Software What Do You Do About PDF Forms?

[Joe]

I am not talking about PDF forms like you get from the IRS, that allow you to input information directly on the PDF and save it as a completed form in PDF format, no printing required.

I am talking about standard, run-of-the-mill PDF forms that are not editable on the computer without special software. Usually, in my experience, these forms are "renew your membership" forms, and the info is pretty much the same as last year.

I've been printing out these forms on paper, then using a typewriter to type the info on the printout. But that is kind of a pain in the butt. And I'm worried that my old typewriter might break down, and then I'd be stuck. My handwriting is terrible.

So I was thinking of buying some software to "edit" PDFs. I think it costs $50 on up. But then I worry that it might not work on all PDFs, or they might come out with a new PDF format that will make the software obsolete.

What do you do? What are your thoughts?

 

[Blobbenstein]

is it possible to turn each PDF page into an image file? Then you could type information on it in paint.
Or if you could print it out, and scan it back in, and then edit it in paint.

 

[Joe]

is it possible to turn each PDF page into an image file? Then you could type information on it in paint.
Or if you could print it out, and scan it back in, and then edit it in paint.

Frankly, that is something I never thought of doing, nor tried. I'll look into it. Thanks.

ETA: Wikipedia says Paint is included in Windows 7 and 8. I'll have to look for it on my Win 7 machine.

 

[Blobbenstein]

there are free paint programs online to......I use paint.net

Paint.NET - Free Software for Digital Photo Editing

It is more friendly, maybe, than MS Paint....but I think MS Paint has a text entering function anyway.

I looked for a free paint program when MSP started to malfunction.....which I'm glad it did, now, as paint.net is a lot more sophisticated, and it is also quite easy to use.

 

[Blobbenstein]

The text function is usually just a T on a button on paint programs..

 

[Clueless Git]

Cutepdf have a form filler for $29.95 - CutePDF :: Product :: CutePDF Form Filler

Foxit seem to have one that's free - PDF Form Filling | Foxit Reader

And in 6 minutes of posting above I dl'd Foxit and made an editable pdf out of a previously non editable one.

New pdf opens as editable in my default Adobe pdf viewer too!

 

[Joe]

Foxit seem to have one that's free - PDF Form Filling | Foxit Reader

And in 6 minutes of posting above I dl'd Foxit and made an editable pdf out of a previously non editable one.

New pdf opens as editable in my default Adobe pdf viewer too!

Sounds great! Thanks, CG!

 

[Clueless Git]

Sounds great! Thanks, CG!

And thank you too Joe, for giving me cause to look into that.

I have a little project coming up which that is going to make life a whole lot easier for me on.

 

[Joe]

I posted this question (or a similar one) on another forum and the piece of free/freeware software I was referred to was PDF Xchange Editor

Tracker Software Products :: Product

(This supersedes the older PDF Xchange Viewer.)

 

[Joe]

is it possible to turn each PDF page into an image file? Then you could type information on it in paint.
Or if you could print it out, and scan it back in, and then edit it in paint.

I posted this question in another forum, and was told not to do this but just use PDF Xchange Viewer or Editor. But one person did respond as to how to convert a PDF to a Bitmap. (Paint cannot read PDFs directly.) He wrote:

====================================================
Anyway...
An example command line to create numbered BMP pages of a PDF
using Ghostscript Ghostscript: Ghostscript

gswin32c -sDEVICE=bmp256 -o output-pageno%03d.bmp input.pdf

====================================================

I've never had any luck working with Ghostscript myself. C'est la vie.

 

[Joe]

And thank you too Joe, for giving me cause to look into that.

I have a little project coming up which that is going to make life a whole lot easier for me on.

You are welcome. But you did the work in finding an inexpensive payware solution and a freeware program. I was just floundering around, clueless!

 

[Blobbenstein]

but if you have a scanner, you could scan the pages back in.....that would be a drag with a lot of pages, though.

 

[Joe]

but if you have a scanner, you could scan the pages back in.....that would be a drag with a lot of pages, though.

I do have a printer/scanner at home. But I wanted to minimize the amount of printing and scanning I needed to do. Also, I am often using my laptop away from home, where it is not hooked up to a printer/scanner.

 

[Envy]

PDF forms usually requires my signature anyway, so I print them out and fill them in by hand.

 

[Joe]

I got some comments back from the other forum saying to ignore the statement that the Editor "supersedes" the Viewer. They said the Viewer can do everything the Editor can do and is a better piece of software. You can find the Viewer here:

Tracker Software Products :: Product