not upload the form.
• We cannot bring Word’s fields across. Word’s own export does not, and getPDF cannot add new fields to a PDF yet. If you need a fillable PDF to send to many people, a form tool such as Acrobat’s Prepare a Form adds fields afterwards; for 1 form going back to 1 sender, the 2 routes above are quicker.
• The export can shift the layout. Fonts, page breaks and symbols are where it shows. Check before you sign, not after.
• A drawn or typed signature is a simple electronic signature. For most forms (job applications, school forms, a landlord’s paperwork) that is what everyone uses. A form that demands a qualified or certificate signature needs a provider that issues one, which getPDF is not. This is not legal advice; sign and fill a PDF has the plain-words map, with sources.