A Windows XP help forum. PCbanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » PCbanter forum » Windows 10 » Windows 10 Help Forum
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font using freeware?



 
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old May 1st 19, 08:17 AM posted to alt.comp.freeware,comp.text.pdf,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Arlen G. Holder
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 236
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font using freeware?

Someone asked me to help them edit a multi-page PDF form where they wanted it to look professional.

First I tried PDFtoOffice but it made a mess of the multi-page PDF in the
final Word document. Then I tried the Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF writer but it
would only edit existing text (where we needed to enter text on forms).

The next solution worked, but it was perhaps too convoluted:
1. Use Irfanview with Ghostscript to read PDF and write to something else
(I wrote to TIF, but it could have been any image format)

2. Edit in any editor that has easy text editing with selectable fonts
(I used Paint.NET but any image editor with selectable fonts would work)

3. Convert from the image format back to PDF with Irfanview + Ghostscript.

This worked with the advantage that:
o It used existing freeware that had many fonts to choose from
But the disadvantage was that:
o The multi-page TIF would only save as a single-page PDF

Is there a simpler freeware multi-page PDF-form-editing method for Windows?
Ads
  #2  
Old May 1st 19, 08:28 AM posted to alt.comp.freeware,comp.text.pdf,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Arlen G. Holder
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 236
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font using freeware?

On Wed, 1 May 2019 07:17:16 -0000 (UTC), Arlen G. Holder wrote:

o The multi-page TIF would only save as a single-page PDF

Is there a simpler freeware multi-page PDF-form-editing method for Windows?


I should note that I also tried the Paint.NET Portable Document Format'
FileType Plugin:
https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/22863-portable-document-format-filetype-plugin-pdf/

Which entailed adding the following files to the Paint.NET hierarchy:
o .\Paint.NET\FileTypes\imPDF.Command.exe
o .\Paint.NET\FileTypes\imPDF.Open.FileType.dlc
o .\Paint.NET\FileTypes\imPDF.Open.FileType.dll
o .\Paint.NET\FileTypes\imPDF.SaveFileType.dll
o .\Paint.NET\OptionBasedLibrary v0.6.dll
o .\Paint.NET\OptionBasedLibrary v0.6.dlc

But, unfortunately, this read/write PDF capability plugin still only
created single-page PDFs out of the multi-page PDF input.

Is there a simpler freeware multi-page PDF-form-editing method for Windows?
  #3  
Old May 1st 19, 08:29 AM posted to alt.comp.freeware,comp.text.pdf,alt.comp.os.windows-10
nospam
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,718
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font using freeware?

In article , Arlen G. Holder
wrote:

Someone asked me to help them edit a multi-page PDF form where they wanted it
to look professional.


pity on them.
  #4  
Old May 1st 19, 11:00 AM posted to alt.comp.freeware,comp.text.pdf,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Eric Stevens
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 911
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font using freeware?

On Wed, 1 May 2019 07:17:16 -0000 (UTC), "Arlen G. Holder"
wrote:

Someone asked me to help them edit a multi-page PDF form where they wanted it to look professional.

First I tried PDFtoOffice but it made a mess of the multi-page PDF in the
final Word document. Then I tried the Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF writer but it
would only edit existing text (where we needed to enter text on forms).

The next solution worked, but it was perhaps too convoluted:
1. Use Irfanview with Ghostscript to read PDF and write to something else
(I wrote to TIF, but it could have been any image format)

2. Edit in any editor that has easy text editing with selectable fonts
(I used Paint.NET but any image editor with selectable fonts would work)

3. Convert from the image format back to PDF with Irfanview + Ghostscript.

This worked with the advantage that:
o It used existing freeware that had many fonts to choose from
But the disadvantage was that:
o The multi-page TIF would only save as a single-page PDF

Is there a simpler freeware multi-page PDF-form-editing method for Windows?


You might be interested in http://www.pdfshaper.com/ . It doesn't
actually write PDF files but it does just about all of everything
else. If you have a wordprocessor which will write PDF files PDF
Shaper might meet your needs. There is a fully functional free version
for personal use.
--

Regards,

Eric Stevens
  #5  
Old May 1st 19, 11:52 AM posted to alt.comp.freeware,comp.text.pdf,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Keith Nuttle
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,844
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font usingfreeware?

