Fill in boxes in a PDF that wasn't created as a formal form like in another PDF reader

[itggmbh]

Hello.

In another PDF reader, it's possible to fill in or check boxes in a PDF even if the document wasn't created as a formal form - it just needs to look like one. PDF-XChange Editor doesn't seem to support this behavior. I know there's an "Identify Form" feature, but it's only available in the Plus version and it doesn't work as well. We're using the paid version (not the free one), but without Plus.

Is there a workaround or option I might have missed?

Thanks in advance and best regards,
Andreas

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello itggmbh,

Welcome to our forums!
If that other tool is only adding annotations on top - then we have similar tools in our products.
Or they might be silently running OCR and trying to recognize one - which will be quite computationally demanding, and running it always is not ideal. our solution is the Identify Forms which as you have pointed out requires Editor Plus and needs to be started by yourself. There are currently no plans for such an automated recognition of forms.

Can you please share with us a sample page before and after you have worked on it in that other tool?

Kind regards,
Stefan

[itggmbh]

Thanks, Stefan, for the quick reply. In the other PDF software, the analysis seems to run permanently in the background, which allows me to very quickly insert checkmarks into small boxes (like checkboxes) or add text that’s saved in a history for easy reuse in the next field – a great feature! Unfortunately, I also have no idea how such a constant analysis can work without heavy processing. I’m attaching a sample document before and after editing. Thanks for your efforts!

Kind regards,
Andreas

Test.pdf

Test ausgefüllt.pdf

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello itggmbh,

Thanks for the sample file! I see which is the other software where you used Fill and Sign feature.
It did NOT create form fields though - so someone else can not replace that text or checkbox without using the same tool.
While our "identify forms" will create form fields that any PDF software will then recognize as correct form objects.

So it's a different feature and the content added is base content, but you can quite easily achieve a similar result in our Editor with e.g. some check mark stamps and the typewriter tool and fill in your form yourself as your own brain will easily recognize where content needs to be added without the need for a tool constantly running in the background and easting up resources for a feature that's easily possible with our tools as well.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[itggmbh]

Thanks a lot, Stefan, for the detailed information and the technical insights.

We have 250 employees in our company, and I’m working to get everyone on board with using PDF-XChange Editor exclusively. It would have been fantastic to showcase an equivalent to the "Fill and Sign" feature from the other software.

Maybe this could be considered as a feature request for the development team, using that reference software as inspiration. Honestly, the resource usage seems quite low – probably because the tool only analyzes the area near the mouse during actual use.

Kind regards,
Andreas