Hate PDF Forms? Check Out My No Code Solution(sayitwith.ink) |
Hate PDF Forms? Check Out My No Code Solution(sayitwith.ink) |
Create a form using text markup. Get an URL pointing to the form and mail it to your customers.
I recently received a PDF form (created by M$ Word). I use Linux and managed to open it with Libreoffice (Draw!). The text entry boxes were misaligned or just missing. Digits each had a separate text field. Tiresome... By the time I had re-exported it to PDF with the fields filled, some of the formatting had been changed/lost.
So I made this.
I'd rather fill out forms in my browser. Browsers can print PDF. What could go wrong?
Tell me in the comments below.
bad form id
You don't need a specialized app like Libreoffice to open and fill out a PDF form, just use any modern browser.
I just tried it in Firefox (latest/postmodern, Linux) and none (not a single one) of the form's fields are editable. It's an even worse experience than Libreoffice.
Will the code be out somewhere so others can contribute to it?
The creator name is 'feature creep' about a future use scenario. People were trying to add uniqueness by changing the creator name, so I added it to the key generation hash.
Instead I should have removed the creator name field from the interface.
I too, have resorted to the same techniques, making me feel like a "master forger" at his painstaking art.
I was imagining a tool which would just let me create an interactive overlay on a PDF. It sounds like Xournal might be just the thing I need. So, thanks for the tip.
1. Grab a lightweight CSS framework like Milligram (there are a bunch of them) and add it so the forms will be styled in a more modern way.
2. Test on mobile. For me the layout of the current forms shows up wrong, it doesn't take the full screen width and labels in the example form run over other elements.
Also thanks for for the mobile test feedback. Can I ask what mobile device you tested on? Such data points would be really useful to me.
I actually did test on my phone first, Android/Chrome and _in landscape_ it appeared usable. The PDF also produced OK. It was not an _amazing_ experience but compared the PDF form experience I had it was a delight. I don't consider a phone when I have to fill out a form but in an emergency it would have been possible.
server internal error (identical form exists?)
(creating the identical form twice is not allowed; not really a problem in real world scenarios)
I like the print stylesheet, nice and crisp.
Keep on truckin' with your minimal badass self! :-)
Srsly tho. at the moment I don't have those features, but neither did the PDF form experience I'm trying to beat. It's a low bar, but we are still expected to fill out PDF forms today, in the future year of 2022.
Yes.
I could have said "low-code" and probably have been able to look at myself in the mirror. Now I am thoroughly ashamed of myself.
Though to be fair, when I saw no-code, I was expecting drag-and-drop form elements.
Does code require logic or is it simply text encoding something else?
Clicking "create form" (to see the example you provided) returns the identical form error again. I have to modify it to see how it works, rather than using the example you provided.
Not a show stopper at all, but not intuitive for an example website as there is no indication that I need to modify your example form before being able to see the example of what is produced.
Very cool though!
You can read more about PDF.js support for forms here.[0]
Libreoffice also supports creating Acrobat Forms.[1]
[0] https://blog.mozilla.org/attack-and-defense/2021/10/14/imple...
[1] https://www.linuxuprising.com/2019/02/how-to-create-fillable...