On 5/1/2019 6:00 AM, Eric Stevens wrote:
On Wed, 1 May 2019 07:17:16 -0000 (UTC), "Arlen G. Holder"
wrote:

Someone asked me to help them edit a multi-page PDF form where they wanted it to look professional.

First I tried PDFtoOffice but it made a mess of the multi-page PDF in the
final Word document. Then I tried the Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF writer but it
would only edit existing text (where we needed to enter text on forms).

The next solution worked, but it was perhaps too convoluted:
1. Use Irfanview with Ghostscript to read PDF and write to something else
(I wrote to TIF, but it could have been any image format)

2. Edit in any editor that has easy text editing with selectable fonts
(I used Paint.NET but any image editor with selectable fonts would work)

3. Convert from the image format back to PDF with Irfanview + Ghostscript.

This worked with the advantage that:
o It used existing freeware that had many fonts to choose from
But the disadvantage was that:
o The multi-page TIF would only save as a single-page PDF

Is there a simpler freeware multi-page PDF-form-editing method for Windows?


You might be interested in http://www.pdfshaper.com/ . It doesn't
actually write PDF files but it does just about all of everything
else. If you have a wordprocessor which will write PDF files PDF
Shaper might meet your needs. There is a fully functional free version
for personal use.

I would suspect that if you copied the text from the PDF document and
pasted it into a Word processor it would have been simpler.

Once you had edited and formatted it the way you want, you could then
print it to a PDF writer, or use the word processor's native PDF function

It the edits were basically text changes you could have done it with the
add Text function, of Adobe Reader. Click Comments, and select the
Capital T in the tool bar. Place the cursor where you wanted to change
the text, adjust the font size and color, and type in the change.

Once you have the form modify print it to a PDF writer, to make the
changes permanently part of the form.







--
2018: The year we learn to play the great game of Euchre
  #6  
Old May 1st 19, 12:14 PM posted to alt.comp.freeware,comp.text.pdf,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Paul[_32_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 11,873
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font using freeware?

Arlen G. Holder wrote:
Someone asked me to help them edit a multi-page PDF form where they wanted it to look professional.

First I tried PDFtoOffice but it made a mess of the multi-page PDF in the
final Word document. Then I tried the Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF writer but it
would only edit existing text (where we needed to enter text on forms).

The next solution worked, but it was perhaps too convoluted:
1. Use Irfanview with Ghostscript to read PDF and write to something else
(I wrote to TIF, but it could have been any image format)

2. Edit in any editor that has easy text editing with selectable fonts
(I used Paint.NET but any image editor with selectable fonts would work)

3. Convert from the image format back to PDF with Irfanview + Ghostscript.

This worked with the advantage that:
o It used existing freeware that had many fonts to choose from
But the disadvantage was that:
o The multi-page TIF would only save as a single-page PDF

Is there a simpler freeware multi-page PDF-form-editing method for Windows?


I like to start with examples.

The government tax office is a good source of these examples.

For example, this one is only for printing, followed
by using a ballpoint pen. (Tool used: Adobe Livecycle Designer)

https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cr.../t2201-18e.pdf

Whereas this one is digital. You can edit and save this one.
Have a play with this. An editable form might be an "Acroform"
(try Wikipedia). This form also does validation of input into
a box, if Javascript is on and if the version of Acrobat Reader
is high enough.

https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cr...1-fill-18e.pdf

This one does validation too.

https://tax.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/tax...n_07-01-11.pdf

*******

This article has something to do with Acroforms.

https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/fi...ive-pdf-forms/

Adobe has some sort of "Professional" version of Acrobat,
that supports Acroforms and XFA (Jetforms).

Designing one of these, without spending money, would be
well outside my pay scale.

*******

I had hoped there would be a tool I could use, point it at
the three files above, and it would "tell me their sub-type".
Didn't work out. So far, they're "all just PDF". I can't get
identification of subtype.

Don't forget to go back to Preferences and disable
Javascript after testing that stuff. Leaving Javascript
enabled is a security issue.

