How To Fill A Fillable PDF Form with PHP using PDFtk

How to fill a PDF using PHP?
Have you ever wanted to know how to grab data from a form on a website and have it fill an already existing fillable PDF? Maybe you have a PDF with a form in it that you want to be filled in from a web form, so that it keeps the look and feel of your PDF with the data. Of course, you can fill in the PDF using Adobe Reader but what if your website form did it instead?
Well, PDFtk, along with PHP can help you achieve just that.
You can clone the project repository from here: github.com/mrd...
This simple video will show you how to do it. I'll be creating a simple project showing you how to fill PDFs on your website.
I will not be doing form validation so that is something you will want to do if you plan on sending the project live. Don't
forget to do front end and back end validation.
PDFtk is a free tool for PDF Manipulation, and there is also a PDFTK Server, which we can use with PHP to manipulate PDFs.
Many other PDF libraries do not fill PDFs or make it very difficult to do so, PDFtk with php-pdftk is very simple to use.
PDFTk does not only fill PDFs, it can join PDFs together, it can remove files and add files. It can split files, add overlays and even
grab data from a PDF to use in PHP. This tutorial will simply show you how to fill PDFs, but the php-pdftk library can be used for more things.

[@mrdigitalau]

If you don't have adobe acrobat pro and want to find out the field names in a PDF - you can do it using pdftk [PDFNAME].pdf dump_data_fields - run this in terminal in the same folder the .pdf file is in, it will spit back all the fields and their names so you can map them with php pdftk.

[@prane81]

Mr Digital thank you

[@coraspa4091]

Hello Mr Digital, If we have sample pdf but in current adobe we can't edit the form field name & also using pdftk can't fill form properly with fdf. So is it pdf issue ?

[@lonnydavis5586]

Great tutorial. Clear and concise and useful.

[@TIFO39]

I have some issues hqving the new pdf in the completed folder. I'm using Hostinger by the way, so it's not local server So when I try to download the pdf from the link, I receive this error, "file wasn't available "

[@kyopan23]

How would you include a checkbox?

[@leopascal4812]

Hello Mr. Digital, thanks for the great video, but I'm not getting any output PDF generated in the completed folder. any help would be apricated.

[@dlk9572]

hello, did you find a solution?

[@ferdinandiszlai8896]

I have the sam issue... it only generates the filename and prints it out to the screen.. it does not genereate the pdf. :(

[@jim9408]

Hey Sean, Thank you. Your teaching style makes understanding the whole process easy to grasp. Have you used this same process (php-pdftk) for having someone electronically sign the PDF document?

[@mrdigitalau]

Hello Jim, thank you very much. I don't use PDFTK for signatures because it is more used just to fill pdfs. If you want signatures it might be best to use DOMPDF or MPDF for that. You've given me a good idea for a tutorial, thanks mate!

[@diangrove6931]

@@mrdigitalau , I have the same question as Jim. Have you managed to make a tutorial on signing the PDF? Also which one DOMPDF or MPDF is best to use for this. Thanks mate.

[@sthembisoncwane3412]

@@diangrove6931 hey what i did is to use PDFtk for text and FPDi for signatures and it works great.

[@creativeartdesign4820]

Good work, i only have one question. Can i use it on my hosted webserver? what files do i need to upload to the hosting company ? Or did i understand it wrong, it is only need to be installed on the client? the plugin? PDFTK.

[@masonholt651]

I have the same question. Did you ever find an answer?

[@creativeartdesign4820]

@@masonholt651 No answer..yet.

[@masonholt651]

@@creativeartdesign4820 I did a little more digging yesterday, and it seems like you need a dedicated server for this, and then this software has to be installed on it. Shared hosting just won't allow this software on it.

[@afiqurrahman2884]

Hello sir, i have the problem...my problem is processed pdf not saved to completed directory...

[@dlk9572]

Hello, it's seem to work but the pdf file isn't generated can you help me please?

