Create fillable PDF forms (WCMS 2)

Owned by Sarah Cooper
Last updated: Nov 01, 2023
5 min read

How to create fillable PDF forms

 

Data submitted to Web forms can be used to fill PDF forms.

Example use case: Students need to complete a form, but an original signature on paper is required. Web form and Fill PDF can be used together to allow the student to complete the form in their web browser and download a PDF of the completed form, which they print, sign, and return.

This allows you to get forms on paper, but without having to worry about reading messy handwriting or retyping the data in a database.

See also:

To get started, you will need:

  • A fillable PDF form. You can make this in software like Adobe Acrobat Pro (available through the IST Webstore) or LibreOffice (free download).

  • A WCMS Web form configured to collect the information you need. There is no special configuration of the Web form for it to work with Fill PDF.

Configuring your fillable PDF

  1. My Workbench > Create/Manage Content tab > Web form > Manage PDFs

  2. The FillPDF page will open. Upload your PDF file using the Browse option.

  3. The Edit PDF form page will appear. Configure the PDF:

     

    1. Optionally, provide an Administrative title.

    2. Adjust the Title.

      1. This title will be displayed in download links.

    3. Insert the Default Node ID (number only).

      1. Every Web form has a Node ID which is the number that Drupal
        uses to identify that form. You can find the Node ID for each web form
        on the Manage web forms page. This tells the PDF which form to grab data
        from.

    4. Click Update.

       

  4. Now you must tell the system what to put in each PDF form field.

    1. Under Sample PDF, click “See which fields are which in this PDF”.
      You will download a PDF in which each field has been filled with
      PDF-field key of that field, helping you to tell which field is which.

    2. At the bottom of the Edit PDF form page is a list of all the fields in the PDF, each one identified with a PDF-field key.

  5. For each field that you want to fill, you need to assign a value. To start, click Edit under Operations for the first PDF-field key you want to configure.

     

    1. Click in the Value box, and then enter the corresponding token for this field.

      1. Token for webform submissions: [submission:values:insert-form-key]

      2. Token for form component under a fieldset: [submission:values:fieldset:form-key]

      3. Note: form keys can be located in the Form components sub-tab of your Web form

         

    2. Click Update.

    3. Repeat steps 5a-b for each PDF field that you want to fill.

Testing your Fillable PDF  

After configuring your Fillable PDF it is recommended to test your Web form to see that each field is filling correctly. To do this:

  1. Make a submission to your web form by filling out each field.

  2. Return to the Edit PDF form page.

  3. Under Fill PDF from default node, click Download this PDF filled with data from the default node (#).

  4. This will show you the form results from the most recent submission. Confirm that all fields are filling as expected.

Providing users the option to download the Fillable PDF

Now that the Fillable PDF has been configured and tested, the next step is to provide the option for users who complete your web form to download their filled PDF. There are two options:

  1. Link on the Web form (Authenticated users only):

    • Update web form settings:

      • Under Submission access, set to Authenticated users only. This requires Open authentication to be enabled. If you do not want this enabled, see Option two (link on confirmation page).

      • Under Advanced settings, enable show previous submissions.

    • When users make a submission to your form, they will need to click Go back to form.

    • Users will see a green box at the top of the page letting them know:

      • That they have already submitted to the form, and can view previous submissions.

      • That they can download a PDF of their most recent submission.

         

  2. Link on the confirmation page:

Notes:

  • Web form 4.0 will allow anonymous users to download a Web form’s associated PDF document.

  • Use Update PDF template if you want to use a new version or copy of the Fillable PDF.