Paul
  #7  
Old May 1st 19, 12:38 PM posted to alt.comp.freeware,comp.text.pdf,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Dan Purgert
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 281
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font usingfreeware?

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256

Arlen G. Holder wrote:
Someone asked me to help them edit a multi-page PDF form where they
wanted it to look professional.

First I tried PDFtoOffice but it made a mess of the multi-page PDF in the
final Word document. Then I tried the Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF writer but it
would only edit existing text (where we needed to enter text on forms).


Sounds like this "form" is intended to be printed and then filled out,
either by hand or with a typewriter.

If the party creating the form intended it to be editable directly as a
PDF, the person filling in said form would've been able to do so
directly in acrobat reader / whatever the web-browser plugin is called.

For example, my city does this with their income tax form. Fill in the
fields (employer, income, taxes paid to other cities, etc.), print out
the completed document, and the sign the bottom.

In my experience, trying to work-around this on a PC (as with your
options that were snipped) tends to have various (and usually
debilitating in the long run) shortcomings in the "user friendliness"
department.

If the form is something widely and regularly used (e.g. tax forms,
etc), perhaps the best option is asking the party who generated it if
they can also create an editable option.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----

iQEzBAEBCAAdFiEEBcqaUD8uEzVNxUrujhHd8xJ5ooEFAlzJhT 8ACgkQjhHd8xJ5
ooFD3ggAsGfaMqSQ8u1Gss3Bt0t2ErpgvmSK5BJeVhiCrnt8Ui znQR4DmUDGGNga
GutVj+9cih9UqYbjAAwlUaPq59tUd863LNnkqkVjd8dl+dSYzR fIF5SMEhalI6eZ
E6s6WQLoxH0bDCpFzLOXaBAydtLe2ALMYG7+p+OhfwV2wz2WPC 3Vwe21cMvtaxBs
UNu8Vd5qJiIezJOD+3VpCScuiSMZ5rtT0BS3WmCddsZ73VyJ4b hETpOKy+wZ8mqo
HH5Z6lsKUFG1mkegdw9tjZ/nZnUo2we985nuwdGFO+6qq4dm47rDczysVIfpdOPc
MtHN9D9A034TW1bB4Fo+reMJ3a+hcQ==
=ixzF
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--
|_|O|_|
|_|_|O| Github: https://github.com/dpurgert
|O|O|O| PGP: 05CA 9A50 3F2E 1335 4DC5 4AEE 8E11 DDF3 1279 A281
  #8  
Old May 1st 19, 04:12 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
Arlen G. Holder
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 236
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font using freeware?

On Wed, 1 May 2019 11:38:40 -0000 (UTC), Dan Purgert wrote:

Sounds like this "form" is intended to be printed and then filled out,
either by hand or with a typewriter.


Hi Dan,
Yes, you are correct. It's a multipage color form of rather complex images
and formatting, similar to the forms that Paul linked to, where we had to
fill in the underlined blanks, check boxes, initialize, date, & sign.

Irfanview freeware can't do it since the fonts are nowhere near as
adaptable as you need them to be, but, Paint.NET does it well given the
selectable fonts that you can place & modify as needed to get the placement
just perfect.

The selectable fonts came in handy, for example, with the signature and the
initialization of the various checkboxes, where the various sizable script
fonts looked exactly like initials and signatures.

The main issue with the solution that I came up with using existing tools
was simply this:
o It should require only a single free tool, not four free tools
o It should preserve the PDF (not turn it into an image)
o It should preserve the multiple pages (not force me to concatenate)

I would think this need that I had is a general need for everyone.

If the party creating the form intended it to be editable directly as a
PDF, the person filling in said form would've been able to do so
directly in acrobat reader / whatever the web-browser plugin is called.


It was meant to be printed, filled out, initialized, signed, and dated, and
then sent by snail mail back to the department that issued the form.

We could have printed it but there were reasons we didn't, not the least of
which was the person who needed it pronto didn't have time to find a
24-hour color printer as it was needed in real time and it was after
bedtime, and even then, they needed a scanner, which they didn't have, etc.

So it was simpler to just edit the PDF, which they knew I could do.