[@Richard-wb8vo]

hi did you find a solution to this problem? I have the same and when I print the error in Mac OS it says command not found, thanks for help

[@albachirbenhammad1169]

I got this error : Warning: copy(): The second argument to copy() function cannot be a directory in C:\xampp\htdocs\Project\vendor\mikehaertl\php-pdftk\src\Pdf.php on line 576 string(14) "pdf_255638.pdf" How Can I fix that!

[@MrJWVolleyball]

it appears at first glance that you did not create a fillable pdf, you created a form that created a flat pdf. I need a fillable pdf that has some parts filled in from a database source while the client gets to fill in the rest and send it back to me.

[@pietrolechthaler747]

Hi Mate, I want create an invoice file with my database's data. Do u think is a good way using this library?

[@mrdigitalau]

Hi Pietro. If it were me, I would not use PDFTK for creating invoices. Unless the invoice is a fillable PDF. Otherwise you can use something like mPDF to create the PDF using HTML pulling data from the database.

[@0xjust1]

thanks a lot dude ! do you know how to import jpg to pdf with pdftk ?

[@mrdigitalau]

Hey Justin, what do you want to do? Just add a pdf with an image into it as like a second pdf page? Or include an image onto the page?

[@0xjust1]

@@mrdigitalau Thanks for your answer :) I just want to add an image in the pdf, like a field (jpeg_field) but apparently it's impossible to do that with pdftk.I'm looking for a way to include a jpg from the form, without results for the moment :(

[@0xjust1]

@@mrdigitalau so, im trying to include an image onto the page ^^

[@sthembisoncwane3412]

​@@0xjust1 what helped me was to have a image upload tab then convert the image to base64 send it to PHP then use Fpdi to send the emage tio pdf

[@orlandol6260]

what PC specs u have? seems fast

[@mrdigitalau]

I've got an Intel i7-8700 3.20 GHz with 32 GB Ram :)

[@prane81]

what if we donot have adobe pro?

[@mrdigitalau]

HI Praneet, if you don't have adobe pro - use this in terminal. Run it in the same older the pdf is in. pdftk test.pdf dump_data_fields - it will give you a list of the field names

[@ttaa6371]

the problem of this PDFTK is that you cant use it online on a website. Unless someone knows how to. thanks

[@mrdigitalau]

Yes you can. You need to install it onto your server. Do you have your own server?

[@ttaa6371]

@@mrdigitalau no it was on OVH or o2switch where i host my websites

[@ttaa6371]

i just make a program to add to a CRM i developped but if i cant put it online it was a waist of time !!! So i need help either to find a solution either to find another library doing the same thing

[@TIFO39]

I followed what you've mentioned but still it's not working. Im using VPS from hostinger, pdftk installed from centOS 64bit. Please any help would be very appreciated.

[@jovydelfin8933]

Is it possible to insert an image?

[@mrdigitalau]

As in, attaching an image to the fillable PDF?

[@jovydelfin8933]

@@mrdigitalau Yes. It's a signature that i want to put every time I generate the pdf. Basically the signature was already converted to image that I want to put in the pdf. You think it's possible?

[@mrdigitalau]

@@jovydelfin8933 You should put the image into the PDF before it is filled by PHP . If you use adobe acrobat or some other PDF program you should be able to put an image in there.

[@jovydelfin8933]

@@mrdigitalau The signature is different for every record so that's not possible. What I want to achieve is to put signature dynamically same with the fillable fields.

[@mrdigitalau]

@@jovydelfin8933 Then you probably can't use a fillable pdf. Try just creating the PDF from scratch with mPDF, then inserting the sig in there as an image. kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5-soaZujshrebs

[@krzyracergt]

For anyone having issues with generating pdf, I got it to work by using an absolute path. $pdf = new Pdf('C:\xampp\htdocs\pdfgen\test.pdf', [ 'command' => 'C:\Program Files (x86)\PDFtk Server\bin\pdftk.exe', 'useExec' => true ]); $pdf->fillForm($data) ->flatten() ->saveAs('C:\xampp\htdocs\pdfgen\completed/' .$filename); return $filename;

[@badchuckle]

this worked so well thank you

[@sakuragi9785]

does anyone know the command for ubuntu?

