I am learning the basics of form pdfs now. After entering the field values, I can save the pdf with data as a pdf file. With Acrobat pro, I am able to export data in FDF and XFDF files. we need to develop a website that will allow users to fill a few form pdfs in browser and download it preferably as pdf forms filled with data. The PDFTron is a good solution, but it looks like I can download FDF file or XFDF file or the flattened pdf from it. The user should be able to modify the downloaded forms. Is this possible with PDFTron?
If it is not PDFTron, Is there any other way I could do this?
Yes, PDFTron fully supports online form filling and the export/import of XFDF data. In particular the WebViewer technology sounds like the best fit for you. It comes with out of the box form field filling, and XFDF is uses as the data interchange. A simple call in javascript to AnnotationManager.exportAnnotations() will give you all the form field data that you can use with any XFDF compliant PDF SDK.
This is the online sample for form filling. It will work on any modern browser/device.
https://www.pdftron.com/webviewer/demo/samples/forms/index.html?doctype=xod
This presentation explains WebViewer technology at a high level.
https://prezi.com/view/Aug5ft1twZNNKfBXfTIQ/
Finally, this page shows the basics of form field data interchange.
https://www.pdftron.com/webviewer/demo/tutorials/getting-started-annotations.html
I really like PDFTK and the PHP library php-pdftk. It will do everything that you want and more, they are really powerful tools, and free if you open-source your code!
PDFTK: https://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-the-pdf-toolkit/
php-pdftk: https://github.com/mikehaertl/php-pdftk
Related
I have a very specific question and I would be extremely happy if anybody has any guess on how to solve it. I have: 1.- a PDF form which I have not created myself. 2.- a GoogleSpreadsheet created by myself.
Now the question is: is there any way I can fill in the PDF form using the information in the GoogleSpreadsheet, taking into account that this process should be activated from the GoogleSpreadsheet (since the PDF form is not mine)?
Best regards and thanks so much for everyone's input!
It depends.
You would need edit access to the PDF form, in order to get the field names. With that information, you could create a FDF (Forms Data Format, a PDF-related file format for data, using PDF syntax) file from the Google spreadsheet, which does refer to the PDF form as a base PDF. You then could open that FDF from the spreadsheet, and it should, if your webbrowser supports the Acrobat browser plug-in, grab the base PDF and populate it.
If you can not get the opening from the spreadsheet to work, download the FDF file and open it in Acrobat/Reader, or open the base form in Acrobat/Reader and import the data from the FDF file.
Can someone suggest the best way to convert a PDF file to WMF?
I currently make Dynamic XML Form PDFs with Adobe LiveCycle Designer, but a client requires the file in WMF format for printing. Instead of filling out the form directly, they have their users answer the questions within their own UI, then print the fields to the form.
I've tried converting the PDF to PNG within Acrobat then converting it to WMF, but our client is having issues with them indicating these WMFs "appear to be graphics renamed as WMFs".
Thanks
Try writing a script that prints your PDF files into a WMF/EMF virtual printer.
There a few out there, for example:
EMF Printer (GPL, not free for commercial use).
Amyuni EMF Printer Freeware, but a bit outdated (Disclaimer: I work for Amyuni Technologies).
I believe there is another one (as source code) in the Windows Driver Kit source code samples, but I cannot find the link now.
We have a requirement to convert XFA Form (Adobe LiveCycle Form) to PDF/A-1B.
We're attempting to use iText 5.4.0 to parse the PDF, populate the XFA fields and then save the modified PDF back out.
All the examples I can find with iText talk about populating XFA fields into PDF.
Can I convert an XFA form ( static / dynamic and generated using LiveCycle) to PDFA 1b directly?
As need PDFA for sure and can’t live with plain PDFs. So as workaround we were thinking about converting the PDF to PDFA. Is that the right approach or we are missing something here.
You can also use Adobe LiveCycle Forms Server or PDF Generator for this purpose. It supports conversion of XFA-based forms (either static or dynamic) to either PDF/A-1b or PDF/A-1a.
Yes, you can convert XFA forms to PDF/A using iText in combination with XFA Worker. However, XFA Worker is a closed source product. So you need to be an iText customer if you want to achieve what you want.
Note that we've done exactly what you need in a project for the Ministry of Justice in Belgium. I've written the following blog post about this project: : http://lowagie.com/xfabpm
Disclaimer: I'm the CEO of the iText Software Group. This answer isn't meant to promote the product. It's a genuine answer to this question.
I was also looking for the same problem and I reached an easy solution, you can try this out:
Drag and drop it xfa format PDF into chrome, it will open in chrome browser.
You will find three options at right corner:
Rotate clockwise
Download
Print
Click on "Print"
Change destination "save as PDF" and save.
Saved PDF is flat PDF(Acroform) and can be edited easily
Although it would be nice to not use PDF, we are using a legacy system that only generates PDF forms.
I am working with some PDF forms that embed JavaScript to submit data back to a server. The form works when viewed and filled out in the browser.
Unfortunately, our users like to download the forms to their computer, fill them out completely, and only then get an error from Acrobat Reader that it cannot submit the form unless it is loaded in a browser.
How can I make the JavaScript form submission work outside of the web browser, prevent the users from downloading the form, or have the form warn them it won't work before they fill it out?
My knowledge of PDF is probably at least one version of Acrobat behind the curve, but I think the short answer to your question is "You can't".
From a bigger picture point of view: the use of PDF as a data entry user interface is a path of much pain and suffering.
If your objective is to provide a picture-perfect UI available over the web, look at solutions like Blueprint CSS.
If your objective is to provide a 'rich' user experience, look at JQuery.
If your objective is to save yourself the work of replicating an existing document as a web form, then you have not yet learned how much real work it takes to use PDF as a data-entry mechanism.
Is there a script that anyone can suggest that would allow me to create a HTML or PHP web based form to collect data and save that data. the call the data to be populated in a fillable pdf?
If you have an existing PDF that you want to populate, and that PDF just has text fields (no checkboxes or radio buttons) then CAM::PDF may be able to help you. You can use it as a Perl library directly, or use its command-line interface. CAM::PDF is not useful for generating PDFs from scratch, however. Furthermore, if you have embedded fonts, then you need to ensure that all of the characters you plan to insert are represented in the embedded font.
Use a normal web page to get the data. If not sure how to do it, look for "php forms" on google, there are plenty of tutorials.
Then use a php pdf generator, like this one, to create the PDF file. If you look hard enough, you will probably find a pdf generator that will let you use a template with placeholders where the entered data should be.