pdftk flatten loses fillable field data
I'm trying to work out a solution to flatten PDFs with already-filled out fields on a Linux command line. I was messing around with GhostScript at first, but I found that tended to convert all the field data to garbage characters.
When I run this command
pdftk foo.pdf output bar.pdf flatten
and open bar.pdf in a PDF reader, it's flattened, but the data that was in the fields simply isn't present. The PDF is just the same as if it wasn't filled out, minus the fillable fields.
Is there something I'm missing here?
All the solutions I find on Google are about populating empty forms with .fdf files, which doesn't really pertain to my situation.
pdf pdftk
asked Jan 29 '16 at 22:13
Justin LardinoisJustin Lardinois
2081215
add a comment |
I'm trying to work out a solution to flatten PDFs with already-filled out fields on a Linux command line. I was messing around with GhostScript at first, but I found that tended to convert all the field data to garbage characters.
When I run this command
pdftk foo.pdf output bar.pdf flatten
and open bar.pdf in a PDF reader, it's flattened, but the data that was in the fields simply isn't present. The PDF is just the same as if it wasn't filled out, minus the fillable fields.
Is there something I'm missing here?
All the solutions I find on Google are about populating empty forms with .fdf files, which doesn't really pertain to my situation.
pdf pdftk
asked Jan 29 '16 at 22:13
Justin LardinoisJustin Lardinois
2081215
I have the same issue. Can someone shed light on this? I have form elements on my source pdf. after flatten, my output has no values. version 2.02 on Ubuntu 12.04
– fbas
Nov 3 '16 at 11:54
it may be worth noting that my pdf file was modified by MacS Quartz in the Preview tool. This is how I filled in the PDF form fields. when I run this same source PDF through ghostscript, it works, but does note various issues and suggests that Quartz is to blame: **** This file had errors that were repaired or ignored. **** The file was produced by: **** >>>> Mac OS X 10.11.6 Quartz PDFContext <<<< **** Please notify the author of the software that produced this **** file that it does not conform to Adobe's published PDF **** specification.
– fbas
Nov 3 '16 at 12:35
add a comment |
I'm trying to work out a solution to flatten PDFs with already-filled out fields on a Linux command line. I was messing around with GhostScript at first, but I found that tended to convert all the field data to garbage characters.
When I run this command
pdftk foo.pdf output bar.pdf flatten
and open bar.pdf in a PDF reader, it's flattened, but the data that was in the fields simply isn't present. The PDF is just the same as if it wasn't filled out, minus the fillable fields.
Is there something I'm missing here?
All the solutions I find on Google are about populating empty forms with .fdf files, which doesn't really pertain to my situation.
pdf pdftk
asked Jan 29 '16 at 22:13
Justin LardinoisJustin Lardinois
2081215
I'm trying to work out a solution to flatten PDFs with already-filled out fields on a Linux command line. I was messing around with GhostScript at first, but I found that tended to convert all the field data to garbage characters.
When I run this command
pdftk foo.pdf output bar.pdf flatten
and open bar.pdf in a PDF reader, it's flattened, but the data that was in the fields simply isn't present. The PDF is just the same as if it wasn't filled out, minus the fillable fields.
Is there something I'm missing here?
All the solutions I find on Google are about populating empty forms with .fdf files, which doesn't really pertain to my situation.
pdf pdftk
pdf pdftk
asked Jan 29 '16 at 22:13
Justin LardinoisJustin Lardinois
2081215
asked Jan 29 '16 at 22:13
Justin LardinoisJustin Lardinois
2081215
asked Jan 29 '16 at 22:13
Justin LardinoisJustin Lardinois
2081215
asked Jan 29 '16 at 22:13
Justin LardinoisJustin Lardinois
2081215
asked Jan 29 '16 at 22:13
Justin LardinoisJustin Lardinois
2081215
2081215
I have the same issue. Can someone shed light on this? I have form elements on my source pdf. after flatten, my output has no values. version 2.02 on Ubuntu 12.04
– fbas
Nov 3 '16 at 11:54
it may be worth noting that my pdf file was modified by MacS Quartz in the Preview tool. This is how I filled in the PDF form fields. when I run this same source PDF through ghostscript, it works, but does note various issues and suggests that Quartz is to blame: **** This file had errors that were repaired or ignored. **** The file was produced by: **** >>>> Mac OS X 10.11.6 Quartz PDFContext <<<< **** Please notify the author of the software that produced this **** file that it does not conform to Adobe's published PDF **** specification.
– fbas
Nov 3 '16 at 12:35
add a comment |
I have the same issue. Can someone shed light on this? I have form elements on my source pdf. after flatten, my output has no values. version 2.02 on Ubuntu 12.04
– fbas
Nov 3 '16 at 11:54
it may be worth noting that my pdf file was modified by MacS Quartz in the Preview tool. This is how I filled in the PDF form fields. when I run this same source PDF through ghostscript, it works, but does note various issues and suggests that Quartz is to blame: **** This file had errors that were repaired or ignored. **** The file was produced by: **** >>>> Mac OS X 10.11.6 Quartz PDFContext <<<< **** Please notify the author of the software that produced this **** file that it does not conform to Adobe's published PDF **** specification.