[@Src4mblerr]

Thank you so much! This worked!!!

[@raoufdiak5453]

Man you save my **s :D thanks

[@niyazahamed8352]

Thank You that worked , All we have to do is "GeneratePDF.php" and replace these (Check your personal file location) $pdf = new Pdf('C:\xampp\htdocs\pd\test.pdf', [ 'command' => 'C:\Program Files (x86)\PDFtk\bin\pdftk.exe', 'useExec' => true ]); $pdf->fillForm($data) ->flatten() ->saveAs('C:\xampp\htdocs\pd\completed/' .$filename); return $filename;

[@rachitshah6993]

great tutorial thank you very much it saves lots of time.

[@laurenmarie2035]

BEFORE WATCHING THIS: Make sure you can install PDFtk on your server. This video is great and everything will work fine on your localhost. But you can't get it on many servers, especially if they are shared (unless someone out there has a workaround...???). Just a warning before you waste a bunch of time learning this.

[@artkazun]

so you can't just copy the existing project with the installed PDFtk from the localhost to your shared server?

[@laurenmarie2035]

@@artkazun Exactly. It won't work. The company you have your server with has to have PDFtk on their platform and you can't install it yourself. This is if you have a shared server.

[@keremardicli4013]

@@laurenmarie2035 there are some pdftk composer packages out there based on pdftk. Would they work?

[@usermiamiusa]

Hello, i excellent tutorial but i download your project but still getting error: Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Class 'Classes\GeneratePDF' not found in C:\xampp\htdocs\generate.php:23 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in C:\xampp\htdocs\generate.php on line 23

[@cellocarlos]

Is it possible add text like a header or a footer on a existing PDF and display it to the user (on the browser) using PDFtk?

[@harshgodhani1782]

I try to use this demo but it is not working. PDF is not generating. any suggestion?

[@mrdigitalau]

You might not have PDFTK installed on your system, do you?

[@abdullaalrakib3652]

after downloading it shows me Failed -No file ... how can I fix it i could not get any Solution till yet...please i need some help

[@christopheransbaugh3946]

Hey Sean, it looks like I have everything working, however, when I click download PDF it says, Failed - No file in the downloads. Any idea why?

[@maxfxch]

Hi Christopher, got the same issue here, did you find a way to resolve this ?

[@christopheransbaugh3946]

@@maxfxch Yes, I did fix the issue. It was something super simple but I can't remember exactly what it was. I would recommend that you make sure whatever local server you're using has the most up -to-date PHP installed and also that you've installed Pdftk properly. You also should also ensure that all of your filepaths in the code are correct.

[@maxfxch]

@@christopheransbaugh3946 Thanks for your concern. I updated everything I'm using PHP 8, using XAMPP for Php 8 still not working my short path are good too. I'll dig to find out a solution. Thanks !

[@dlk9572]

@@maxfxch hello, did you find a solution?

[@autoleader3441]

Check bame of New pdf (‘(namefile.pdf)’) its same name of your file ?

[@devmev2665]

Just tested it on a Win 10 Machine with Version 1909, webserver is over XAMPP. Code seems to be working fine so far, the only thing is that the pdf is just not generated, so there is no file saved... Also can't see any errors with the getError() - method.. any help?

[@devmev2665]

JUST FIXED IT! : It seems like this behaviour is known on windows systems, this lines (command and useExec) fixed it for me: $pdf = new Pdf('/path/my.pdf', [ 'command' => '/some/other/path/to/pdftk', // or on most Windows systems: // 'command' => 'C:\Program Files (x86)\PDFtk\bin\pdftk.exe', 'useExec' => true, // May help on Windows systems if execution fails ]); Also add this line after the save as: // Check for errors if (!$pdf->saveAs('my.pdf')) { $error = $pdf->getError(); } you have then the possibilty to log errors -> there i saw that i also have to use an absolut path for the "new PDF" -> 'C:\xampp\htdocs\test.pdf' Source: github.com/mikehaertl/php-pdftk#execution Edit: use the Full Windows Path also at the PDF File, thanks to the comments !

