I answer my emails from the iPhone and there have been times when I had to fill out PDF forms. While you can install a third-party app to annotate and fill your PDFs, your iPhone’s Markup tool is fully capable of doing it. Let’s fill out an Email attachment on the iPhone.
Fill out Email Attachment
The markup tool has gone under some major improvements with iOS 14 and now supports intelligent features such as shape recognition, etc. You can use the markup tool to annotate any PDF on your iPhone and fill out forms with tools such as Text fields, signatures, checkmarks, etc.
Start by downloading the PDF form you’ve received in your mail. Tap the PDF attachment to load up a preview in the Gmail app and tap the Share button on the top right corner.
On the Share sheet, tap Save Files. It would prompt you to save the file in the Files app, select a location, and hit Save.
Navigate to the PDF on your iPhone. It can usually be found in the Files app. Tap the file to load up a preview of the PDF and tap the Markup button (pencil tip) on the top right corner.
To fill out the empty fields on the PDF, you can use the Text tool, it would overlay the text over the empty PDF and you can repeat the steps for all the fields individually. Simply tap the + button on the bottom right corner, next to the color wheel icon. Here you’d see an option to add a text, add a signature, magnify, and draw shapes. Simply tap the text button to add a text field.Â
Long press the text field box to reveal a popup menu and tap Edit. Now you can type the relevant information and place it on the desired location.
You can change the font, adjust the size, set orientation, and color of your text. Simply tap the text button on the bottom, next to the color palette.
iOS 14 also incorporates the shape recognition tool in Markup that allows you to draw cleaner shapes. For instance, if you want to add a checkmark in a box on the form, simply use the marker tool and draw a tick and hold your finger until the shape transforms.
Add a Signature to your PDFs
Just like we added custom text to the PDF, we can also add a signature. You can create your own signature and use it to quickly add signatures to your documents.
Tap the + button on the bottom in the PDF markup window to bring up the popup menu. Select Signature.
Tap “Add or remove signature” to open the list of all the saved signatures. To add a new signature, tap the + button on the top left corner.
Create a digital copy of your signature with your finger. You can take as many tries to get it perfect. Tap Done when finished.
Place the signature anywhere on the PDF and tap Done on the top left to save the changes.
Final Words
This was a quick and easy way to annotate and sign your PDFs on your iPhone. The markup tool if feature-rich and extremely intuitive that eliminates the need for a third-party app. What do you think of this method? Let me know in the comments below or reach out to me on Twitter.
Also Read:Â 4 Best PDF Annotator and Markup Apps for All Platforms
