1. Navigate to the Forms page.
2. In the upper right corner of the page, expand the Create New dropdown and select Basic Form.

You’ll see two ways to begin:

• Auto Build: Upload your existing PDF and let GoCanvas use AI to build most of your form for you—giving you a running start to a complete form.
• Build from Scratch: Build your mobile form and digital PDF manually, with your existing PDF as a base.

Both options share the same intuitive layout. The main difference is that Auto Build jump-starts your form with a structure generated from your PDF.

*Click the image to expand.

Running along the top of the Builder is a toolbar that includes several fundamental form actions.

• Dropdown action menu with Undo, Redo, Start Over, and Exit.
• Editable Form Name.
• Toggle between PDF workspace and Test in browser.
• Zoom In/Out controls (adjusts in 5% increments).
• Save and Publish buttons.

*Click the image to expand.

On the left side is the Add menu (aka the "Field Library"), Mobile Outline, and PDF Outline. 

• Add: Drag fields onto your PDF from this list.
• Mobile Outline: Drag fields to reorder how they will appear on mobile.

• PDF Outline: Shows the order of the fields on the final PDF (cannot be reordered).

  

• Use the icons to hide or show each menu as needed.

In the center is the workspace where you will drag the field types where you want their values to appear on the PDF. This will simultaneously build the mobile-optimized form. Auto-Build will do a majority of this work for you but you will still need to make adjustments to field types, placement, design, etc. before the form is ready to publish.

*Click the image to expand.

On the right side has several menus that will change based on what items you have selected, or not selected, in the center workspace. If you do not have a field or page selected, the two menus that will be visible are the Global and Typography menus.

• Global: Apply a Background color to all fields with the color picker.

• Typography: Adjust Font and Alignment settings for selected fields, page, or the entire form.

  

• Field: Configure field-specific options for the selected field.

• Reference Data: Map data from a CSV, Google Sheets, or other databases to autofill fields.

  

• Page: Change the Screen Name or its Background color.

  

• Additional contextual menus appear for certain field types (e.g., calculations or choice fields).

1. Versioning of the form and the PDF design is combined in the Basic Form Builder:
   • Changing your PDF design requires you to publish a new form version.
2. The Basic Form Builder is available in both the GoCanvas Core View and Project Management View.
3. Forms built in the Basic Form Builder will work with Analytics and Integrations.
4. Basic Forms cannot be opened in the Advanced Form Builder and vice versa.
5. Auto-Build is not meant to build your form completely but give you a starting point that will take less time to complete than starting from scratch.
6. Auto-Build can be turned off for the entire account from the Account Settings page.

To learn more about AI functionality, see, “GoCanvas Security & Infrastructure Overview.”

The Basic Form Builder does not have all of the fields or features that are available in the Advanced Form Builder. Below is a chart detailing supported and unsupported features. Please note this is not an exhaustive list and will be updated as needed.