PDF Forms User Guide

The ExForms Excel Add-in allows you to fill PDF form fields with data from your spreadsheet. This guide covers uploading templates, mapping fields, and generating filled forms.

📖 This is a User Guide
This documentation explains how to use the Excel Add-in interface. For programmatic integration, see the Document Generation API Reference.

Form-filling capacity and add-on packs
PDF generation uses your account's document-generation allowance. If you need more output capacity, form add-on packs can extend it without changing your main subscription. They are useful for large batches, seasonal work, or Free-plan accounts that need extra runs without moving to a higher plan immediately.

What You Can Do

• Upload PDF templates - Upload fillable PDF forms (AcroForms or XFA)
• Fill flat PDFs, scans & images - Flat PDFs and pictures of forms (PNG, JPG, TIFF) become fillable with the visual field placement designer
• Map Excel fields - Connect your Excel data columns to PDF form fields
• Auto-mapping - Automatically create Excel sheets with PDF field names as headers
• Batch processing - Generate multiple filled forms from multiple data rows
• Custom file naming - Use field values to create dynamic output file names
• Download as ZIP - Get all filled forms in a single ZIP file

Add-in Interface Overview

The ExForms Add-in has two main tabs:

Creating a Template Set

Template Sets are collections of documents that share the same data mapping. For example, an "Employee Onboarding" set might contain W-4, I-9, and benefits enrollment forms.

Steps to Create a Template Set

1. Open the Add-in from the Excel ribbon
2. Right-click on a folder in the tree view
3. Select "Add New Set" from the context menu
4. Enter a Set Name (e.g., "Employee Onboarding")
5. Enter a Description (optional but recommended)
6. Click "Choose Files" to browse and select your PDF templates
7. Click Save

💡 Tip: You can add multiple PDF files to a single template set. All files in the set will be filled with the same data mapping.

Field Mapping

After uploading a PDF template, you need to map PDF form fields to Excel data.

PDF Mapping Modes

ExForms supports three mapping modes for PDF forms. Together, these are our best-effort strategy for handling complex XFA forms:

1. Deterministic mode
   • Rule-based mapping using known field names, table structures, and parent/child relationships.
   • Fast and predictable for well-structured forms.
2. AI mode
   • AI-assisted mapping for forms where deterministic matching is incomplete or ambiguous.
   • Useful for irregular naming patterns and deeper XFA hierarchies.
3. Manual mapping flow (Build Your Own Map)
   • Guided stage-by-stage mapping where you control parent/child table selection and field targets.
   • Intended for the most complex XFA scenarios.

For high-complexity XFA templates, start with deterministic mode, then AI mode, and use manual mapping to finalize edge cases.

Understanding Field Types

The field tree view shows all form fields with icons indicating their type and mapping status:

Static fields are regular form fields filled once per document.

Dynamic sections/fields can repeat (tables, lists) and are mapped to Excel ranges.

Manual Mapping

1. Click on a PDF field in the tree view
2. Select the corresponding Excel column, named range, or table
3. Repeat for each field

For complex forms where auto-map is not reliable, use the dedicated guide: PDF Manual Mapping Workflow.

Auto-Map Feature

The Auto-Map feature automatically creates Excel sheets with the correct structure:

For AcroForms (Standard PDFs):

• Creates a new sheet with all PDF form field names as column headers
• You just need to fill in the data rows

For XFA Forms (Dynamic PDFs):

• Creates a sheet with static fields in one table
• Creates separate tables for each dynamic section
• Automatically configures table relationships

Output File Naming

Customize how output files are named using field placeholders.

Default Naming Convention

• Subfolder name: {ID} - each record gets its own folder
• File name: {OriginalFileName}{ID} - original PDF name plus record ID

Custom Naming

1. Click "Edit" next to Default File Names
2. Select fields from the Available Fields list:
   • {OriginalFileName} - Original PDF file name
   • {ID} - Row number/identifier
   • {FieldName} - Any mapped field value (e.g., {EmpName})
3. Use Move Up / Move Down to reorder
4. Click Add Custom Text to add separators or prefixes
5. Choose a Separator (dash, underscore, etc.)
6. Click Save

Example: {EmpName}-{Date}-{OriginalFileName} produces John_Smith-2026-01-15-W4_Form.pdf

Supported PDF Types

Flat PDFs, Scans & Images (No Form Fields)

PDFs without any form fields — scans, printouts, exported documents — and even pictures of forms (PNG, JPG, TIFF uploads) become fillable in ExForms: the add-in detects them and opens the visual field placement designer, where you draw the fields once and then fill from Excel like any other form.

Full guide: Fill Flat PDFs, Scans & Images from Excel

AcroForms (Standard PDF Forms)

Standard fillable PDF forms created in Adobe Acrobat or other PDF editors. These are the most common type of PDF forms.

Characteristics:

• Form fields are defined within the PDF
• Works in all PDF viewers
• Simpler structure, easier to map

XFA Forms

XML Forms Architecture - dynamic forms typically created in Adobe LiveCycle Designer.

Characteristics:

• Can have dynamic/repeating sections
• More complex structure
• Limited viewer support (Adobe Reader only)

⚠️ Important XFA forms are no longer broadly supported. Many PDF libraries and browsers reject XFA content. ExForms provides best-effort support to help you fill XFA forms from Excel, but there is no guarantee that every possible XFA structure can be filled correctly.

If deterministic mode and AI mode do not produce the expected output, use Build Your Own Map (manual mapping). If manual mapping still fails, open a support ticket and share the form; our team will guide you on whether that form can be filled.

The filling process does not execute JavaScript, trigger JavaScript validations, or run embedded form scripts.

Generating Filled Forms

1. Select the template set from the tree view
2. Ensure your Excel data is ready and mapped
3. Click "Send Data"
4. The add-in processes each row, filling all PDFs in the set
5. Download the ZIP file containing all filled forms

Output Structure

filled_forms.zip
├── 1/                          # Subfolder per record (using naming convention)
│   ├── W4_Form_1.pdf
│   ├── I9_Form_1.pdf
│   └── Benefits_1.pdf
├── 2/
│   ├── W4_Form_2.pdf
│   └── ...

Troubleshooting

PDF Fields Not Detected

• Ensure the PDF has actual form fields (not just visual text boxes)
• Try opening the PDF in Adobe Acrobat and check Form → Edit mode
• XFA forms may require Adobe Reader for full functionality

Mapping Not Saving

• Check that Excel named ranges are properly defined
• Ensure table names don't contain special characters
• Try refreshing the add-in

Output Files Empty

• Verify field mapping is complete (no gray unmapped icons)
• Check that Excel data rows are not empty
• Ensure date/number formats match expected values

Need Help?

• For API integration: Document Generation API Reference
• For support: [email protected]