Create AcroForm - Create Fillable PDF in Python

Create Form from Scratch

Add Form Field in a PDF Document

The Document class provides a collection named Form which helps you manage form fields in a PDF document.

To add a form field:

  1. Create the form field you want to add.
  2. Call the Form collection’s add method.

Adding TextBoxField

The following example shows how to add a TextBoxField.

import aspose.pdf as ap
import aspose.pydrawing as drawing

def add_text_box_field(output_file_name):
    document = ap.Document()
    page = document.pages.add()

    rectangle = ap.Rectangle(10, 600, 110, 620, True)
    text_box_field = ap.forms.TextBoxField(page, rectangle)
    text_box_field.partial_name = "textbox1"
    text_box_field.value = "Text Box"

    text_box_field.default_appearance = ap.annotations.DefaultAppearance(
        "Arial", 10, drawing.Color.dark_blue
    )

    border = ap.annotations.Border(text_box_field)
    border.width = 1
    border.style = ap.annotations.BorderStyle.DASHED
    border.dash = ap.annotations.Dash(3, 3)
    text_box_field.border = border

    text_box_field.characteristics.border = ap.Color.red.to_rgb()
    text_box_field.characteristics.background = ap.Color.yellow.to_rgb()

    document.form.add(text_box_field, 1)
    document.save(output_file_name)

Multi-Widget Text Box Field in PDF

Create a text box form field with multiple widget appearances in a PDF using Python and Aspose.PDF. It places several text input areas on a page, applies different fonts and colors to each widget, customizes borders, and sets background styling for an interactive PDF form.

  1. Create New PDF Document.
  2. Define Text Field Positions.
  3. Create Different Default Appearances.
  4. Create Text Box Field.
  5. Apply Appearance to Each Widget.
  6. Customize Border Style.
  7. Add Field to Form.
  8. Save PDF File.
import aspose.pdf as ap
import aspose.pydrawing as drawing

def add_text_box_field_nt(output_file_name):
    document = ap.Document()
    page = document.pages.add()

    rects = [
        ap.Rectangle(10, 600, 110, 620, normalize_coordinates=True),
        ap.Rectangle(10, 630, 110, 650, normalize_coordinates=True),
        ap.Rectangle(10, 660, 110, 680, normalize_coordinates=True),
    ]

    default_appearances = [
        ap.annotations.DefaultAppearance("Arial", 10, drawing.Color.dark_blue),
        ap.annotations.DefaultAppearance("Helvetica", 12, drawing.Color.dark_green),
        ap.annotations.DefaultAppearance(
            ap.text.FontRepository.find_font("Calibri"), 14, drawing.Color.dark_magenta
        ),
    ]

    text_box_field = ap.forms.TextBoxField(page, rects)
    text_box_field.partial_name = "textbox1"
    text_box_field.value = "Some text"

    for i, widget in enumerate(text_box_field):
        widget.default_appearance = default_appearances[i]

    border = ap.annotations.Border(text_box_field)
    border.width = 1
    border.style = ap.annotations.BorderStyle.DASHED
    border.dash = ap.annotations.Dash(3, 3)
    text_box_field.border = border

    text_box_field.characteristics.border = ap.Color.red.to_rgb()
    text_box_field.characteristics.background = ap.Color.yellow.to_rgb()

    document.form.add(text_box_field)
    document.save(output_file_name)

Adding Other Form Fields

The following code snippets show how to add various field types, such as radio buttons, combo boxes, checkboxes, list boxes, signature fields, and barcode fields. Each function creates a new PDF document, adds a target field with selected options, and saves the updated file.

  1. Add Radio Button Field
  2. Add Combo Box Field
  3. Add Checkbox Field
  4. Add List Box Field
  5. Add Signature Field
  6. Add Barcode Field

Add Radio Button Field

import aspose.pdf as ap
import aspose.pydrawing as drawing

def add_radio_button(output_file_name):
    document = ap.Document()
    document.pages.add()

    radio = ap.forms.RadioButtonField(document.pages[1])
    radio.add_option(
        "Option 1", ap.Rectangle(100, 640, 120, 680, normalize_coordinates=True)
    )
    radio.add_option(
        "Option 2", ap.Rectangle(140, 640, 160, 680, normalize_coordinates=True)
    )

    document.form.add(radio)
    document.save(output_file_name)

Add Combo Box Field

import aspose.pdf as ap
import aspose.pydrawing as drawing

def add_combo_box(output_file_name):
    document = ap.Document()
    page = document.pages.add()

    combo = ap.forms.ComboBoxField(
        page, ap.Rectangle(100, 640, 150, 656, normalize_coordinates=True)
    )
    combo.add_option("Red")
    combo.add_option("Yellow")
    combo.add_option("Green")
    combo.add_option("Blue")
    combo.selected = 3

    document.form.add(combo)
    document.save(output_file_name)

Add Checkbox Field

import aspose.pdf as ap
import aspose.pydrawing as drawing

def add_checkbox_field_to_pdf(output_file_name):
    document = ap.Document()
    page = document.pages.add()

    checkbox = ap.forms.CheckboxField(
        page, ap.Rectangle(50, 620, 100, 650, normalize_coordinates=True)
    )
    checkbox.characteristics.background = ap.Color.aqua.to_rgb()
    checkbox.style = ap.forms.BoxStyle.CIRCLE

    document.form.add(checkbox)
    document.save(output_file_name)

Add List Box Field

import aspose.pdf as ap
import aspose.pydrawing as drawing

def add_list_box_field_to_pdf(output_file_name):
    document = ap.Document()
    page = document.pages.add()

    list_box = ap.forms.ListBoxField(
        page, ap.Rectangle(50, 650, 100, 700, normalize_coordinates=True)
    )
    list_box.partial_name = "list"
    list_box.add_option("Red")
    list_box.add_option("Green")
    list_box.add_option("Blue")

    document.form.add(list_box)
    document.save(output_file_name)

Add Signature Field

import aspose.pdf as ap
import aspose.pydrawing as drawing

def add_signature_field(output_file_name):
    document = ap.Document()
    page = document.pages.add()

    signature_field = ap.forms.SignatureField(
        page, ap.Rectangle(100, 700, 200, 800, True)
    )
    signature_field.partial_name = "Signature1"
    document.form.add(signature_field)
    document.save(output_file_name)

Add Barcode Field

import aspose.pdf as ap
import aspose.pydrawing as drawing

def add_barcode_field(output_file_name):
    document = ap.Document()
    page = document.pages.add()

    barcode = ap.forms.BarcodeField(page, ap.Rectangle(100, 700, 200, 740, True))
    barcode.partial_name = "Barcode1"
    barcode.add_barcode("1234567890")
    document.form.add(barcode)
    document.save(output_file_name)
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