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My question is an extension of this one.

Is there any way to create a PDF that contains a fillable, saveable form using open-source software? Any development effort or library to this end gets points. Any software other than Acrobat gets points too.

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Alex Hirzel
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6 Answers6

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Update as of February 2013

According to this answer Adobe Reader XI allows saving any kind of PDF forms. I tested it myself and it worked.

My old answer:

If you want to generate PDF forms that can be filled out and saved using Adobe Acrobat Reader, then you are out of luck. This kind of PDF files contain an encrypted digital certificate that only Adobe Acrobat can generate. Adobe Acrobat Reader verifies the presence of this certificate on PDF forms before enabling the possibility to save the modifications.

Your choices are then to use Adobe Acrobat to generate the forms, or to use alternative ways of getting your PDF files with the filled data inside. One common approach is to include a submit button on your PDF file that posts the values of your fields to a web server, then you can fill out your PDF file there using a library of your choice.

Here is an example that uses this approach with the commercial library Amyuni PDF Creator.

Editing PDF Forms (AcroForms) within a Silverlight Application (Usual disclaimer applies)

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yms
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  • The fact that these PDFs are impregnated with a certificate is sort of the answer to this question, but potentially not the final answer. – Alex Hirzel Jul 17 '12 at 20:59
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    It's kind of final since the verification mechanism as solid as PDF digital certificates that everybody uses and trusts. – yms Jul 17 '12 at 21:02
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    I disagree that it is final--things like this can always be reverse-engineered (e.g. someone could create a small end-user application that signs the PDF with a certificate extracted from the reader executable on the end-user machine). But I doubt such a thing exists, so your answer is the best one. :P – Alex Hirzel Jul 17 '12 at 21:34
  • It may also be interesting to see if the certificate check can be disabled. This is rapidly digressing from SX subject matter, however... – Alex Hirzel Jul 17 '12 at 21:37
  • "things like this can always be reverse-engineered" which is why I said "kind of", since you cannot use those kind of approaches legaly anyway ;-) On any case I really do not know about any piece of software that circumvents this restriction. – yms Jul 17 '12 at 23:10
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    @AlexHirzel: You are welcome to try this, but I doubt you will succeed. And I hope you don't want to travel to the USA after you've managed it. – Martin Schröder Jul 18 '12 at 17:32
  • Let's put a stop to this discussion, what say everyone? Also, I don't have any intention of pursuing this. I appreciate your advise @Martin (thanks for your work on pdfTeX, I use it daily). Unfortunately I live in the US, so they'd have me in my sleep the first night! :) – Alex Hirzel Jul 18 '12 at 17:47
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You can create documents and Export to PDF, fillable or not, using OpenOffice. I've done it and it's pretty easy. The not so easy part is setting up the submission of the filled out data.

C Terrell
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OpenOffice and LibreOffice since version 3.2 have the ability to create fillable PDF forms. The only thing I can't get working properly in them is calculations. But for everything else these free open source office suites are great, including combo boxes with choices!

You can even set up a submit to email button very simply, no coding required! Wow. OpenOffice and LibreOffice are fantastice for creating fillable PDF forms that work!

Give it a shot. You have nothing to lose and it won't cost you a cent.

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I think this should work. Try PDF Form Designer -- its an opensource application. See here

tushonline
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  • Thank you! All I have to do is load a restricted pdf and immediately republish it, and Reader can now save form data. This is the first app that actually works for me. – SilverbackNet Mar 05 '14 at 02:03
  • Glad to know its working as you desired. @SilverbackNet. Best wishes :) – tushonline Mar 05 '14 at 09:49
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My 'goto' open source .NET PDF library is ITextSharp. Not sure if it supports fillable forms though, I've never needed to do that. Worth a look anyway.

Stephen Hewlett
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  • That looks like it is an excellent library. Because of the information presented in @yms's answer, I rather doubt it supports the precise functionality I am interested in. But this library is now very high on my spare time to-investigate list for personal software. Thanks for the ref! – Alex Hirzel Jul 17 '12 at 21:35
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With the latest version of Adobe Reader, Adobe Reader XI, it seems that you can save the form.

From their webpage: Type your responses right on the PDF form, or click through and fill in the form fields. Then save and submit

iikkoo
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