National Endowment for the Arts  
Grants: Manage Your Award
 
 

Using PDF Forms

To access a PDF file, you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat Approval software. The free Acrobat Reader software is available at Adobe's website. Acrobat Approval can be purchased for $39 through the Adobe web site.

CAUTION: Please note that the free Adobe Acrobat Reader does not allow you to save your completed forms. You can save your completed forms if you use Acrobat Approval.

If you are having difficulty downloading a PDF, please make sure you have the most recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader or Approval. If you need further help, try Adobe's customer support.

If you only see a blank page when you download the PDF, usually you are not waiting long enough for the file to download. If you have this problem, or would like to speed the download a bit, please try this: Instead of clicking on the link for the PDF, right-click. On the pop-up menu select "Save Target As" (Internet Explorer) or "Save Link As" (Netscape). Select the place on your hard drive to save the file, and the name. Once you click Save, the file will download to your computer hard drive. Once the file has downloaded, you can double-click on it to open it in Acrobat Reader or Acrobat Approval. It is usually quicker to download the file this way, because it is downloading the file immediately instead of waiting for your Acrobat Reader or Acrobat Approval program to open before downloading the file.

Instructions for Using Fill-in Application Forms

If you are using the free Acrobat Reader:
Before you start to fill out a form, please make sure that you have all the correct, final information available. You may wish to print the forms first, and fill them out by hand and ensure its accuracy before filling in the final form on your computer. Since Adobe Acrobat Reader does not allow you to save the form once it is filled out, you will be unable to go back and edit your completed form after you close the window containing your form. With multi-page documents, you may want to print each page as you complete it.

If you are using Acrobat Approval
You can save, close and reopen a form as you would a conventional word processing document.

Please note that currently, there is no computation, validation or verification of the information you enter. Form fields simply allow you to type in information - you must ensure it is correct.

To complete the forms:

  1. If your cursor is not already in the shape of a "hand", select the "hand" tool from the Acrobat toolbar menu. This will allow you to move the page around to see each portion.

  2. Move the "hand" pointer over a form box on the document. The "hand" should turn into an "I-beam". The "I-beam" signifies a "fill-in" section to the form. Click inside the box. You can now type into the box. When the pointer hovers over a check box, button, or item list, it will turn into a hand with one finger pointing. This means you can select the item.

  3. To move from field to field, use the Tab key. Shift + Tab will move you to the previous field.

  4. Fill out the form by typing text into the appropriate areas and checking boxes where needed. (Boxes can be checked either by clicking on the box with your mouse, or by tabbing into the box and hitting the "enter" key.)

  5. Print the form using the "print" icon in the Acrobat toolbar menu - not the print icon or command in your web browser. If you print using your web browser's print command instead of the Acrobat command, the contents of the fields might not print properly.

  6. Check the printed forms very carefully for any errors, fields that did not print, or omissions. You may go back and make changes to any of the fields in your open document, and then reprint it.