[@happlyfly]

@@devmev2665 Very helpful. I am getting the same fruitless outcome - after seeing your comment, realized that its not just me. Unfortunately the above advice did not work for me...... still no pdf file is being generated or saved... Any kind suggestion will be very helpful.

[@leopascal4812]

@@devmev2665 Hello Jul Pod, I've tried this by implementing your msg also but still no success, any help would be apricated.

[@Phop279]

@@devmev2665 Needs to use the full windows path for pdf file too. Now It's work thanks

[@ferdinandiszlai8896]

@@devmev2665 If i could hug you You would get a big fucking HUG!!

[@sippy28]

But what about an image pdf form field?

[@hakimfazal426]

did you found any solution?

[@sthembisoncwane3412]

what helped me was to have a image upload tab then convert the image to base64 send it to PHP then use Fpdi library to send the image to pdf

[@sagaciousip]

Hi, I have an add button on my PDF to generate dynamic fields. How I can generate and fill data dynamically using PHP?

[@Richard-wb8vo]

Hi, I followed everything and this script does not end like yours do. I tried it in Mac OS with localhost, in Windows with WAMPP and onto my hosting server and every time I don't get anything, I tried also to download your code form GitHub and the only thing I got Is a file .pdf.html that has problems to open, I really don't know what to do, can you help me?

[@dixon4946]

Hi , did you find something for this

[@junkmatrix]

I need the metadata from the original PDF also appear in the generated PDF. Will this code generate a brand new pdf file or make a copy of the existing PDF (i.e., test.pdf) and simply add form entries from PHP form page into it?

[@hakimfazal426]

how can we insert image.

[@saddamhossain-dr9fx]

Great explanation Mr Digital!. Thank you very much.

[@markusj3029]

It looked very good at first sight. But if I got it right, it`s necessary to install pdftk-server. It might be easy on localhost, but how can I bring it to work on my productive site?!

[@sthembisoncwane3412]

Absolutely, @markusj3029, one effective approach to deploy the application form for your productive site is by hosting it on a virtual machine like AWS EC2. I've successfully hosted the application form on AWS EC2, which grants you complete control over the environment and facilitates the installation of necessary dependencies. Additionally, I've integrated additional libraries such as PHPMailer for seamless emailing of the application submissions and Fpdi for facilitating digital signatures. This setup ensures enhanced functionality and reliability for your application form. If you require further assistance or guidance on this setup, feel free to let me know!

[@TheRamiroB]

great video!! One question I looking for any tool that can I embed inside my app, for generate pdf forms? do you know some app?

[@rosedematta4789]

I have a fillable PDF, after opening it in the browser, filling it with data, I want to save it as PDF. any help will be appreciated.

[@sakuragi9785]

to create the route of this is a post or a get route? (Route::get/Route::post)

[@ArticEditzzz]

Stopped your video when you started OOP. I dont know it

[@mrdigitalau]

Oh mate. You're missing out. What is it about OOP you don't get ? Happy to answer your queries

[@TIFO39]

Hey, I have pdftk installed via centOS on my own VPS (from Hostinger). The pdf is never saved in completed file? When I click on download file, open dialog opens but the file is changed to .htm instead of .pdf. After this: nothing is saved

[@wilsoncalaham5726]

hi thanx for the great guid , i have a fatal error on the part you use "composer init" here the error i get ibb.co/yN5tzgb , would u please help me? im on centos 7 and using php7 , pdftk server is also installed successfully.

[@mrdigitalau]

hi Wilson You need PHP to be installed on your machine. Are you using a web server on your local machine?

[@SongvitItthiphisit]

Can we fillable some field and then flatted it and other fields must be fill when open it with Reader or Acrobat?

