Rating-scale grids
Tables with a styled header row turn a stack of questions into a clean 1–5 matrix — one checkbox per cell, tallied in seconds.
Survey & Questionnaire
Create a survey PDF with rating rows and comment boxes
A survey PDF is a fixed-layout questionnaire respondents complete on paper or on screen — the format of choice for workshops, patient feedback, classrooms, and anywhere a web form link is impractical. The backbone is the rating row: a question on the left and a 1–5 checkbox scale on the right, repeated down the page in a strict grid so fifty responses can be tallied at a glance.
Tables make those grids fast here. Build a table with one question per row and one column per scale point, drop a checkbox into each cell, and the header row ("Poor … Excellent") labels the whole scale once. Mix in multiple-choice checkbox questions and a wide text field for open comments, and you have a complete instrument on one page.
The questionnaire maker is browser-based, free without limits, and exports a clean watermark-free vector PDF. Responses come back on paper or as saved PDFs by email — this is a document tool, so there is no online response collection, and for many surveys that offline simplicity is exactly the point.
Free foreverNo signupNo watermarkWorks in your browser
Inside the editor
Built for this document
Multiple-choice questions
Real interactive checkboxes for on-screen respondents that print as crisp tick boxes for paper ones — one artifact, both modes.
Open-response boxes
Tall text fields for "Any other comments?" — size the box to the length of answer you actually want back.
Column-true alignment
Snap-to-grid keeps every checkbox column vertical down the entire page, which is what makes hand-tallying responses fast.
Multi-page questionnaires
Longer instruments span pages cleanly — duplicate a section layout, reorder pages, and number them for collation.
Readable, neutral styling
Ten standard fonts, line-height and spacing control, and subtle zebra fills on table rows to guide the eye without distracting.
Step by step
Write the header and instructions
Title, purpose, and one line of instructions ("Tick one box per row") — plus "anonymous" if it is, since that changes answers.
Build the rating grid
Insert a table: one row per statement, one column per scale point, header row labeling the scale from Poor to Excellent.
Place checkboxes in the cells
Drop a checkbox in each answer cell, using snap-to-grid so the columns stay perfectly vertical.
Add multiple-choice and open questions
Below the grid, add checkbox questions for categorical answers and a wide text field for free-form comments.
Finish with return instructions
End with where to return the survey — the drop box, the email address, or "hand to the facilitator".
Export and pilot it
Download the PDF and pilot with two or three people. Ambiguous questions surface immediately and cost nothing to fix.
Get it right the first time
Keep every scale the same direction
If 5 means best on question one, 5 means best everywhere. Flipped scales are the most common cause of unusable survey data.
Label the scale once per grid
Put "Poor / Fair / Good / Very good / Excellent" in the table header row, not on every row — the grid stays scannable.
One idea per question
"Was the venue clean and easy to find?" is two questions. Split it, or the answer tells you nothing about either.
Cap open questions at two
Checkboxes get tallied; essays get skimmed. One or two comment boxes at the end beats free-text scattered throughout.
Design for the tally
Before exporting, ask how you will count the responses. Straight checkbox columns and numbered questions cut tally time in half.
Frequently asked questions
How do I collect the survey responses?
On paper — respondents hand back printed copies — or digitally, where they fill the PDF in any reader, save it, and email it to you. There is no built-in online response collection; the PDF itself is the whole pipeline.
How do I make a 1–5 rating scale in a PDF?
Use a table with one statement per row and five answer columns, put the scale labels in the header row, and place a checkbox in every cell. Snap-to-grid keeps the checkbox columns straight for fast tallying.
Can respondents fill the survey on a computer instead of printing it?
Yes — the checkboxes and text fields are real interactive form fields, so the same PDF works typed into in Adobe Reader or a browser, then saved. One file serves both paper and screen respondents.
Can I make the survey anonymous?
Simply leave out name and contact fields and say "This survey is anonymous" in the instructions. Paper returns into a box are genuinely anonymous; emailed PDFs reveal the sender, so offer a printed option if that matters.
Does the survey maker support radio buttons or dropdowns?
Not yet — the available field types are text fields, checkboxes, and signature fields. In practice a checkbox row with a "tick one" instruction reads identically to radio buttons on both paper and screen.
How long should a feedback survey be?
One page for event and customer feedback — completion drops sharply on page two. Ten to twelve rated statements plus one open comment box is the sweet spot for response rate and useful data.
Will there be a watermark on my exported survey?
No — exports are watermark-free vector PDFs regardless of how many surveys you make, so the questionnaire always looks like yours, not ours.
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Ready when you are
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