Fill Data In Existing PDF Form Using NodeJS

Question

Problem : I have an existing PDF form ( *.pdf ) that needs to be filled out. How can I fill it dynamically by using the Node JS?

Answer 1

Check out the following modules on npm:

• fill-pdf
• pdffiller
• pdf-fill-form
• node-pdffiller
• pdfkit

The node-pdffilleris a wrapper for PDFtk, the PDF Toolkit:

• https://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-the-pdf-toolkit/

There's a lot of good documentation on the website of PDFKit:

• http://pdfkit.org/

Those modules have different features and API. You should find something that suits your needs.

There's also a nice article:

• Generating a PDF with Express & Node.js by Koen van Gilst (it uses PDFKit)

Answer 2

For anyone still searching for a solution, give pdf-lib (https://pdf-lib.js.org / https://www.npmjs.com/package/pdf-lib) a look.

There's a nice thread on how to fill in PDF form text fields using the pdf-lib Node.js package: https://github.com/Hopding/pdf-lib/issues/48

Answer 3

I know this is a late response but I found a good library called PDF-LIB

PDF-LIB

It is so feature rich;

This is an example of a code to work with it

const { PDFDocument } = require('pdf-lib')
const fs = require('fs')
const util = require('util')

const data = {
  "name": "Alice Alley",
  "dateOfBirth": "01/01/1990",
  "favoriteFood": "Glue"
}

async function createPdf(input, output) {
  const readFile = util.promisify(fs.readFile)
  function getStuff() {
    return readFile(input)
  }
  const file = await getStuff()
  const pdfDoc = await PDFDocument.load(file)
  const form = pdfDoc.getForm()
  Object.keys(data).forEach((element) => {
    const field = form.getTextField(element)
    field.setText(data[element])
  })
  const pdfBytes = await pdfDoc.save()
  fs.writeFile(output, pdfBytes, () => {
    console.log('PDF created!')
  })
}
createPdf("input.pdf", "output.pdf")

// PDF library https://pdf-lib.js.org/
// PDF form creation https://www.pdfescape.com/

You actually need to create a form inside your PDF file then give each field a name in order to reference it using the code.

PDF Escape

PDF Escape is a website that you upload your PDF then you create a form over it using the "Form Field" button... Over each field right click and select "Object properties..." and assign a name to the field with which you will reference by the code later, then save the file, download it and put it in the project directory.

Note: If you want your fields uneditable and be filled only by script you need to make the field "Read only" in the "Object properties..." also.

After that give the input file name to the createPdf function as well as the output name.

The data object consists on having the keys as the field names in the PDF document and the values as the values that you want to put in the document later.

Answer 4

I read documentation for over a dozen packages and implemented about 5, the only one I could get to work with the requirements being in Node JS and can load a remote PDF file from my MongoDB and fill it was pdfform.js.

More details here.

Answer 5

I have faced the same problem but got the best solution that was pdf-fill-form

Just try this and feel the magic:

var pdfFillForm = require('pdf-fill-form');
var fs = require('fs');

pdfFillForm.write('test.pdf', { "myField": "myField fill value" }, { "save": "pdf", 'cores': 4, 'scale': 0.2, 'antialias': true } )
.then(function(result) {
    fs.writeFile("test123.pdf", result, function(err) {
        if(err) {
            return console.log(err);
        }
        console.log("The file was saved!");
    }); 
}, function(err) {
    console.log(err);
});

Answer 6

node-pdftk worked for me smoothly.

let DOCUMENTDIRECTORY = //directory holding your empty pdfs;

async function producePDFs(documents, outputDirectory) {
  promises = [];

  for (let document of documents) {
    var fields = document["fieldsWithValue"];
    var fieldsWithValue = {};

    for (var i = 0; i < fields.length; i++) {
       fieldsWithValue[fields[i]["name"]] = fields[i]["value"];
    }

    console.log(fieldsWithValue);

    promises.push(
      new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
        pdftk
          .input(DOCUMENTDIRECTORY + document["file"]["fileName"])
          .fillForm(fieldsWithValue)
          .flatten()
          .output(outputDirectory + document["file"]["fileName"])
          .then((buffer) => {
            getFile(outputDirectory + document["file"]["fileName"], 1000).then(
              //1 second
              (val) => {
                if (val) resolve(1);
              }
            );
          })
          .catch((err) => {
            console.log(err);
            // handle errors
          });
      })
    );
  }

  return Promise.all(promises).then(function () {
    return 1;
  });
}

async function getFile(path, time) {
  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    const timeout = setInterval(function () {
      const file = path;
      const fileExists = fs.existsSync(file);

      console.log("Checking for: ", file);
      console.log("Exists: ", fileExists);

      if (fileExists) {
        clearInterval(timeout);
        resolve(1);
      }
    }, time);
  });
}

Answer 7

const { PDFDocument } = require('pdf-lib');
const fs = require('fs');
const util = require('util');

async function createPdf(input, output) {
  try {
    const readFile = util.promisify(fs.readFile);
    function getStuff() {
      return readFile(input);
    }
    const file = await getStuff();
    const pdfDoc = await PDFDocument.load(file);
    const form = pdfDoc.getForm();

    const nameField = form.getTextField('CharacterName 2');
    const ageField = form.getTextField('Age');
    const heightField = form.getTextField('Height');
    const weightField = form.getTextField('Weight');
    const eyesField = form.getTextField('Eyes');
    const skinField = form.getTextField('Skin');
    const hairField = form.getTextField('Hair');

    const alliesField = form.getTextField('Allies');
    const factionField = form.getTextField('FactionName');
    const backstoryField = form.getTextField('Backstory');
    const traitsField = form.getTextField('Feat+Traits');
    const treasureField = form.getTextField('Treasure');

    nameField.setText('Template');
    ageField.setText('24 years');
    heightField.setText(`5' 1"`);
    weightField.setText('196 lbs');
    eyesField.setText('blue');
    skinField.setText('white');
    hairField.setText('brown');

    // characterImageField.setImage(marioImage);

    alliesField.setText(
      [
        `Allies:`,
        `  • Princess Daisy`,
        `  • Princess Peach`,
        `  • Rosalina`,
        `  • Geno`,
        `  • Luigi`,
        `  • Donkey Kong`,
        `  • Yoshi`,
        `  • Diddy Kong`,
        ``,
        `Organizations:`,
        `  • Italian Plumbers Association`,
      ].join('\n')
    );

    factionField.setText(`Mario's Emblem`);

    backstoryField.setText(
      [
        `Mario is a fictional character in the Mario video game franchise, `,
        `owned by Nintendo and created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru `,
        `Miyamoto. Serving as the company's mascot and the eponymous `,
        `protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games `,
        `since his creation. Depicted as a short, pudgy, Italian plumber who `,
        `resides in the Mushroom Kingdom, his adventures generally center `,
        `upon rescuing Princess Peach from the Koopa villain Bowser. His `,
        `younger brother and sidekick is Luigi.`,
      ].join('\n')
    );

    traitsField.setText(
      [
        `Mario can use three basic three power-ups:`,
        `  • the Super Mushroom, which causes Mario to grow larger`,
        `  • the Fire Flower, which allows Mario to throw fireballs`,
        `  • the Starman, which gives Mario temporary invincibility`,
      ].join('\n')
    );

    treasureField.setText(['• Gold coins', '• Treasure chests'].join('\n'));

    const pdfBytes = await pdfDoc.save();
    fs.writeFile(output, pdfBytes, () => {
      console.log('PDF created!');
    });
  } catch (err) {
    console.log(err);
  }
}
createPdf('input.pdf', 'output.pdf');