[thelist] Adobe PDF Fill-in Forms

Scott_Brady at themoneystore.com Scott_Brady at themoneystore.com
Thu Dec 14 10:05:07 CST 2000


You can treat it as you normally would treat an HTML form submit.

The form processing script (whether it's ASP, Cold Fusion, or Perl) should be
able to create the FDF which you can merge with a PDF.

So, you can keep your HTML form.  When the user hits submit, the script will
generate the FDF and display the new PDF with the fields filled out.

Of course, you can also have your initial form be a PDF form which the user can
fill out onscreen (make sure you provide instructions about filling out a PDF
form, because a lot of users aren't aware they can even do that). From there,
they can either submit it or print it out.

I'd say keep the HTML form for the initial input, because it'll cause less
confusion with visitors (and creating PDF forms can be a tedious process). But,
that's just what I'd do.

Scott





"Hayer, Jagjeet" <Jagjeet.Hayer at softwareag.co.uk> on 12/14/2000 07:54:12 AM

Please respond to thelist at lists.evolt.org

To:   "'thelist at lists.evolt.org'" <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
cc:    (bcc: Scott Brady/TMS)

Subject:  RE: [thelist] Adobe PDF Fill-in Forms


Thanks for the info Scott. I know I should investigate for myself but does
the SDK or FDF allow me to import in a HTML page that I currently use as my
form, or would I have to basically rewrite my current form in Adobe?

Thanks,

Jag.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Scott_Brady at themoneystore.com
> [mailto:Scott_Brady at themoneystore.com]
> Sent: 14 December 2000 15:42
> To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
> Subject: RE: [thelist] Adobe PDF Fill-in Forms
>
>
>
>
> I'm actually working on a similar feature (although I'm
> actually pulling info
> from a db, but the basics are the same).
>
> You'll need some sort of CGI/Programming (I'm using Cold
> Fusion and a .dll com
> object).  The basic steps of what you'll need to do are as follows:
>
> 1) Get the (free) Acrobat SDK:
> http://partners.adobe.com/asn/developer/acrosdk/main.html
> 2) Read the documentation in the SDK for help on creating an
> FDF file using HTML
> forms.
> 3) Once you create an FDF, you'll use that as the file to
> serve to your visitors
> (which will display the merged PDF).
> 4)  The PDF template can have separate buttons for "Print Me"
> and "Submit Me"
>
> HOWEVER:  if your users only have Acrobat Reader, they will
> not be able to save
> the pre-populated PDF to their computer.  (if they have the
> full Acrobat, I
> believe they can).
>
> (Alternatively, you can pay $2k - $3k for a program called
> PDFMerge which will
> actually merge the FDF with the PDF into a file your users
> can save . . . .)
>
> let me know if that doesn't help.
>
> Scott
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "Hayer, Jagjeet" <Jagjeet.Hayer at softwareag.co.uk> on
> 12/14/2000 03:55:49 AM
>
> Please respond to thelist at lists.evolt.org
>
> To:   "'thelist at lists.evolt.org'" <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
> cc:    (bcc: Scott Brady/TMS)
>
> Subject:  RE: [thelist] Adobe PDF Fill-in Forms
>
>
> All,
>
> These postings sound similar to what I want to do with Adobe. But I
> currently have a HTML form that has some fields pre-populated and some
> requiring the user to enter information, and was wondering if
> there is a
> tool to convert this to a pdf.  So can I create a pdf
> document converted
> from HTML that has both pre-populated and fillable fields and
> can either be
> submitted on-line or printed off?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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