Build your first form in Atlas (Basic tier)

In this guide we’ll build a form in Atlas from start to finish on the free Basic tier. By the end you’ll have a printable Service Request form for Evergreen Landscaping — the example business used throughout the Atlas tutorials — built from pieces you can reuse in every form that follows.

The video above covers the same steps. On Basic, everything happens in two places: Data Schemas and Forms.

The four steps

1. Define a data schema — the fields you want to collect.
2. Publish it, so forms can use it.
3. Create the form and attach your schemas.
4. Lay the form out and print it.

Step 1: Create the Contact Details schema

Start in Data Schemas and choose New, then Data Schema. A data schema is a set of fields that belong together, so name this one Contact Details. Every customer request needs to know who it came from, and this is the piece that answers that.

Click Create, and it joins your list of schemas. Open it, and you’re ready to add fields.

Step 2: Add the fields

In the JSON Schema section, click Edit, then Add a property. The title is what people read on the form.

• Full Name — type text, required.
• Email — type text with the Email Address format, so Atlas checks that what’s entered really is an email address. Required.
• Phone — the phone number format, left optional.

Save, and there’s the shape of your contact details. For guidance on types and formats, see Choosing field types, formats and required fields.

Step 3: Publish it

Notice the banner: this schema has unpublished changes. Publishing is what makes a version available to your forms, so click Publish.

From now on, editing this schema creates a new version instead of changing the old one — so forms you’ve already printed and data you’ve already collected keep their original shape. See How schema versioning protects the data you’ve already collected.

Step 4: Add a Service Address schema

Add one more: the address where the work happens. New, Data Schema, Service Address, then open it from the list.

• Street and City — required.
• State and Postal Code.

Save, and publish — the same two steps you just learned. This is the habit worth forming: an address defined once can go into your service request form, your inspection form and anything else you build later, and each of them stays consistent with the others.

Step 5: Create the form

With your pieces ready, open Forms and choose New, then Form. A form decides what gets collected and how it’s laid out. Name it Service Request and give it a short description so anyone on the team knows what it’s for. Create it, then open it from the list.

Step 6: Attach the schemas

The Fields section is where you say what the form collects. Instead of building fields again, attach the schemas you published: Contact Details, then Service Address. Each arrives with its version number, so you always know which version a form collects — and you never typed a field twice.

Step 7: Lay it out

Each schema you attach gets its own part of the printed form, with a layout you control. Open the Contact Details section and give it a title — the heading above those questions. Below that sit a form heading and footer for instructions, then the fields themselves, where you set their order and widths. Laying out a printable form goes deeper.

Step 8: Preview, download and print

The Preview section shows the finished form, generated from your schemas and layout. Every question is there, under the heading you gave it, with room to write.

When it looks right, click Download. Atlas builds a print-ready copy to print or email. Take it to the front desk, the truck or the job site, and every customer is asked the same questions in the same way.

What you’ve built

Two published data schemas, a form built from them, a layout of your choosing and a printable copy. Everything is reusable, so your next form starts from pieces you already have.

Troubleshooting

I can’t find my schema when attaching it to the form. Only published schemas can be attached. Open the schema and look for the unpublished-changes banner; if it’s there, choose Publish.

The form shows an older version of my schema. Editing and publishing a schema creates a new version; forms keep the version they were built with until you update them. That protects printed copies and collected data.

A field I expected to be required isn’t marked. Required is set on the field in the data schema. Edit the schema, mark the field required, save and publish, then update the form to the new version.

The printed layout feels cramped. Adjust field widths and order in the section’s layout, and use the Preview to check room to write before downloading.

Tips for your second form

Your second form is where reuse starts paying off:

• Reuse before you create. Check your existing schemas first; Contact Details and Service Address will cover a lot.
• Create only what’s new. If the new form needs vehicle details, build a small Vehicle schema rather than a large new one.
• Keep names general. Name schemas for what they describe, so they’re easy to find and reuse later.
• Give each form a clear description. It helps teammates pick the right form.

What each piece is for

Frequently asked questions

Does this cost anything? No. Everything in this guide is on the free Basic tier.

Can I email the form instead of printing it? Download produces a print-ready copy that you can print or email. To let people fill it in online and submit it back to Atlas, use the Advanced tier’s public link.

Can I change the form after printing copies? Yes. Copies you’ve printed keep the version they were built from; the next copy you download reflects your changes.

Next steps

When you’re ready to have customers fill this form in themselves, move to the Advanced tier: Collect your form online with a public link picks up exactly where this guide ends.