[@RamzCompany]

Undefined type 'mikehaertl\pdftk\Pdf'.intelephense(1009) any help all things install perfect

[@dixon4946]

Yo man, did you get anything that fixed this bug for you, cause I'm having the same problem as you were

[@rohanshrestha8302]

Can we change the font of the pdf using pdftk?

[@sanghisa]

Perfect explanation brother. Can we do the auto height based on the input text length?

[@pietrolechthaler747]

Mr Digital, Can I use this library without the composer? Can I download the library manually?

[@mrdigitalau]

Hi Pietro. Yes you can, grab it off GitHub - github.com/mikehaertl/php-pdftk

[@ChrisRhythmAndVoice]

How can i input japanese character to the pdf form when generated?

[@navnitjain]

it's working for unicode character?

[@DavidsonJasmin]

Thank you Mr. Digital.

[@agusnk6732]

Thanks

[@scirpoliwebstudio5383]

congratulations for the tutorial. simple and direct language. i was able to follow it and get my application to work. however, it only works locally. why when I publish on my domain it doesn't generate the pdf file for me? thank you

[@mrdigitalau]

Hi there, Thank you. You need to install PDFtk on your server. What server are you running?

[@scirpoliwebstudio5383]

@@mrdigitalau Linux shl-buildd-bs03 4.19.0-22-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.19.260-1 (2022-09-29) x86_64 GNU/Linux

[@mrdigitalau]

@@scirpoliwebstudio5383 Do you know how to SSH in and run commands by any chance? Using Putty or something similar? If you go here: snapcraft.io/install/pdftk/debian, run the commands on command line on your server, it should install it.

[@scirpoliwebstudio5383]

@@mrdigitalau great. Thank you very much. I try, I hope to succeed and after the test I will let you know if I succeeded. Thanks for answering me :)

[@mrdigitalau]

@@scirpoliwebstudio5383 You are welcome mate. Let me know either way. Hope you get it working. Cheers

[@Joselson14]

Can I use Atom instead of Visual studio?

[@mrdigitalau]

Of course mate. Any code editor your wish. As Vasu said, notepad even if you wanted. Would be a bit of a pain though :)

[@happlyfly]

Hi Mr. Digital- thanks for this great tutorial. Unfortunately, I am ending up with no saved file in the "completed" directory- cannot understand why. Any kind suggestion to resolve the problem will be very helpful. Thanks again!

[@happlyfly]

Hi again Mr. Digital- any advise for me to resolve the "failed" outcome of the project? Thank you.

[@vslslss4293]

same problem here

[@happlyfly]

@@vslslss4293 In the GeneratePDF file, please start with "namespace Classes;". This has to be the first line in the file for the whole thing to work

[@cheikh_mutazila]

same problem

[@ramg7808]

Hi. It doesnt work with open server, but it works with laragon. Maybe it because of Apache or Mysql

[@osmaloureiro]

obrigado!

[@mrdigitalau]

de nada!

[@prane81]

How to use this in live server?

[@mrdigitalau]

Hi Praneet It really depends on what server you are using.. You will need to install PDFTK onto the server itself

[@artkazun]

@@mrdigitalau can I just copy the project folder with the installed PDFtk from the localhost to the server?

[@mdsafikulislam9113]

Thank you so much Brother

[@mrdigitalau]

You're welcome!

[@happlyfly]

Safikul Bhai- could you run the project successfully and yield the expected PDF?

[@evelsimmon3938]

Hi.Thanks for your video. I would like to get form fields names and values on my cpanel but I think we can 't use pdftk on cpanel. I made a mistake ? or is it possible to use on Cpanel too? As possible, please show me some example codes to help me. Thank you.

[@santoshjayswal3905]

the video is great for local server but can you please give us any tip to use it on cpanel server. I find it very hard to install over there. any help would be appreciated

[@aimanechouhaibi7397]

use ssh

[@mohammadsbeaa737]

@@aimanechouhaibi7397 what you mean by ssh?