How do I send a PDF form to many people using Distribute Form?

Open your PDF form in Acrobat. Click 'Distribute'. Choose if you want to collect answers by email or on a server. Acrobat will then help you send the form to your chosen recipients and collect their responses.

What is the Forms Tracker and why is it useful for my distributed form?

The Forms Tracker is a special part of Acrobat that helps you manage your distributed forms. It shows you exactly who has filled out your form and who has not. This is very useful because you can see the progress of your form, send reminders to people who haven't replied, and easily view all the collected answers in one place.

If I choose to collect form responses via email, what are the potential problems?

If you collect many form responses through email, your email inbox can quickly become very full and messy. This makes it hard to manage all the replies. It's better to use a server for collecting responses if you expect many people to fill out your form, as this keeps your email clean and organizes the data more efficiently.

Why should I use a server instead of email to collect form responses?

Using a server to collect form responses is better than email when you have many recipients. A server can handle a large number of replies without making your email inbox full. It also makes it easier to manage and export all the responses into one spreadsheet, which is more organized for large projects.

How does Acrobat help me see all the answers from my distributed form?

When you distribute a form, Acrobat automatically creates a special file called 'filename_responses' Portfolio. This Portfolio holds all the answers you get. You can also use the 'View Responses' option in the Forms Tracker to see all submissions together in one spreadsheet.

◆ Acrobat · fill

Collect responses from distributed PDF forms automatically

Create a fillable submission checklist PDF template that lists required documents per market ([market=EU, UK, US]) wit…

3ready prompts

1real task

3roles

See the prompt↓More fill workflows

AI prompts

3 ways to ask · copy any one

AExecute — “help me do it”Help me automatically collect answers from my PDF forms for...…+

Help me automatically collect answers from my PDF forms for [describe your group, e.g., students, employees].

when the reply comes backShow me how to see all the collected answers in one place.

BImprove — “do it better”Suggest ways to make collecting PDF form responses faster and...…+

Suggest ways to make collecting PDF form responses faster and more organized for [describe your situation, e.g., a school survey].

when the reply comes backExplain how to send reminders to people who haven't filled the form.

CDecide — “help me choose”Help me decide the best way to collect responses from PDF...…+

Help me decide the best way to collect responses from PDF forms for [describe your needs, e.g., a club registration].

when the reply comes backTell me how to export the collected responses to a spreadsheet.

How to do it

the tool · the steps · what to avoid

The tool

Adobe Acrobat

Acrobat Pro (Desktop)

1
Open the original distributed PDF form in Adobe Acrobat.
2
Go to the Prepare Form tool.
3
Click on Track in the right pane to open the Tracker window.
4
In the Tracker, select the distributed form you want to collect responses for.
5
Click View Responses to open the response file or tracker associated with the form.
6
Click Collect Responses or the equivalent option to automatically gather all submitted forms from recipients.
Best practiceIf some responses are missing, ask recipients to use the built-in Submit button in the form for automatic collection.
7
Save the compiled response file when prompted.

In the appWith the API

You can monitor who has responded and see response timestamps directly in the Tracker window.

This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.

Glossary

words on this page

PDF FormA PDF file with boxes or fields that people can fill out.

Response CollectionGetting answers or information back from people who filled out your form.ExampleThe team is gathering all the survey submissions to analyze customer feedback.

DistributedSent out to many people in different places.ExampleThe updated company policy was distributed to all branch offices worldwide.

The real tasks

the one, listed here

Create a fillable submission checklist template so project teams consistently attach required documents for each market.

FAQ

about this task

Adobe Acrobat lets you send out PDF forms and automatically gather the answers people fill in. You can use the 'Prepare Form' and 'Distribute' tools, which help you track responses and see who has replied.

Distributing a PDF form means sending it out to many people, such as by email or a link, so they can fill it out and send their answers back to you.

Yes, Adobe Acrobat can collect all the filled forms and show you the responses together, often in a summary table or by combining them into one file.

PDF forms are useful if people need to fill them offline or print them, but online surveys can be faster and easier for large groups or if you want instant results.

Automatic collection saves you time and effort because you don’t have to gather each response by hand, and it helps you keep all the answers organized.

Collect responses from distributed PDF forms automatically

When to use it

AI prompts

How to do it

Glossary

The real tasks

Who does this

FAQ

Sources

Adobe help