PDF Fillable form loses fillable fields after it is generated through Smartsheet

ahrenm1

We created a fillable form using Adobe Acrobat and use that as the mapping for our workflow automation to generate a document. We require a digital signature after the PDF is generated, but the digital signature option on the form does not copy over through the generating of the PDF. The formatting has copied over in the past, but it will not work now. Our agency cannot use DocuSign for this purpose. Any advice?

Isaac A.

Hi @ahrenm1!

After researching, I came across this thread: Can Document Builder leave a PDF as Fillable?, where it mentions that once a PDF is generated by Document Builder, the mapped fields become non-editable, but the non-mapped fields should remain editable. I’ve successfully tested and confirmed this behavior.

If you left the digital signature field unmapped and it still isn’t fillable after generating the document, that indeed sounds like unexpected behavior.

As troubleshooting steps, I recommend:

1. Using a different sheet and recreating your fillable PDF template to see if the issue persists.
2. Testing with minimal mapping to isolate potential issues.

If the issue continues after trying these steps, it would be best to contact our Support Team. Please include:

• The affected sheet(s)
• The fillable PDF template
• All steps taken prior to encountering the issue

Additionally, you can review our documentation for further reference:

• Document Builder: Generate documents from row data
• Document Builder: Map sheet columns to a fillable PDF

I hope this helps!

Cheers,
Isaac.

ahrenm1

Thank you @Isaac A.! I ended up recreating the fillable PDF and it sort of works. The fillable text boxes are still there, but the digital signature field does not automatically request a digital signature, like it had in the past. It is now just a fillable text box, which will work, but we would prefer if it was the digital signature formatting. I appreciate you taking the time to research this!