Most forms that I have to fill out these days come in a DOC or PDF version that allow me to use the appropriate software. If it’s easy for you to scan paper forms in, you could probably use the full version of Adobe Acrobat to insert a type layer over the background image and save it as a PDF for printing at your convenience.
I must add to your dismay, Word forms are next to useless, Adobe Acrobat is better, but at $350 it becomes useless. I need a few fields, printed possibly thrice at separate times, and have found nothing simple, though I own a licence for ABBY Finereader.
if anybody knows of a simple tool, permitting scan, then even hand validating of input fields he would be gratefully thanked.
My typical example is VAT tax declarations for homeowners, to fill in name, address, date of puchase, and generally two check boxes, I download, fill it out by hand, scan it, and send it back. I do not even need the paper copy.
This is not quite what folks are asking here, but a database program with decent layout tools would be one way to solve this problem, especially if it was a question of forms you planned to use repeatedly.
In theory, you could scan a form in as a graphic, size it to a full page, and then place fields you created on top of the blank spots in a layout.
I’ve used FileMaker Pro for nearly 20 years now, and you can place fields wherever you want, and also set a custom tab order so that you can move quickly between them, even if it’s in an order that isn’t standard.
The easiest way by far, IMHO, is adobe acrobat, which has a typewriter tool. You just click on the spot on the form you want to fill in, and start typing. Unfortunately, it doesn’t meet your “inexpensive” criteria, as cplif said.
But there are other, inexpensive programs that will let you write on PDFs. PDFPen in one for Mac; I don’t know about Windows versions, but I’ll bet there’s something out there that would turn up in a search.
I looked into this a while back; Over at www.download.com there was a fairly inexpensive program that would allow you to take any scanned form, create ‘fill-in’ boxes, type in the fill-in boxes, and then save the whole thing to something like PDF.
Sorry I don’t have the name of it but it was there about a year or so ago.
On the other hand, I’ve noticed that the expectation that a form (which is not available as a typeable PDF like tax forms are) be typed has gone completely by the wayside.
I filled out a visa application by scanning the form, pasting it into Word as an image, then overlaying the fields with text boxes and typing in those. Cheap & simple though a bit manual.
Cool. Foxit PDF Reader, which I use, has this feature, but it now adds watermarks if you try to print any changes. I wonder if this also has a PDF plugin for Firefox.
