PDF Forms

VB C#

using IronPdf;
using System;

// Step 1.  Creating a PDF with editable forms from HTML using form and input tags
// Radio Button and Checkbox can also be implemented with input type 'radio' and 'checkbox'
const string formHtml = @"
    <html>
        <body>
            <h2>Editable PDF  Form</h2>
            <form>
              First name: <br> <input type='text' name='firstname' value=''> <br>
              Last name: <br> <input type='text' name='lastname' value=''> <br>
              <br>
              <p>Please specify your gender:</p>
              <input type='radio' id='female' name='gender' value= 'Female'>
                <label for='female'>Female</label> <br>
                <br>
              <input type='radio' id='male' name='gender' value='Male'>
                <label for='male'>Male</label> <br>
                <br>
              <input type='radio' id='non-binary/other' name='gender' value='Non-Binary / Other'>
                <label for='non-binary/other'>Non-Binary / Other</label>
              <br>

              <p>Please select all medical conditions that apply:</p>
              <input type='checkbox' id='condition1' name='Hypertension' value='Hypertension'>
              <label for='condition1'> Hypertension</label><br>
              <input type='checkbox' id='condition2' name='Heart Disease' value='Heart Disease'>
              <label for='condition2'> Heart Disease</label><br>
              <input type='checkbox' id='condition3' name='Stoke' value='Stoke'>
              <label for='condition3'> Stoke</label><br>
              <input type='checkbox' id='condition4' name='Diabetes' value='Diabetes'>
              <label for='condition4'> Diabetes</label><br>
              <input type='checkbox' id='condition5' name='Kidney Disease' value='Kidney Disease'>
              <label for='condition5'> Kidney Disease</label><br>
            </form>
        </body>
    </html>";

// Instantiate Renderer
var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
renderer.RenderingOptions.CreatePdfFormsFromHtml = true;
renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(formHtml).SaveAs("BasicForm.pdf");

// Step 2. Reading and Writing PDF form values.
var FormDocument = PdfDocument.FromFile("BasicForm.pdf");

// Set and Read the value of the "firstname" field
var FirstNameField = FormDocument.Form.FindFormField("firstname");
FirstNameField.Value = "Minnie";
Console.WriteLine("FirstNameField value: {0}", FirstNameField.Value);

// Set and Read the value of the "lastname" field
var LastNameField = FormDocument.Form.FindFormField("lastname");
LastNameField.Value = "Mouse";
Console.WriteLine("LastNameField value: {0}", LastNameField.Value);

FormDocument.SaveAs("FilledForm.pdf");

Imports IronPdf
Imports System

' Step 1.  Creating a PDF with editable forms from HTML using form and input tags
' Radio Button and Checkbox can also be implemented with input type 'radio' and 'checkbox'
Private Const formHtml As String = "
    <html>
        <body>
            <h2>Editable PDF  Form</h2>
            <form>
              First name: <br> <input type='text' name='firstname' value=''> <br>
              Last name: <br> <input type='text' name='lastname' value=''> <br>
              <br>
              <p>Please specify your gender:</p>
              <input type='radio' id='female' name='gender' value= 'Female'>
                <label for='female'>Female</label> <br>
                <br>
              <input type='radio' id='male' name='gender' value='Male'>
                <label for='male'>Male</label> <br>
                <br>
              <input type='radio' id='non-binary/other' name='gender' value='Non-Binary / Other'>
                <label for='non-binary/other'>Non-Binary / Other</label>
              <br>

              <p>Please select all medical conditions that apply:</p>
              <input type='checkbox' id='condition1' name='Hypertension' value='Hypertension'>
              <label for='condition1'> Hypertension</label><br>
              <input type='checkbox' id='condition2' name='Heart Disease' value='Heart Disease'>
              <label for='condition2'> Heart Disease</label><br>
              <input type='checkbox' id='condition3' name='Stoke' value='Stoke'>
              <label for='condition3'> Stoke</label><br>
              <input type='checkbox' id='condition4' name='Diabetes' value='Diabetes'>
              <label for='condition4'> Diabetes</label><br>
              <input type='checkbox' id='condition5' name='Kidney Disease' value='Kidney Disease'>
              <label for='condition5'> Kidney Disease</label><br>
            </form>
        </body>
    </html>"

' Instantiate Renderer
Private renderer = New ChromePdfRenderer()
renderer.RenderingOptions.CreatePdfFormsFromHtml = True
renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(formHtml).SaveAs("BasicForm.pdf")

' Step 2. Reading and Writing PDF form values.
Dim FormDocument = PdfDocument.FromFile("BasicForm.pdf")

' Set and Read the value of the "firstname" field
Dim FirstNameField = FormDocument.Form.FindFormField("firstname")
FirstNameField.Value = "Minnie"
Console.WriteLine("FirstNameField value: {0}", FirstNameField.Value)

' Set and Read the value of the "lastname" field
Dim LastNameField = FormDocument.Form.FindFormField("lastname")
LastNameField.Value = "Mouse"
Console.WriteLine("LastNameField value: {0}", LastNameField.Value)

FormDocument.SaveAs("FilledForm.pdf")

Install-Package IronPdf

PDF Forms

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You can create editable PDF documents with IronPDF as easily as a normal document. The PdfForm class is a collection of user-editable form fields within a PDF document. It can be implemented into your PDF render to make it a form or an editable document.

