How to fill out fields of a PDF document?

va!n · Post by **va!n** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:34 am

hi guys.
in my company i have to do a lot with RMA and i have to fill out a lot of different PDF-documents where are editboxes which i have to fill out, before i print the documents.

So i thought about a way to optimize this and some other processes with a small tool. The question is, how can i fill out PDF documents, with Editbox-Fields the user can type in?

Hope you guys know what i mean ^^ sadly i cant attache or link one of the PDFs i have to work every day.

Thx in advance!

Rook Zimbabwe · Post by **Rook Zimbabwe** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 4:37 am

Are you creating the PDF files from inside your own program?

Or are you opening a pre-existing PDF file? If you are opening a pre-existing PDF... I assume there must be a way to do it with a script or open file command (maybe?)

If YOU create the PDF internally it shold be easy!

va!n · Post by **va!n** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 5:12 pm

thx for your reply...
also i am using pre-existing pdf documents i have to use this! so i am searching for a way, how to fill out the fields.

TerryHough · Post by **TerryHough** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 5:30 pm

@vain

I'm assuming you have previously created PDF files that are forms that are normally printed and then filled in by hand. And you wish to fill them in on screen and then print them.

Adobe Acrobat allows .pdf files to be created with fill-in fields. You can also do some rudimentary processing of the resulting data, using some built in commands and some JavaSript.

Then Acrobat Reader (free) allows you to display and fill in those fields. The form can be printed with the data, but the author may prevent/allow saving of the completed form.

There are several "PDF EDITOR" software packages that will allow you to add fill-in fields to pre-existing .pdf files that were not originally created with fill-in fields. And there are several "PDF FILL-IN" software packages that will allow you to fill in existing fields, and even "typewriter" over existing .pdf displays.

Do a Google search for "pdf fill-in" and/or "pdf editor" and you will see quite a list of products associated with these two topics. Pricing runs from about $29US to $3000US depending on which product and which features you choose.

If the .pdf files were created with the latest Adobe Acrobat, they are actually in XPDF format and it is possible to communicate with them using PHP. There is an existing product out there to do that also.

Now, if you are asking how to do this with PureBasic, then the answer is "not exactly". But it is possible to display the .pdf file as a backdrop for a PB window. Then you can capture that data, store it as desired, then print the .pdf and overlay it with data. It isn't a trivial task! For some clues, perhasp look at Comate and how it uses the Acrobat Reader's ActiveX component. Then obtain the specifications for that ActiveX and see which commands are available to you.

You may wonder why I know all this?

The original "fill-in" software for Acobat .pdf forms was written by a firm here in my hometown that was working in my own field as competitors. Adobe invested in the company and shortly "merged" their product into Acrobat Reader. (Read that to mean the two guys made some money, but were shoved out really quickly.)

Rook Zimbabwe · Post by **Rook Zimbabwe** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 11:06 pm

In addition there is FOXIT READER and it has multiple functionality like Admobe. I don't know if you can script it though!

I also found this:

http://koivi.com/fill-pdf-form-fields/

I think this could be done in PB with a little skull sweat!

Jordi · Post by **Jordi** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 2:23 pm

Wow! RMA? I'm getting burnt with these issues. We are focused in hardware integration for industrial market, so we are dealing every day with this.

We use Foxit Reader, this program allows save the filled document, Adobe Reader not.

At this moment I am planning doing a system more automatic, faster... for our customer though in fact the system implemented until this moment is a very fast way. If you are dealing with RMA and/or other hw issues we can share.

I will follow this interesting post for my project.

TerryHough · Post by **TerryHough** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:20 pm

Jordi wrote:We use Foxit Reader, this program allows save the filled document.

Foxit Reader is easy to use completing forms even if they do not have "form fields" in them. However, forms that have "form fields" established are much easier to complete using Foxit Reader.

Many "pdf editors" can add form fields. However, the Foxit PDFEditor program is not one of them.

Rook Zimbabwe · Post by **Rook Zimbabwe** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:45 pm

I thought the Foxit PDF editor could do that! Maybe the Foxit PDF Creator can?

TerryHough · Post by **TerryHough** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:35 pm

No, Foxit PDFCreator does not do that. It is a 'print driver' that you print from a Windows program to and the result is a .pdf file.

AFAIK none of the Foxit products allow the creation of "form fields" in the pdf itself, and I have licenses for Foxit Reader Pro, PDFEditor and PDFCreator.

I think PDFFill Editor (from Pilotsoft) does (must have JAVA installed), but I confess I haven't any experience with it doing that. And there are several others that will allow the creation of "form fields".

Of course, Acrobat has the ability. So, If you have a copy, and the file(s) allow modification (are not secured by the original author), then you can easily add the fields.

Jordi · Post by **Jordi** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:00 am

Yes, PDFFill can do the job, we use it to create our forms, it allows too put buttons and so on too. This program is a must together with Foxit Reader. Cheap and powerful.