Comment on BentoPDF is a self hostable, privacy first PDF Toolkit
fubarx@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
This looks great!
Can you use it to overlay text fields and fill them?
Most of my uses are basic. Like filling out a PDF form that doesn’t have proper form entry fields. These are usually older government or bureaucratic/healthcare/school forms.
I end up adding text boxes and entering values, or adding an X on top of a checkbox, adding a signature PNG file and scaling it to fit the size. Sometimes I have to add a highlight overlay. Then I save it all as a single flattened PDF file.
Amazingly, this is hard to do in Acrobat and a lot of apps. I end up using a janky, 10-yo desktop app that is no longer supported.
alam@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
You mean XFA forms? Then yes it supports it
fubarx@lemmy.world 43 minutes ago
OK, just tried it with one of those old forms. Added a text field overlay and a signature. Even flattens before saving. Works great. Awesome, thanks!
fubarx@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
Went to look up what XFA forms were (…adobe.com/…/pdf-forms-and-documents).
Most of the non-fillable forms I encounter are what that document lists as “Traditional” PDF forms, likely generated using older tools from print streams. For example, a school athletics release form, or a membership application for a small organization. None of them have any fillable PDF fields. The original expectation might have been to download and print out the PDF, hand-fill it, then fax the result back.
I’ll dig up a form like that I had to fill a few weeks ago and give it a try.