This example shows you how to create editable PDF forms in IronPDF.

PDFs with editable forms can be created from HTML simply by adding <form>, <input>, and <textarea> tags to the document parts.

The PdfDocument.Form.FindFormField method can be used to read and write the value of any form field. The field's name will be the same as the 'name' attribute given to that field in your HTML.

The PdfDocument.Form object can be used in two ways:

Populating Default Values: This can be used to set a default value for form fields that will be displayed in PDF viewers like Adobe Reader.
Reading User Input: After the user fills in the form, the form fields can be accessed and the data read back into your application.

using IronPdf; // Import the IronPdf library

// Function to create and manipulate a PDF document with form fields
public void CreateEditablePdfDocument()
{
    // HTML string defining a simple form with input fields
    var htmlContent = @"
    <html>
    <body>
        <form>
            <input type='text' name='username' placeholder='Enter your username' />
            <textarea name='comments' placeholder='Enter your comments'></textarea>
        </form>
    </body>
    </html>";

    // Render the HTML to a PDF document
    var renderer = new HtmlToPdf();
    var pdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlContent);

    // Access the form within the PDF
    var pdfForm = pdfDocument.Form;

    // Set default values for the form fields
    pdfForm["username"].Value = "DefaultUser";  // Populate the 'username' field with a default value
    pdfForm["comments"].Value = "Default comment.";  // Populate the 'comments' field with a default text

    // Save the PDF to a file
    pdfDocument.SaveAs("EditableForm.pdf");  // Save the PDF document with a specified filename

    // The document has now been created and saved with editable fields.
}

using IronPdf; // Import the IronPdf library

// Function to create and manipulate a PDF document with form fields
public void CreateEditablePdfDocument()
{
    // HTML string defining a simple form with input fields
    var htmlContent = @"
    <html>
    <body>
        <form>
            <input type='text' name='username' placeholder='Enter your username' />
            <textarea name='comments' placeholder='Enter your comments'></textarea>
        </form>
    </body>
    </html>";

    // Render the HTML to a PDF document
    var renderer = new HtmlToPdf();
    var pdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlContent);

    // Access the form within the PDF
    var pdfForm = pdfDocument.Form;

    // Set default values for the form fields
    pdfForm["username"].Value = "DefaultUser";  // Populate the 'username' field with a default value
    pdfForm["comments"].Value = "Default comment.";  // Populate the 'comments' field with a default text

    // Save the PDF to a file
    pdfDocument.SaveAs("EditableForm.pdf");  // Save the PDF document with a specified filename

    // The document has now been created and saved with editable fields.
}

Imports IronPdf ' Import the IronPdf library

' Function to create and manipulate a PDF document with form fields
Public Sub CreateEditablePdfDocument()
	' HTML string defining a simple form with input fields
	Dim htmlContent = "
    <html>
    <body>
        <form>
            <input type='text' name='username' placeholder='Enter your username' />
            <textarea name='comments' placeholder='Enter your comments'></textarea>
        </form>
    </body>
    </html>"

	' Render the HTML to a PDF document
	Dim renderer = New HtmlToPdf()
	Dim pdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlContent)

	' Access the form within the PDF
	Dim pdfForm = pdfDocument.Form

	' Set default values for the form fields
	pdfForm("username").Value = "DefaultUser" ' Populate the 'username' field with a default value
	pdfForm("comments").Value = "Default comment." ' Populate the 'comments' field with a default text

	' Save the PDF to a file
	pdfDocument.SaveAs("EditableForm.pdf") ' Save the PDF document with a specified filename

	' The document has now been created and saved with editable fields.
End Sub

$vbLabelText $csharpLabel

In the example above, we first import the IronPdf library and define a method CreateEditablePdfDocument. This method contains the HTML structure of a simple form with input fields for username and comments. Using the HtmlToPdf renderer, we convert this HTML content into a PDF document.

The pdfDocument.Form is then used to access and manipulate the form fields. We set default values that will appear when the document is opened in a PDF viewer. Finally, the document is saved with the name "EditableForm.pdf", allowing it to be stored or shared with embedded editable fields.

View on GitHub

Code

https://github.com/iron-software/IronPdf.Examples/tree/main/examples/form-data

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