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How To Create Template-Based Forms with PrizmDoc

With more businesses migrating their documents to the cloud in favor of paperless offices, it’s becoming more important for organizations to provide a streamlined digital document experience for their clients and end users. PrizmDoc offers the ability to create template-based forms directly in its viewer, so document owners can save time and streamline form processes for filling out, signing, and completing forms online.

If you’re ready to jump right in and start creating forms, check out our template-based forms demo.
I’m ready to try template-based forms now

If you’d prefer a little more guidance on setting up and using PrizmDoc forms, we’ve got you covered. This post will walk you through how to set up and navigate the PrizmDoc viewer to easily create and customize template-based forms for your organization. Here’s how it works:

 

Download and install the PrizmDoc viewer

Make sure that you have downloaded and installed PrizmDoc. You can get immediate access to a free trial of PrizmDoc for 30 days here: https://www.accusoft.com/products/prizmdoc/get-it/. The free trial gives you access to creating forms (as well as access to a host of other useful tools and APIs).

 

Create Your First Template
    1. Within the e-signature module of the viewer, select and open the saved file that you’d like to use for your form template. Medical release forms, job applications, rental agreements, 1040 and I9 forms, and internal employee forms are just some examples of forms that your organization may use consistently that could benefit from a simplified digital template. Here’s an example of a registration form that we’ve opened:
template based forms

Next, rename your template. In the upper left corner, click in the Unnamed Template field (named Tech Writing Sample in our example), type your template name, and Save.

    1. The following example shows the toolbar that will be displayed in the viewer while you’re working on your template. You’ll have access to this toolbar to customize and navigate within your form.
template-based forms toolbar
      • Pan
      • Signature
      • Initials
      • Text Box
      • Date
      • Checkbox
      • Settings

Clicking each of the toolbar icons will give you different options for customization, such as making a field required, editing the display name, changing the font size and colors, changing the character limits, and allowing multiple selections. For a detailed list of the toolbar icons and functions, read the full documentation here.

    1. To set up custom global settings for your template (i.e. fonts, colors, roles), click Settings in the upper right hand corner of the viewer. A dialog box, Global Template Settings, will display and from here you can customize the font type and color to match your website or brand colors.
global template settings in template-based forms

For full detailed instructions, refer to the PrizmDoc documentation, How to Set Up a Basic Template.

 

Design Your Template

Use the toolbar options to select the fields and features to add to your form. To add signature, initials, text box, date, and checkbox fields, follow this basic outline:

    1. To add a field from the toolbar, click on the field name. Scroll to the location on the template you want to add the field and draw a box.
    2. The Properties Panel opens to the right of the template and displays the available options for the field.
    3. If the the field is mandatory, click the Required checkbox.
    4. Enter a Display Name to easily refer to the form field. In this example, type in Initials of Reviewer.
    5. If you want to add additional fields to the template, click on the Duplicate icon and draw the fields as desired. See example below:
designing a template-based form

 

Customize Your Form Fields: Rearrange, Sort, and Duplicate

 

    1. Required fields will be designated with a red indicator within the text box of the field itself:
customize forms in template-based forms
    1. Rearrange the position of any of your fields by using your keyboard arrow keys. Click on the field you want to move, and select the up, down, left, or right arrow keys accordingly.
    2. Align and match the size of multiple fields (signature, initials, text box, and date fields) at one time by using the Ctrl key, clicking on the fields you want to align, and selecting Match Size and Vertical Alignment as highlighted in yellow below:

align and match in template-based forms
align and match in template-based forms 2

    1. After you add some fields to your template, you’ll see them displayed in the Form Navigator in the right. If you’d like a different order to appear, simply sort the Form Navigator using the sorting icon (arrows) and drag and drop the individual fields in the order in which you’d like them to appear. See example below:
form navigator in template-based forms

PROTIP: You can edit any of your fields by clicking on their display name (“Signature of Examiner” or “Initials of Reviewer”) within the Form Navigator. You’ll also have the option of duplicating fields, for example, if you wanted to grab multiple signatures or initials from multiple users before the workflow is considered complete.

    1. Other customization properties are available in the Properties Panel of your template. This panel is displayed when you click on a field in the Form Navigator:
properties panel in template-based forms

 

Saving Your Template

 

  1. Click Save at the top of your template.
  2. To save a copy of the template you created with a different name, click the Save dropdown and select save a copy. Enter the name for the duplicate copy.
  3. You’re all set!

For more details on adding features to template-based forms, check out our full documentation.

Creating template-based forms that you can use in your organization for clients and end users is easy when you use PrizmDoc to create them. Digital forms streamline both the backend and end-user experience for form processes so your organization can simplify and save time. If you’re ready for a more unified document experience, get started with PrizmDoc today.

Try the PrizmDoc forms demo. Start your free trial today.