Creating a template from an existing PDF
If you already have a PDF (a fillable form, a flat document, a scan, or something in between), you don't need to rebuild it from scratch. Upload it, and DocuPotion turns it into a live template you can send data to.
- Upload your PDF
- DocuPotion detects any fillable fields
- Add your own fields with overlays
- Review your merge fields
- Preview and test
- Publish your template
Additional tips
Upload your PDF
From your Templates dashboard, click on the New Template button and select the "Upload a PDF" option. Any standard PDF works, including ones that are just flat pages with no interactive fields.
Drop your PDF into the upload area. If you're uploading a fillable PDF with many input fields, it may take a minute or two for DocuPotion to analyse your PDF.
Note on password-protected PDFs: if your PDF only has editing restrictions (an owner password), that's fine; DocuPotion opens it anyway. If it needs a password just to open it, remove that password first and re-export.
Once the analysis is complete, you'll be brought to the DocuPotion template editor.
DocuPotion detects any fillable fields
If your PDF already has real form fields, DocuPotion finds them automatically and, wherever possible, names them based on the label printed next to each field — so a field called topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].f1_04[0] becomes something like customer_name.
Add your own fields with overlays
This is where flat PDFs (and the gaps in a fillable form) get filled in. In the left-hand tool rail, you can add:
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Text | A merge field you drag onto the page. The value comes from your data, just like a detected form field. |
| Image | A merge-field-backed image slot (e.g. a signature or photo that's different per record). |
| Checkbox | A merge-field-backed checkbox. |
| Static Text | Fixed text that's the same on every generated PDF (e.g. a disclaimer). Never becomes a merge field. |
| Static Image | A fixed image baked into every PDF (e.g. your company logo). Never becomes a merge field. |
Click a tool, then draw a box anywhere on the page. Detected form fields show up as locked blue boxes. You can rename them, but not move or resize them, since they're tied to the real field on the page. Anything you draw yourself shows up in violet (merge field) or grey (static) and can be freely dragged and resized.
Review your merge fields
The Merge Fields panel on the right lists everything on the page, grouped into From the form, Added, and Static. Static overlays don't appear in your data schema; you'll never need to send a value for them.
Note: If a single value is meant to spread across several boxes on the form (like SSN character boxes, or an address that wraps across two lines), DocuPotion automatically groups them into one merge field. You'll see them listed as a single row, not several.
Preview and test
Use the Template / With Data toggle to flip between seeing your raw merge fields and a preview filled with sample data.
Static overlays always show their real content in both views, since they aren't part of your data. You can generate a sample PDF by clicking on the Download Sample button.
Publish your template
Your changes autosave as a draft as you work, but nothing reaches your live template, and no PDF generated via the API or an integration will reflect your changes, until you click Publish. Not happy with a change? Click Revert in the dropdown menu to discard the draft and go back to the last published version.
Once published, generating a PDF fills in your real form fields (preserving their native look), draws in every overlay you added, and flattens the result into a single PDF - the output isn't itself an editable form.
How grouped fillable fields are handled
Paper-style forms often split a single piece of information across several boxes. DocuPotion recognises these patterns and groups them under one merge field rather than creating a separate field for every box:
- Character boxes. A row of single-character boxes (common for things like a company number, reference code, or postcode, where each character gets its own square) is treated as one field. You supply the whole value once, and it is distributed across the boxes.
- Stacked text lines. A multi-line area made of several stacked boxes under a single label (an address block, for example) is grouped into one field, so you provide the value once rather than line by line.
This grouping keeps your field list short and sensible. The number of merge fields you end up with will usually be smaller than the raw number of boxes on the form, and that is intentional.