Remember, I didn't have any problem doing exactly what we needed except for
these four problems, which this thread is hoping others can help eliminate,
which would benefit us all in the process:
o It took 4 tools (a PDF concatenator, Irfanview, Ghostscript, Paint.NET)
o It turned into a single page TIF (instead of remaining as a PDF file)
o It had to be done page by page & then concatenated back together

For example, my city does this with their income tax form. Fill in the
fields (employer, income, taxes paid to other cities, etc.), print out
the completed document, and the sign the bottom.


Yes. I do that all the time. We used to fax such things in the olden days.
But this didn't lend itself to printing because the person requesting it
had no printer nor scanner and it was evening, and yesterday was the
deadline.

Even so, we all would benefit from the ability to edit PDFs.

In my experience, trying to work-around this on a PC (as with your
options that were snipped) tends to have various (and usually
debilitating in the long run) shortcomings in the "user friendliness"
department.


Actually, it was trivial to do, even down to the initials & signature.

I'm simply allergic to solutions that require multiple tools where the end
result was multiple pages of an image-to-PDF instead of a multi-page single
PDF-to-PDF.

My only goal with this thread is to find a way to _improve_ this process.
o Everyone benefits if someone knows of a good free PDF editor solution

If the form is something widely and regularly used (e.g. tax forms,
etc), perhaps the best option is asking the party who generated it if
they can also create an editable option.


This was an institutional professionally created complex multi-page color
form, where there is zero chance of getting the party who generated it to
do anything.

The request at this point isn't to solve the initial problem anyway, as I
easily solved the problem using these simple steps:
o View the form in any freeware PDF reader
o Convert the PDF to a multipage TIF with freeware Irfanview + Ghostscript
o Edit each page of the multipage TIF with freeware Paint.NET (or similar)
o Convert the single pages of TIF with freeeware Irfanview + Ghostscript
o Concatenate the single pages into a multipage PDF with Acrobat Writer (or similar)

At this point, the request is to figure out if anyone has a better process
than what I had on hand using Windows freeware that solves this problem:
1. Start with a multipage color PDF & edit it using only freeware
  #9  
Old May 1st 19, 04:12 PM posted to alt.comp.freeware,comp.text.pdf,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Arlen G. Holder
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 236
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font using freeware?

On Wed, 1 May 2019 06:52:29 -0400, Keith Nuttle wrote:

I would suspect that if you copied the text from the PDF document and
pasted it into a Word processor it would have been simpler.


Hi Keith,

Unfortunately, the original PDF was a complex document, where nothing but a
WSYWIG editor would have been functional.

It the edits were basically text changes you could have done it with the
add Text function, of Adobe Reader. Click Comments, and select the
Capital T in the tool bar. Place the cursor where you wanted to change
the text, adjust the font size and color, and type in the change.


While I didn't try the Adobe Reader, I have the Adobe Writer (aka Acrobat),
version 6, which can rudimentarily edit existing text, but it has nowhere
near even the most basic of required functionality, e.g., selectable
resizable fonts, and it didn't seem to _add_ text (it would only edit
existing test in my quick test before abandoning that approach).

Once you have the form modify print it to a PDF writer, to make the
changes permanently part of the form.


Basically, what I needed, and what everyone needs, is a freeware PDF editor
that can edit text using selectable fonts and sizes like Paint.NET (or many
other freeware image editors) do.
  #10  
Old May 1st 19, 04:24 PM posted to alt.comp.freeware,comp.text.pdf,alt.comp.os.windows-10
nospam
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,718
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font using freeware?

In article , Arlen G. Holder
wrote:

It the edits were basically text changes you could have done it with the
add Text function, of Adobe Reader. Click Comments, and select the
Capital T in the tool bar. Place the cursor where you wanted to change
the text, adjust the font size and color, and type in the change.


While I didn't try the Adobe Reader, I have the Adobe Writer (aka Acrobat),
version 6, which can rudimentarily edit existing text, but it has nowhere
near even the most basic of required functionality, e.g., selectable
resizable fonts, and it didn't seem to _add_ text (it would only edit
existing test in my quick test before abandoning that approach).


version 6 is over 15 years old, so it should not be any surprise that
it doesn't work correctly with a modern pdf.
  #11  
Old May 1st 19, 04:38 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
Dan Purgert
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 281
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font usingfreeware?

