PDF Filler | Edit forms in PDF files online (finally!)
Tim April 26th, 2007
I’m going to be doing a series of short posts on products found online that can make your life easier. To begin we are checking out a service called PDF Filler which will convert pdf documents to images and allow you to put text anywhere on them and then print them. If you have to fill out these documents on a regular basis you’re no stranger to this problem. PDF files do not by their nature allow you to edit the form fields, requiring the user to print it out and use a typewriter (if they’re neat) or fill it out by hand (if they’re lazy like me). PDF Filler comes to the rescue with their product. Take a look and see how it works in this demo.
1. The homepage is certainly sparse. The great thing already about the service is that I don’t have to signup and login and all that mumbo jumbo. I can immediately start using it, which is exactly what I intend to do.
2. I’m uploading a W2 form I found online. Like all other PDF documents on the web I would normally have to print it out and fill it out by hand. Luckily PDFfiller will allow me to input text right onto the screen. At this point it is loading the PDF and converting it.
3. After it is done uploading I get a large view of the first page. As you can see PDFfiller handles multiple pages with ease. I can move between pages and it will save all the edits to each page.
4. Adding text is as easy as clicking in the document. Unfortunately you will have to experiment with aligning text based on where you click. I found that I had to click a little bit below where I thought the text should go and it would align right. It would be helpful if they could parse the form fields to make them editable as regions instead of anywhere on the page (or make it an option).
PDFfiller takes care of a need that I’ve had for awhile. I think there are a lot of ways they could expand their service. I would allow the option to sign up and save filled out forms to a storage space (possibly building a business model into it by offering X forms for $N). Also parsing form fields and making the text align right would make the resulting forms look a lot cleaner. Still this service was much needed by me and hopefully it will make your life easier as it has mine.
