Working with Acroforms

PDFDancer lets you work with PDF forms (AcroForms) programmatically. Select, fill, update, and delete form fields with simple API calls.

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Selecting Form Fields

All Form Fields

Python

from pdfdancer import PDFDancer

with PDFDancer.open("form.pdf") as pdf:
    # Get all form fields across the document
    all_fields = pdf.select_form_fields()

    # Get all form fields on a specific page
    page_fields = pdf.page(1).select_form_fields()

    for field in page_fields:
        print(f"Field: {field.name}, Type: {field.object_type}")

TypeScript

import { PDFDancer } from 'pdfdancer-client-typescript';

const pdf = await PDFDancer.open('form.pdf');

// Get all form fields across the document
const allFields = await pdf.selectFormFields();

// Get all form fields on a specific page
const pageFields = await pdf.page(1).selectFormFields();

for (const field of pageFields) {
  console.log(`Field: ${field.name}, Type: ${field.type}`);
}

Java

import com.tfc.pdf.pdfdancer.PDFDancer;
import com.tfc.pdf.pdfdancer.api.common.model.*;

import java.util.List;

try (PDFDancer pdf = PDFDancer.createSession("form.pdf")) {
    // Get all form fields across the document
    List<FormFieldRef> allFields = pdf.selectFormFields();

    // Get all form fields on a specific page
    List<FormFieldRef> pageFields = pdf.page(1).selectFormFields();

    for (FormFieldRef field : pageFields) {
        System.out.printf("Field: %s, Type: %s%n", field.getName(), field.getType());
    }
}

Form Fields by Name

Python

with PDFDancer.open("form.pdf") as pdf:
    # Find form fields by name
    first_name_fields = pdf.select_form_fields_by_name("firstName")

    # On a specific page
    page_fields = pdf.page(1).select_form_fields_by_name("signature")

    if first_name_fields:
        print(f"Found field: {first_name_fields[0].name}")

TypeScript

const pdf = await PDFDancer.open('form.pdf');

// Find form fields by name (document-level)
const firstNameFields = await pdf.selectFieldsByName('firstName');

// On a specific page
const pageFields = await pdf.page(1).selectFormFieldByName('signature');

if (firstNameFields.length > 0) {
  console.log(`Found field: ${firstNameFields[0].name}`);
}

Java

try (PDFDancer pdf = PDFDancer.createSession("form.pdf")) {
    // Find form fields by name
    List<FormFieldRef> firstNameFields = pdf.selectFormFieldsByName("firstName");

    // On a specific page
    List<FormFieldRef> pageFields = pdf.page(1).selectFormFieldsByName("signature");

    if (!firstNameFields.isEmpty()) {
        System.out.printf("Found field: %s%n", firstNameFields.get(0).getName());
    }
}

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Filling Form Fields

Fill Single Field

Python

from pdfdancer import PDFDancer

with PDFDancer.open("form.pdf") as pdf:
    # Find form field by name
    fields = pdf.page(1).select_form_fields_by_name("signature")

    if fields:
        # Update the field value
        fields[0].edit().value("Signed by Jane Doe").apply()

    pdf.save("filled_form.pdf")

TypeScript

const pdf = await PDFDancer.open('form.pdf');

// Find form field by name
const fields = await pdf.selectFieldsByName('signature');

if (fields.length > 0) {
  // Update the field value using fill method
  await fields[0].fill('Signed by Jane Doe');
}

await pdf.save('filled_form.pdf');

Java

try (PDFDancer pdf = PDFDancer.createSession("form.pdf")) {
    // Find form field by name
    List<FormFieldRef> fields = pdf.selectFormFieldsByName("signature");

    if (!fields.isEmpty()) {
        // Update the field value using setValue method
        fields.get(0).setValue("Signed by Jane Doe");
    }

    pdf.save("filled_form.pdf");
}

Bulk Form Filling

Python

from pdfdancer import PDFDancer

with PDFDancer.open("form.pdf") as pdf:
    # Define form data
    form_data = {
        "firstName": "John",
        "lastName": "Doe",
        "email": "john@example.com",
        "phone": "555-1234"
    }

    # Fill all fields
    for field_name, value in form_data.items():
        fields = pdf.select_form_fields_by_name(field_name)
        if fields:
            fields[0].edit().value(value).apply()

    pdf.save("filled_form.pdf")

TypeScript

const pdf = await PDFDancer.open('form.pdf');

// Define form data
const formData = {
  firstName: 'John',
  lastName: 'Doe',
  email: 'john@example.com',
  phone: '555-1234'
};

// Fill all fields
for (const [fieldName, value] of Object.entries(formData)) {
  const fields = await pdf.selectFieldsByName(fieldName);
  if (fields.length > 0) {
    await fields[0].fill(value);
  }
}

await pdf.save('filled_form.pdf');

Java

import java.util.Map;

try (PDFDancer pdf = PDFDancer.createSession("form.pdf")) {
    // Define form data
    Map<String, String> formData = Map.of(
        "firstName", "John",
        "lastName", "Doe",
        "email", "john@example.com",
        "phone", "555-1234"
    );

    // Fill all fields
    for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : formData.entrySet()) {
        List<FormFieldRef> fields = pdf.selectFormFieldsByName(entry.getKey());
        if (!fields.isEmpty()) {
            fields.get(0).setValue(entry.getValue());
        }
    }

    pdf.save("filled_form.pdf");
}

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Deleting Form Fields

Python

from pdfdancer import PDFDancer

with PDFDancer.open("form.pdf") as pdf:
    # Delete specific form fields
    zip_fields = pdf.select_form_fields_by_name("zip")

    for field in zip_fields:
        field.delete()

    pdf.save("output.pdf")

TypeScript

const pdf = await PDFDancer.open('form.pdf');

// Delete specific form fields
const zipFields = await pdf.selectFieldsByName('zip');

for (const field of zipFields) {
  await field.delete();
}

await pdf.save('output.pdf');

Java

try (PDFDancer pdf = PDFDancer.createSession("form.pdf")) {
    // Delete specific form fields
    List<FormFieldRef> zipFields = pdf.selectFormFieldsByName("zip");

    for (FormFieldRef field : zipFields) {
        field.delete();
    }

    pdf.save("output.pdf");
}

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Next Steps

• Working with FormXObjects – Learn about FormXObjects
• Working with Fonts – Use custom fonts
• Cookbook – See complete working examples