Batch filling PDF forms from python or bash

Question

I have a PDF form that needs to be filled out a bunch of times (this will be a schedule, to be precise). Now, since I don't want to do this manually, I was looking for a way to populate them with a python script or tools that could be used in a bash script.

Does anyone have any experience?

Answer 1

For Python you will need fdfgen lib and pdftk

@Hugh Bothwell's comment is 100% correct, so I will continue this answer with a working implementation.

If you are in windows, you also need to make sure that both python and pdftk are contained in the system path (if you do not want to use long folder names).

Here is the code for automatic loading - it fills the collection of PDF forms from the CSV data file:

import csv from fdfgen import forge_fdf import os import sys sys.path.insert(0, os.getcwd()) filename_prefix = "NVC" csv_file = "NVC.csv" pdf_file = "NVC.pdf" tmp_file = "tmp.fdf" output_folder = './output/' def process_csv(file): headers = [] data = [] csv_data = csv.reader(open(file)) for i, row in enumerate(csv_data): if i == 0: headers = row continue; field = [] for i in range(len(headers)): field.append((headers[i], row[i])) data.append(field) return data def form_fill(fields): fdf = forge_fdf("",fields,[],[],[]) fdf_file = open(tmp_file,"w") fdf_file.write(fdf) fdf_file.close() output_file = '{0}{1} {2}.pdf'.format(output_folder, filename_prefix, fields[1][1]) cmd = 'pdftk "{0}" fill_form "{1}" output "{2}" dont_ask'.format(pdf_file, tmp_file, output_file) os.system(cmd) os.remove(tmp_file) data = process_csv(csv_file) print('Generating Forms:') print('-----------------------') for i in data: if i[0][1] == 'Yes': continue print('{0} {1} created...'.format(filename_prefix, i[1][1])) form_fill(i) 

Note. It doesn't have to be rocket surgery to figure out how to set it up. Initial variable declarations contain user configuration.

In CSV, in the first row, each column will contain the name of the corresponding field name in the PDF file. Any columns that do not have corresponding fields in the template will be ignored.

In the PDF template, simply create editable fields in which you want your data to be populated, and make sure the names match the CSV data.

For this specific configuration, simply place this file in the same folder as your NVC.csv, NVC.pdf, and a folder named "output". Run it and it will automatically do the rest.

Answer 2

Much faster version, no pdftk or fdfgen required, pure Python 3.6 +:

 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*- from collections import OrderedDict from PyPDF2 import PdfFileWriter, PdfFileReader def _getFields(obj, tree=None, retval=None, fileobj=None): """ Extracts field data if this PDF contains interactive form fields. The *tree* and *retval* parameters are for recursive use. :param fileobj: A file object (usually a text file) to write a report to on all interactive form fields found. :return: A dictionary where each key is a field name, and each value is a :class:`Field<PyPDF2.generic.Field>` object. By default, the mapping name is used for keys. :rtype: dict, or ``None`` if form data could not be located. """ fieldAttributes = {'/FT': 'Field Type', '/Parent': 'Parent', '/T': 'Field Name', '/TU': 'Alternate Field Name', '/TM': 'Mapping Name', '/Ff': 'Field Flags', '/V': 'Value', '/DV': 'Default Value'} if retval is None: retval = OrderedDict() catalog = obj.trailer["/Root"] # get the AcroForm tree if "/AcroForm" in catalog: tree = catalog["/AcroForm"] else: return None if tree is None: return retval obj._checkKids(tree, retval, fileobj) for attr in fieldAttributes: if attr in tree: # Tree is a field obj._buildField(tree, retval, fileobj, fieldAttributes) break if "/Fields" in tree: fields = tree["/Fields"] for f in fields: field = f.getObject() obj._buildField(field, retval, fileobj, fieldAttributes) return retval def get_form_fields(infile): infile = PdfFileReader(open(infile, 'rb')) fields = _getFields(infile) return OrderedDict((k, v.get('/V', '')) for k, v in fields.items()) def update_form_values(infile, outfile, newvals=None): pdf = PdfFileReader(open(infile, 'rb')) writer = PdfFileWriter() for i in range(pdf.getNumPages()): page = pdf.getPage(i) try: if newvals: writer.updatePageFormFieldValues(page, newvals) else: writer.updatePageFormFieldValues(page, {k: f'#{i} {k}={v}' for i, (k, v) in enumerate(get_form_fields(infile).items()) }) writer.addPage(page) except Exception as e: print(repr(e)) writer.addPage(page) with open(outfile, 'wb') as out: writer.write(out) if __name__ == '__main__': from pprint import pprint pdf_file_name = '2PagesFormExample.pdf' pprint(get_form_fields(pdf_file_name)) update_form_values(pdf_file_name, 'out-' + pdf_file_name) # enumerate & fill the fields with their own names update_form_values(pdf_file_name, 'out2-' + pdf_file_name, {'my_fieldname_1': 'My Value', 'my_fieldname_2': 'My Another 💎alue'}) # update the form fields 

Answer 3

Replace source file

 os.system('pdftk "original.pdf" fill_form "data.fdf" output "output.pdf"') os.remove("data.fdf") os.remove("original.pdf") os.rename("output.pdf","original.pdf")