<p>I downloaded one and I'm trying to type on the PDF but can't. Do I print it off and hand write it, or does that look sloppy?</p>
<p>You should be able to type on applications if you go to <a href="http://www.commonapp.org%5B/url%5D">www.commonapp.org</a> and register. I don't know much about technology, but unless you have a certain program, I don't think you can type on PDF documents. Printing the document and handwriting your application is perfectly fine, as long as you have legible handwriting.</p>
<p>Do you have access to a scanner? My kids have messy handwriting, so what they've done is print off the PDF and scanned it, saving it as a TIF file. We have MS Word 2003, so the next part could vary depending upon what you have. They've opened Word, selected Format, then Background from the drop-down menu, and then Printed Watermark. Next, they've clicked on the radio button for Picture Watermark and selected the scan of the PDF. They choose a scale of 100%. Then they unclick the check next to "Washout" to keep the PDF from printing in light gray. The form then shows up in their Word document. With most forms they've been able to select the entire watermark and move it up or down slightly to better match the line spacing used by Word. They have to use tabs, spaces or hit Enter to move around the page using Word. I've heard there are programs which are designed to save PDFs in such a format that you can type on them, but this method has worked for our family.</p>
<p>Its not for the common app, unfortunately</p>
<p>I have pretty bad handwriting so I'll have to try your method, thanks</p>
<p>Let me know how it works for you.</p>
<p>Also, sometimes to best fit a line, you can enter your text, select it, choose the Format menu, then Paragraph. In the pop-up box under Spacing you can choose different "Before" or "After" spacing to force a line a text to better fit the blanks in the PDF.</p>
<p>My dad told me a way to scan it in and convert it to a word file, so I'm going to see if that works</p>
<p>If it does, post how you did it. It would be really helpful for the rest of us who deal with the same issue.</p>
<p>I know PDF tax forms can be typed...I'm surprised colleges don't have these.</p>
<p>I wrote out a lot of my stuff. I like my weird handwriting.</p>
<p>And handwritten stuff may stick out.</p>
<p>There is a free program that you can download called Foxit Reader ... it has a typewriter tool that allows you to type on PDF documents, but unfortunately you cannot save them unless you pay for the complete program.</p>
<p>However, I use the free version for all my PDF needs and it has always kept me satisfied. </p>
<p>Here is a link:
Foxit</a> Software - Foxit Reader 3.0 for Windows</p>