Editing PDF forms

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Newsgroups:  gmane.linux.debian.user
Date:        Mon, 27 Sep 2004 15:27:48 -0500

> Does anybody know of a way to edit PDF forms then save the result?

I just checked that again and with the latest Sarge the output looks super. This presumes you start out with a pdf form of some sort…

Get xfig and transfig

use: pstoedit -f "fig:-startdepth 999" <in> <out>%d.fig to generate your .fig files.

These you edit with xfig. Use "T" button to enter text, I usually use helvetica, looks better.

After you save the result (in a dir. that you have write perms to!) use the "export" button in "file" to generate an .eps file. I get better results with a margin of 25.

This you look at with gv and print. Better yet, send it to them and let them print it if they want to.

You save the .fig file and edit it again, or use the original .fig file and edit it differently.

Works great. Adobe is NOT needed and neither is XP to run it. ;-)

Hugo Vanwoerkom

Editing PDF forms

>>Get xfig and transfig
>>
>>use: pstoedit -f "fig:-startdepth 999" <in> <out>%d.fig to generate your
>>.fig files.
>>

This generates one .fig file for each page in the pdf doc. (That's what that %d does)

> This looks very good, thank you Hugo. Now, I believe that eps files
> are "one page" files. What if the form has multiple pages?

So you end up with one .fig file for each page in the doc. You edit each page the way you do by hand and create an .eps file for each also.

Hugo.

Editing PDF forms

> What is a .fig file?

Xfig save files by default in its own format in files with .fig at the end. Xfig it is a sort of powerpoint only much much much better since it is vectorial and not scalar. It can easily save in many different formats (eps, ps, pdf, tex, tex+ps, tex+pdf, and bitmap formats).

Ionel