Displaying fillable PDF forms in Chrome (or in any browser) saves a lot of the manual work of filling in forms, scanning them to then digitally present them. By making use of checkboxes, buttons and lists, fillable PDF files simplify this process. It also makes them widely accessible (all you need is a laptop or mobile device) and allows easy submission of the data into systems.
There are four different ways to display fillable PDF forms in a browser:
1. Flatten form or display as a flattened form
Our previous article explains how PDF form flattening works, including the advantages it has such as simplifying the PDF – I suggest checking that article out for more information. After the form is flattened, it can be displayed.
Because the Forms themselves have been turned into images and non-editable text, the downside of this is that the Forms can no longer be edited. So this is a strictly display only option.
2. Client software
There is a free PDF viewer (written in JavaScript) called PDF.js which runs inside the browser and displays flat PDF files. Recent versions have started adding support for some forms features.
3. Using Browser-based software
If you are using interactive content, there are software products which provide a browser front end and allow you to display PDF files. Adobe has a very powerful (and expensive) Enterprise solution called Adobe Experience Manager Forms ( previously known as LiveCycle). Forms Manager can automatically convert traditional input fields to digital forms which is a nice additional feature.
4. Convert form to HTML5
This is our prefered solution which we implement with our FormVu product. Browsers display HTML5 content (including interactive form elements). So why not convert the Forms into standalone HTML5 content.
Which of the 4 ways will best suit you will depend on your exact requirements and budget, but there is a real choice of viable options to get your fillable PDF forms into the browser. It is important to note that these methods work with Microsoft Edge, Chrome and most other browsers.
You can read our other articles to know what PDF forms are and to understand the PDF file format.