Tutorial Thursday
One of the things that bug me the most when buying something are the accompanying rebates, but sometimes that is the only way to get a good deal. When it comes to online purchases I like to print off the rebates as soon as I make the purchase, but then the laziness kicks in for a few weeks simply because I don’t feel like filling out the form.
Luckily some of the free PDF readers out there offer annotation capabilities, and so you can actually fill out a rebate form on your computer before it’s even printed. Not only will it save you the hassle of having to handwrite the form, but I’m sure it will save the person on the receiving end some trouble trying to read your handwriting. 
Here’s what an example form looks like that I filled out:
So how can you do this? We’ve got instructions below that make use of our two favorite (and free) PDF readers. The best part is that both of the apps also have portable versions, which means that you can fill out rebate forms digitally without ever installing a program!
Both of the PDF readers make use of a typewriter tool, which gives you a lot of freedom to type anything anywhere. To use the typewriter tool you just have to click on the document where you want to start typing, and then have at it. If there are any boxes or broken fields that you need to fill in just insert spaces to even it all out, like I did in the example form above for the UPC.
–Foxit Reader (Homepage)–
Windows only 
In Foxit Reader you’ll find what you need at Tools -> Typewriter Tools -> Typewriter. When you click on this for the first time you’ll see a warning saying that an evaluation mark will be placed on the document if it’s saved. Don’t worry, we don’t plan on saving the rebate form. Right after you get done filling out the form just go ahead and print it… there won’t be an evaluation marks as long as you never save it.
–PDF-XChange Viewer (Homepage)–
Windows only
In PDF-XChange Viewer just navigate to Tools -> Comment And Markup Tools -> Typewriter Tool to get started. Unlike Foxit you can save the document without any evaluation marks being placed on it, but I’m guessing that once you print the rebate form you won’t need it on your computer anymore. If for some reason you like to save all of your rebate forms then this is probably the better solution for you.
–Overview–
I’m not 100% convinced that typing out a rebate form is faster than writing it by hand, but it’s definitely a lot easier to read than one that’s handwritten. So maybe it’s better if only to help minimize any mistakes that may prevent you from getting your well-deserved money!
One thing to note – be careful that on some rebate forms, they specifically require that it’s filled out hand-written… you don’t want to go through the effort of typing it out, just to disqualify you from the rebate! Be sure to read it comepletley if you plan to do it this way… (on the other side, I’ve never seen one that says it must be typed).
Also you can print it to another pdf using cute pdf. If you need to print it later or prefer to have a e-copy for later.
Good call… I actually didn’t realize that some rebates required that you fill them out by hand. I guess that would help eliminate anyone trying to submit rebates “in bulk”.
PDF X-Change is a quite complete tool in its desktop version, though I suppose it might be a little heavy to load depending on the machine. FoxIt Reader portable is maybe not so complete, but fast and intuitive. But both are top PDF tools
A bit off subject; however a comment in regard to XChange Viewer latest version 2.0.37.2:
Insurance policies are now coming to me on read only CD’s. Of course, I’m accustomed to calling the broker and making notes on the handwritten copy.
With XChange a page(s), can be saved to your hard disk, but only as a .tif. Opening a pic reader is not the best manner to read portions of an insurance policy to compare with what’s on the CD. Strange that it wouldn’t allow it to be saved as a PDF (as I frequently do in WordPerfect).
The only choices are to print out the pages or keep handwritten notes along with the CD. Unless someone happens to know of a free PDF viewer that allows saving files as txt or pdf????
Foxit kept crashing on me when I used the typwriter tool and I have the latest version.
That’s odd… I had no problems with the latest Foxit when I wrote this.
Guys, foxit is not a bad tool for freeware but I would spend some money and do my work good. There is no such a thing as a free lunch. I use [pdffiller.com] and recommend you to do the same.