PDF Form Filling

Automatically fill existing PDF forms with your Airtable data. Upload your PDF, map the fields, and generate filled documents in seconds.

Overview

PDF Form Filling lets you take any existing PDF form and populate it with data from your Airtable records. This is ideal for:

Two ways to map fields

• Automatic detection - if your PDF has native form fields (created in Adobe Acrobat or similar), TypeFlow detects them and displays them on the PDF. You just select which Airtable field goes where.
• Manual placement - for flat PDFs or scanned documents, drag and drop your Airtable fields onto the PDF at the exact position you want. For printed checkboxes, add real checkboxes instead.

Getting Started

Step 1: Create a New Flow

1. Click New Flow in your dashboard
2. Connect your Airtable base and select the table containing your data
3. Choose your attachment field (where the filled PDF will be saved)

Step 2: Choose "Fill a PDF Form"

After selecting your document type, you will see two options:

• Pick a template - use a pre-built template or your own Google Doc
• Fill a PDF form - upload an existing PDF form

Select Fill a PDF form.

Step 3: Upload Your PDF

Drag and drop your PDF file or click to browse. Maximum file size is 20MB.

TypeFlow will:

• Convert each page to a visual preview
• Detect any native form fields (AcroForm)
• Redirect you to the PDF Editor

Mapping Fields

Auto-detected fields

If your PDF has native form fields, they appear as amber-colored placeholders showing "Map field".

To map a field:

1. Click on the placeholder
2. A dropdown with search appears
3. Type or scroll to find your Airtable field
4. Select it

The placeholder turns green and shows the Airtable field name. To unmap, click again and select "Remove mapping".

Manual placement (drag and drop)

For PDFs without native form fields:

1. Find the Airtable field in the left sidebar
2. Drag it onto the PDF at the position you want
3. Resize by dragging the corner handle
4. Reposition by dragging the placeholder

Click a manually placed field to configure:

To delete a field, select it and click the red delete button.

Supported field types

All formatting (number precision, date format, currency symbol) uses your Airtable field settings automatically.

Checkbox Groups

Some PDF forms have groups of checkboxes that represent a single choice (e.g. tax classification: Individual, C corporation, S corporation).

TypeFlow automatically groups checkboxes that share the same field name.

To configure:

1. Click the checkbox group placeholder
2. Select an Airtable Single Select or Multi Select field
3. Click the settings icon to open the value remapping panel
4. For each checkbox, select which option it corresponds to

At generation, TypeFlow reads the select value and checks the correct checkbox.

If your PDF is flat or scanned, its checkboxes are only printed. Add checkboxes over them first, then group them the same way.

Add Checkboxes to a Flat PDF

A flat or scanned PDF has boxes printed on the page but no form fields behind them. Add checkbox draws a real form checkbox over each printed box. At generation, TypeFlow prints a check mark inside the box, sized to it, and leaves unchecked boxes untouched.

Use it when a form lists options as boxes, for example a "Type of leave" list with one box per leave type.

Step 1: Draw the checkboxes

1. Click Add checkbox in the header
2. Drag a rectangle over the first printed box
3. Click once on each of the other boxes - every click places a checkbox the size of the last one you drew
4. Click Done adding checkboxes

Added checkboxes show at their real size. Hover one to see its mapping or to delete it with the trash icon.

Step 2: Map them

You have two options:

In a group, each checkbox shows a number. The value panel opens beside the group and uses the same numbers, so you can see which box gets which option.

Step 3: Save and test

Click Save Mapping. TypeFlow adds the checkboxes to your PDF, then saves the mapping. Run a Test to check that the right box is ticked.

Already placed a field on a checkbox?

If you dragged an Airtable checkbox field onto a printed box, select it and click Convert to checkbox in the field properties. It is replaced by a real checkbox at the same spot, with the same mapping.

One box for several options

Each checkbox in a group matches one option. When a box should be ticked for several options, for example a main "FMLA" box that applies to both "FMLA (Self)" and "FMLA (Family Member)", leave it out of the group. Map it on its own to an Airtable formula field:

IF(OR({Type of Leave} = "FMLA (Self)", {Type of Leave} = "FMLA (Family Member)"), 1)

A checkbox mapped on its own is ticked whenever its field has a value.

Split Fields

Some forms split a single value across multiple fields (e.g. Social Security Number as XXX-XX-XXXX in three separate boxes).

To group split fields:

1. Shift+click on each field you want to group (they highlight in cyan)
2. Click the "Group fields" button in the header
3. The individual fields are replaced by a single group placeholder

To configure:

1. Click the group placeholder
2. Select the Airtable field containing the full value
3. Enter the split pattern (e.g. XXX-XX-XXXX)

X represents one character slot. Dashes and other characters are separators.

Example: Value 132-24-3459 with pattern XXX-XX-XXXX:

• Field 1: 132
• Field 2: 24
• Field 3: 3459

E-Signature

You can add e-signature fields to your PDF form so signers can sign the filled document. This works with TypeFlow's built-in e-signature feature.

Adding signature fields

In the left sidebar under E-Signature, drag any of these onto the PDF:

Multiple signers

Click "+ Add signer" in the sidebar to add Signer 2, Signer 3, etc. Each signer gets their own set of variables.

Configuring signers

1. Click Settings in the header
2. Go to the E-Signature tab
3. For each signer, configure their email (from an Airtable field or static), name, and signing mode

Testing

1. Click the Test button in the header
2. Select a record from the list or type a record ID
3. Choose your test mode:

The generated PDF opens in a new tab.

Triggering Generation

Once your flow is configured and tested, click Settings then the Implementation tab.

Manual generation

Automatic generation

Each method shows step-by-step instructions with copy-paste code and URLs.

Related

• How to Set the Document Name for PDF Form Flows - Customize the output filename with Airtable variables
• Best Airtable PDF Form Filling Tools - How TypeFlow compares with DocsAutomator, miniExtensions, and Plumsail
• How to Fill PDF Forms From Airtable - Step-by-step walkthrough from connecting your base to signing the filled form

FAQ