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256

Arlen G. Holder wrote:
On Wed, 1 May 2019 11:38:40 -0000 (UTC), Dan Purgert wrote:

Sounds like this "form" is intended to be printed and then filled out,
either by hand or with a typewriter.


Hi Dan,
Yes, you are correct.


It was meant to be printed, filled out, initialized, signed, and
dated, and then sent by snail mail back to the department that issued
the form.


Seems you're making a mountain out of a molehill.


We could have printed it but there were reasons we didn't, not the
least of which was the person who needed it pronto didn't have time to
find a 24-hour color printer as it was needed in real time and it was
after bedtime, and even then, they needed a scanner, which they didn't
have, etc.


I've never run into a form where "color" was a continued requirement of
the receiving party. That is, they'd be perfectly fine with a B&W
version because that's all I have in terms of printer.

But this didn't lend itself to printing because the person requesting it
had no printer nor scanner and it was evening, and yesterday was the
deadline.


Sounds pretty stupid to wait til the last minute...


Even so, we all would benefit from the ability to edit PDFs.


Provided the originating party makes them editable, this is already
possible for anyone using any desktop or laptop computer. Note that
certain older forms (XFA?) require adobe reader to work properly.


In my experience, trying to work-around this on a PC (as with your
options that were snipped) tends to have various (and usually
debilitating in the long run) shortcomings in the "user friendliness"
department.


Actually, it was trivial to do, even down to the initials & signature.

I'm simply allergic to solutions that require multiple tools where the end
result was multiple pages of an image-to-PDF instead of a multi-page
single PDF-to-PDF.


These two statements do not refute my statement that there are
shortcomings.


My only goal with this thread is to find a way to _improve_ this process.
o Everyone benefits if someone knows of a good free PDF editor solution


Barring the originator making an "editable form", there isn't.


If the form is something widely and regularly used (e.g. tax forms,
etc), perhaps the best option is asking the party who generated it if
they can also create an editable option.


This was an institutional professionally created complex multi-page color
form, where there is zero chance of getting the party who generated it to
do anything.


Then print it and fill it out, as required by the originating party.

than what I had on hand using Windows freeware that solves this problem:
1. Start with a multipage color PDF & edit it using only freeware


Printer, and a BIC pen.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----

iQEzBAEBCAAdFiEEBcqaUD8uEzVNxUrujhHd8xJ5ooEFAlzJvY IACgkQjhHd8xJ5
ooF7JAf/aSX6TIm2i9VSv+R4TeF5PydJjD+vkhc0Sdkjd22Z+xPedNcJvs PctOFn
qFK55cP6aqq8TUYzDxeujEiZWLIE9zIZP8Tn9eyLDx7adUNGJp g0yUDnyp41DghO
dgvjZ8rTp9S6YJT8TyEkli1y6692LxxezAP8Q1laYSQ3xLSwcp OUAV15XqKRqBWY
XX5+c+mMEIZkj19GAMkvFO5ghMqoHy7ut7VJd2+tS6FGePuNHf oOeImKpgtT/J6F
yWp09gJZJ61vn+QPOvEc35bzyYPi1AqM5ieUYaSvViFSp9qsx1 K0E2LB+zvbmH5c
LchvisEBVFQaopOnkZhV7bB95Tsw8w==
=63hw
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--
|_|O|_|
|_|_|O| Github: https://github.com/dpurgert
|O|O|O| PGP: 05CA 9A50 3F2E 1335 4DC5 4AEE 8E11 DDF3 1279 A281
  #12  
Old May 1st 19, 06:11 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware,comp.text.pdf
Chris
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 832
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font usingfreeware?

Dan Purgert wrote:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256

Arlen G. Holder wrote:
Someone asked me to help them edit a multi-page PDF form where they
wanted it to look professional.

First I tried PDFtoOffice but it made a mess of the multi-page PDF in the
final Word document. Then I tried the Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF writer but it
would only edit existing text (where we needed to enter text on forms).


Sounds like this "form" is intended to be printed and then filled out,
either by hand or with a typewriter.

If the party creating the form intended it to be editable directly as a
PDF, the person filling in said form would've been able to do so
directly in acrobat reader / whatever the web-browser plugin is called.


