Everything that isn't already online is going online these days. Even our banks, government sectors, health clubs, universities, grocery stores, you name it, have websites.

What's the one thing they have in common?

They all have downloadable PDF forms.

You want to join the gym? Here's a PDF form for you to fill and you're all set to go!

Would you like to study in our university? Fill in this PDF form and send it back to us.

You have to renew your passport? Here's an application form for you.

How often have you had to download online forms in PDF format, print them to fill out, rescan and send them off? Such a hassle isn't it? There's a way to edit and fill in your application forms without printing them out.

Formulatepro allows you to overlay text and images on PDF documents so you can edit them on the fly, fill out your forms and send them off again. All within the time it takes to warm up your printer.

You can add text and as usual, you can customize its font, size and colour. You can also add shapes overlay (squares, circles) and scribbles (which is useful because then you can add your signature on the form).

One cool thing with formulatepro is the ability to add crosses. This comes in very handy as most forms have boxes to cross out. You can also overlay images onto the form, if you have a scanned image of your signature then it may be easier to insert rather than having to scribble it each time. You can also insert your photo if the form requires it.

formulatepro is very "online form" orientated. I guess it was built to help you fill in those forms, but don't forget that you can edit just about any PDF document with it.

Saving as a PDF file is a little bit tricky. It's not very straightforward because merely clicking on 'Save' will save the file as ".formulate" so it can't be read by any other programs. Choosing 'Print' instead and on the following window click on 'PDF' and 'Save as PDF' will evidently save it as a PDF.

If you're looking for a PDF editor with more features, Skim is a great application which will add "stickies" to your PDF, along with other shapes and can let you easily underline and strikeout text.

formulatepro and Skim are both free and are OS X only.

Do you have any favourite alternatives you'd like to share?

(By) Jackson Chung is a full-time medical student attempting to perform a juggling act with relationships, studies and his future.