Most teams don’t actually struggle with creating forms. They struggle with what happens after the form is submitted. The response PDF becomes the final artifact, and if it looks messy, it creates friction. People hesitate to share it. Clients ask questions. Internal teams copy and paste things into a cleaner format. Someone ends up doing manual work that should not exist.
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In many cases, the problem is not the form of the questions. The problem is that the default PDF output doesn’t match the use case. A table might be perfect for internal records, but it can feel too “spreadsheet-like” when you’re trying to send a professional document to a customer. On the other hand, a document-style PDF might look great for clients, but it can take longer to scan when your internal team is reviewing lots of submissions quickly.

The Tabular format is the default format. Think of it as a structured summary that’s optimized for scanning. The PDF displays the response in a table where each row represents a question, and the corresponding answer sits beside it. When someone submits an email, name, or any text response, it appears neatly in that table. If the form includes a signature field, the signature is also placed in the table as the answer for that row.

The Question–Answer format is built for readability and presentation. Instead of compressing everything into a table, it lays out the response like a clean document. Each question appears clearly, and the answer is placed below it with better spacing and hierarchy. This makes the PDF feel less like an export and more like a properly filled document.

Start by creating your form in BoloSign like you normally would. Add the questions based on what you are trying to collect. For example, if you’re creating a simple agreement-style form, you might include fields like email, name, and a signature field. If you’re creating an intake form, you might add additional questions, dropdowns, checkboxes, or longer text fields.

At this stage, you don’t need to think too much about the PDF format yet. Just design the form properly so the questions are clear, and the flow makes sense for the person filling it out. The PDF format selection comes after this.

Once your form is ready, go into the form’s settings. Then scroll down until you see the section labeled Response PDF. This is where you control whether response PDFs should be generated automatically, whether a copy should be sent to the respondent, and now, the type of response PDF layout you want.

This section exists so that you don’t have to depend on custom PDFs for every form. Even if you are not mapping a custom PDF, BoloSign can still generate a clean response PDF automatically using these default formats.

Inside the Response PDF section, you’ll see Response PDF Generation Type. This is the key setting for the feature.

You will have two options:

If you select Tabular, your downloaded response PDF will show the questions and answers inside a neat table. If you select Question–Answer, your downloaded response PDF will show each question as a clear prompt with its answer placed below it in a more document-like layout.

The important point is that you are not changing the form itself. You are only deciding how the response will be formatted when BoloSign generates the PDF.

After selecting the format, you can send the form the same way you always do. The respondent will not see any difference in the form UI. This setting is purely about what happens after submission, when the response PDF is generated and downloaded.

Once responses start coming in, BoloSign stores them in your dashboard as usual.

When you receive a form submission, go to the form dashboard and open the response. Under the Response PDF section within the dashboard, you will see the option to download the response PDF.
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If you chose Tabular in settings, the downloaded PDF will be a table format PDF. It will look structured and compact, with each question and answer aligned in rows and columns.

If you chose Question–Answer in settings, the downloaded PDF will reflect that style instead. It will read more like a document, with clear question headings and answers placed below them, with better spacing.

So the workflow is simple: choose the format in settings first, then when you download the response PDF later, the formatting matches your selection.

If you’re deciding between the two, the easiest way is to ask one question: “What will we do with the PDF after it’s generated?”
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If the PDF is mainly for internal use, internal storage, or fast review, Tabular is usually the best pick. It’s compact, structured, and efficient.
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If the PDF is going to be sent to a client, shared externally, signed as a record, or used as a document someone should read end-to-end, Question–Answer is usually the better pick. It looks more professional, and it’s easier to follow.
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A lot of teams actually use both formats across different forms. For example, internal forms might stay Tabular, while client-facing forms use Question–Answer so the response PDFs feel presentable without any manual formatting.

A response PDF is not just a file. It’s often the final output that represents your workflow. And the format of that PDF can either make your process feel clean and professional, or messy and manual.

With BoloSign’s two default response PDF formats, you can choose what fits your workflow. Tabular gives you a compact, structured view that’s great for internal records. Question–Answer gives you a document-style layout that’s easier to read, better for sharing, and ideal for signature-driven workflows.

Once you set the Response PDF Generation Type in your form settings, every downloaded response PDF follows that format automatically. No extra steps. No custom template work. Just a better PDF output from day one.