You'd think so wouldn't you. However, it's typical that editable forms are
provided as word docs and printable things are pdfs or also word docs.
Actually at my work they use excel for editable forms sigh.

Editable PDF forms have been around for so long yet very few are created.


  #13  
Old May 1st 19, 06:32 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
Dan Purgert
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 281
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font usingfreeware?

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256

Chris wrote:
Dan Purgert wrote:
Arlen G. Holder wrote:
Someone asked me to help them edit a multi-page PDF form where they
wanted it to look professional.

First I tried PDFtoOffice but it made a mess of the multi-page PDF in the
final Word document. Then I tried the Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF writer but it
would only edit existing text (where we needed to enter text on forms).


Sounds like this "form" is intended to be printed and then filled out,
either by hand or with a typewriter.

If the party creating the form intended it to be editable directly as a
PDF, the person filling in said form would've been able to do so
directly in acrobat reader / whatever the web-browser plugin is called.


You'd think so wouldn't you. However, it's typical that editable forms are
provided as word docs and printable things are pdfs or also word docs.
Actually at my work they use excel for editable forms sigh.


Again, if the party generating the PDF intended the end user to directly
edit the _PDF_, they would have provided an "editable form" for the
user. They didn't.

Therefore, the party generating the PDF did not intend for the end user
to edit the PDF -- but rather print it and fill it in.


Editable PDF forms have been around for so long yet very few are created.


Yeah, at least 20 years, and my tax forms were "only" updated 5 years
ago. Prior to that, they were the same form originally dated 1999 or
2000.

Guess the town had more important things to do than shave off about 30
seconds from filling it out ... I mean, even the new form is just the
old form with the editable textboxes.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----

iQEzBAEBCAAdFiEEBcqaUD8uEzVNxUrujhHd8xJ5ooEFAlzJ2B sACgkQjhHd8xJ5
ooHNFQf9Grl2kZvQID5OPd68SPz6W6VXROpmq27F1OvN2WinAq RYXdxvGdsgTAIo
dKRdWHOZZ4HMhrHo79pPJD3AFGO239irLbadKN6GcPaV9+vGec AUpVn9L4zzmnh6
VrJVnt5+qGmaCtsmYL2fPM+BRQuEQMXJYnYkzr/Jy7kj+f9CmEgUd/YfsABXo5Cw
EEJEvXnbdSDKMqtVy4um9N6/roFgJRs50mGvpPWcZyhtG1lT+HDDTFsTzP1Sh5gV
G0aFfltKxh+Y63pd7TnTq5aZFXKRxP8AAzAXmk6jgGpPTKg5ND gXm/EprXSO8aGz
YrOKpQ6YLl5PdLKpmyvMypEP0gbuAA==
=WpVq
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--
|_|O|_|
|_|_|O| Github: https://github.com/dpurgert
|O|O|O| PGP: 05CA 9A50 3F2E 1335 4DC5 4AEE 8E11 DDF3 1279 A281
  #14  
Old May 1st 19, 06:37 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
nospam
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,718
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font using freeware?

In article , Chris
wrote:


Sounds like this "form" is intended to be printed and then filled out,
either by hand or with a typewriter.

If the party creating the form intended it to be editable directly as a
PDF, the person filling in said form would've been able to do so
directly in acrobat reader / whatever the web-browser plugin is called.


You'd think so wouldn't you. However, it's typical that editable forms are
provided as word docs and printable things are pdfs or also word docs.
Actually at my work they use excel for editable forms sigh.

Editable PDF forms have been around for so long yet very few are created.


i see them regularly. it's the rare exception when a pdf to be filled
out does not have editable forms, in which case, annotations will work.
  #15  
Old May 1st 19, 07:09 PM posted to alt.comp.freeware,comp.text.pdf,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Arlen G. Holder
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 236
Default Better way to edit PDF forms with any desired font using freeware?

On Wed, 1 May 2019 17:11:46 -0000 (UTC), Chris wrote:

You'd think so wouldn't you. However, it's typical that editable forms are
provided as word docs and printable things are pdfs or also word docs.
Actually at my work they use excel for editable forms sigh.