– fbas
Nov 3 '16 at 12:35
I have the same issue. Can someone shed light on this? I have form elements on my source pdf. after flatten, my output has no values. version 2.02 on Ubuntu 12.04
– fbas
Nov 3 '16 at 11:54
I have the same issue. Can someone shed light on this? I have form elements on my source pdf. after flatten, my output has no values. version 2.02 on Ubuntu 12.04
– fbas
Nov 3 '16 at 11:54
it may be worth noting that my pdf file was modified by MacS Quartz in the Preview tool. This is how I filled in the PDF form fields. when I run this same source PDF through ghostscript, it works, but does note various issues and suggests that Quartz is to blame: **** This file had errors that were repaired or ignored. **** The file was produced by: **** >>>> Mac OS X 10.11.6 Quartz PDFContext <<<< **** Please notify the author of the software that produced this **** file that it does not conform to Adobe's published PDF **** specification.
– fbas
Nov 3 '16 at 12:35
it may be worth noting that my pdf file was modified by MacS Quartz in the Preview tool. This is how I filled in the PDF form fields. when I run this same source PDF through ghostscript, it works, but does note various issues and suggests that Quartz is to blame: **** This file had errors that were repaired or ignored. **** The file was produced by: **** >>>> Mac OS X 10.11.6 Quartz PDFContext <<<< **** Please notify the author of the software that produced this **** file that it does not conform to Adobe's published PDF **** specification.
– fbas
Nov 3 '16 at 12:35
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
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votes
I was able to piece together this solution.
flattenpdf() {
if [[ $# -ne 2 ]]
then
echo "Usage: flattenpdf input.pdf output.pdf"
return 1
fi
temp=$(mktemp)
pdftk "$1" generate_fdf output ${temp}
pdftk "$1" fill_form ${temp} output "$2" flatten
rm ${temp}
}
It uses pdftk to generate an fdf file from the filled in pdf and then uses that file in a second run to flatten it. Why pdftk doesn't do something like this in the first place is beyond me.
answered Feb 2 '18 at 12:59
Daniel LandauDaniel Landau
1562
add a comment |
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votes
I was able to piece together this solution.
flattenpdf() {
if [[ $# -ne 2 ]]
then
echo "Usage: flattenpdf input.pdf output.pdf"
return 1
fi
temp=$(mktemp)
pdftk "$1" generate_fdf output ${temp}
pdftk "$1" fill_form ${temp} output "$2" flatten
rm ${temp}
}
It uses pdftk to generate an fdf file from the filled in pdf and then uses that file in a second run to flatten it. Why pdftk doesn't do something like this in the first place is beyond me.
answered Feb 2 '18 at 12:59
Daniel LandauDaniel Landau
1562
add a comment |
I was able to piece together this solution.
flattenpdf() {
if [[ $# -ne 2 ]]
then
echo "Usage: flattenpdf input.pdf output.pdf"
return 1
fi
temp=$(mktemp)
pdftk "$1" generate_fdf output ${temp}
pdftk "$1" fill_form ${temp} output "$2" flatten
rm ${temp}
}
It uses pdftk to generate an fdf file from the filled in pdf and then uses that file in a second run to flatten it. Why pdftk doesn't do something like this in the first place is beyond me.
answered Feb 2 '18 at 12:59
Daniel LandauDaniel Landau
1562
add a comment |
I was able to piece together this solution.
flattenpdf() {
if [[ $# -ne 2 ]]
then
echo "Usage: flattenpdf input.pdf output.pdf"
return 1
fi
temp=$(mktemp)
pdftk "$1" generate_fdf output ${temp}
pdftk "$1" fill_form ${temp} output "$2" flatten
rm ${temp}
}
It uses pdftk to generate an fdf file from the filled in pdf and then uses that file in a second run to flatten it. Why pdftk doesn't do something like this in the first place is beyond me.
answered Feb 2 '18 at 12:59
Daniel LandauDaniel Landau
1562
I was able to piece together this solution.
flattenpdf() {
if [[ $# -ne 2 ]]
then
echo "Usage: flattenpdf input.pdf output.pdf"
return 1
fi
temp=$(mktemp)
pdftk "$1" generate_fdf output ${temp}
pdftk "$1" fill_form ${temp} output "$2" flatten
rm ${temp}
}
It uses pdftk to generate an fdf file from the filled in pdf and then uses that file in a second run to flatten it. Why pdftk doesn't do something like this in the first place is beyond me.
answered Feb 2 '18 at 12:59
Daniel LandauDaniel Landau
1562
answered Feb 2 '18 at 12:59
Daniel LandauDaniel Landau
1562
answered Feb 2 '18 at 12:59
Daniel LandauDaniel Landau
1562
answered Feb 2 '18 at 12:59
Daniel LandauDaniel Landau
1562
1562
add a comment |
add a comment |
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I have the same issue. Can someone shed light on this? I have form elements on my source pdf. after flatten, my output has no values. version 2.02 on Ubuntu 12.04
– fbas
Nov 3 '16 at 11:54
it may be worth noting that my pdf file was modified by MacS Quartz in the Preview tool. This is how I filled in the PDF form fields. when I run this same source PDF through ghostscript, it works, but does note various issues and suggests that Quartz is to blame: **** This file had errors that were repaired or ignored. **** The file was produced by: **** >>>> Mac OS X 10.11.6 Quartz PDFContext <<<< **** Please notify the author of the software that produced this **** file that it does not conform to Adobe's published PDF **** specification.
– fbas
Nov 3 '16 at 12:35