Editable PDF forms have been around for so long yet very few are created.


Hi Chris,

This question requires someone with Windows skills, where I've been editing
PDFs since they first came out decades ago, it seems, and where we can wax
philosophically as to WHY people make PDF forms in the first place.

As you noted,
o Some PDF forms are intended to be printed, signed, scanned, & digitized
o While other PDF forms are designed to be directly editable.

But all PDF forms _should_ (IMHO), be editable by the user (if they so desire).

This one was clearly designed to be signed & scanned, but the person who
needed it was accepting a formal agreement where they didn't have the
scanning & digitizing equipment, nor the time to send the paper, and,
besides, they knew I'd do it in minutes with the tools I had on hand.

Rest assured I've been editing PDF documents for years and years.

I've had many payware PDF editing tools in the past, most of which work
fine, but this question isn't about payware since I always seek a
general-purpose solution, where freeware is the starting point.

The goal, as always, is the best single freeware tool for editing PDFs,
particularly the common practice of these basic text tasks:
o Add text given a choice of fonts, sizes, emphasis, etc., and,
o Add checkbox marks, initials, and signatures using those fonts, and,
o Keeping the document as a single multi-page PDF (if possible).

I will test out any viable solution that appears to meet those simple
goals, where I will simply ignore the purposefully unhelpful posts from the
likes of nospam & Dan Purgert, neither of which appears to comprehend this
simple problem set.

To report on my tests, last night I did try to get the Paint.NET PDF reader
and writer plugins to work, where I was able to get Paint.NET to write out
a PDF but it wouldn't read in the specific PDF (which is a formal legal
document but which is not "protected" by any means that I'm aware of).

If others on this newsgroup wish to test the process I tried, to let me
know if it works for them, here's a quickie tutorial:

1. Install Paint.NET freeware
https://www.getpaint.net/download.html
Note that Paint.NET will automatically install .NET Framework 4.7.2
(if it isn't already there). Also, Paint.NET will automatically run
in 64-bit mode if possible.
https://www.dotpdn.com/files/paint.net.4.1.6.install.zip

2. Install Ghostscript 9.10 freeware (where that version no longer exists):
http://www.ghostscript.com/download/

2. Download & install the two ImPDF read/write plugins named:
o ImPDF.Open.FileType
o ImPDF.Save.FileType
Collectively referred to as:
o "Portable Document Format FileType Plugin (.PDF)"
from https://forums.getpaint.net/forum/46-filetype-plugins/
Directions he
https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/22863-portable-document-format-filetype-plugin-pdf/

Specifically, you download & unpack these two zip files:
o ImPDF.Open.FileType v1.1.zip
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ol6yw90do7ciwkv/ImPDF.Open.FileType%20v1.1.zip

o ImPDF.Save.FileType v1.4.zip
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jb7gy8h3jvkfks7/ImPDF.Save.FileType%20v1.4.zip

Then place the extracted contents in the following Paint.NET folders:
o ImPDF.Open.FileType
.\Paint.NET\FileTypes\imPDF.Open.FileType.dlc
.\Paint.NET\FileTypes\imPDF.Open.FileType.dll
.\Paint.NET\OptionBasedLibrary v0.6.dll
.\Paint.NET\OptionBasedLibrary v0.6.dlc
o ImPDF.Save.FileType
.\Paint.NET\FileTypes\imPDF.Command.exe
.\Paint.NET\FileTypes\imPDF.SaveFileType.dll

This process _should_ have worked, and it _mostly_ worked, but the reading
in of the PDF erred out on my system, even as there were no errors reading
the PDF into a variety of other PDF viewers.

If someone can test this process to doublecheck what I did, that would be
great, as this potentially enables any user to edit multipage PDF forms
with a good number of possible fonts & sizes & emphasis, all within the GUI
of the single Paint.NET program.

Note that the underlying mechanics of both Ghostscript & ImPDF are
invisible, so even though three entities are involved, it's all done within
the single Paint.NET GUI.

If someone with Windows skills can be purposefully helpful by pitching in
to install as I've described above, everyone will benefit from your
purposefully helpful efforts.
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off






All times are GMT +1. The time now is 03:43 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 PCbanter.
The comments are property of their posters.