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EZ-Forms -
PDF Related FAQ • EZ-Forms Video Tutorials - Online and Downloadable •
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EZ-Forms -
PDF Related FAQ • EZ-Forms Video Tutorials - Online and Downloadable •
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Great News! EZ-Forms can now import .PDF files directly! (Usually created with Adobe Acrobat, PDF995, pdfFactory, primoPDF and others.)
With the release of version 4.50-2002G+ of EZ-Forms ULTRA, EZ-Forms PRO and EZ-Forms Express, and PDFtyper, EZ-Forms can use .PDF files via the "File-Import" PDF command. If you have a registered edition of EZ-Forms..., visit our upgrade page for a your options and a quicker response.
Importing PDFs (optional) Thank you for choosing EZ-Forms. EZ-Forms requires the proper installation of a program called GhostScript on your system in order to be able to import/convert most .PDF files created by Adobe Acrobat Distiller, pdfFactory, and others. When installing EZ-Forms (Designers - PDF Typer, Silver PRO or Gold ULTRA) you may be directed to install GhostScript (free GNU user license) separately in order to have PDF import capability. EZ-Forms uses GhostScript to convert .PDFs to a graphical format the will be automatically imported into EZ-Forms right after the conversion process. FYI, .PDF files are usually created with Adobe Acrobat, pdf995, pdfFactory, primoPDF, and other programs. Millions of .PDF files are also available for free download on the internet. The direct GNU v8.15 download links are: (1) DOWNLOAD GHOSTSCRIPT - Preferred and direct from source. (2) DOWNLOAD GHOSTSCRIPT - Good link, but sometimes busy. (3) DOWNLOAD GHOSTSCRIPT - Last choice - usually busy. After download, navigate to your download folder with Windows Explorer. Then double click on the downloaded file. The installation will begin automatically. When installing, make sure you allow GhostScript to automatically install with all the presented defaults. Otherwise, EZ-Forms may not be able to find it, and you will have to locate it for the program. To use, start EZ-Forms then click on File-Import PDF. You will be asked for the source PDF file. Navigate to it and click OK. The conversion process will begin by launching GhostScript with the appropriate commands. This will open a new Window with GhostScript in the title. You must let the window close by itself. It could take quite a while depending on the size of the input PDF file, as well as the color depth and resolution selected. Closing the window earlier may provide strange results. Click on the EZ-Forms "wait for GS to finish" dialog to proceed. Once the conversion is complete, you will presented with a new form properties dialog. Adjust as necessary. Once completed you will see your PDF in an EZ-Forms form of the same number of pages as the input file. Type text and/or add fields as necessary. Then save to a name of your choice. If you want to change the color depth or resolution, click on File-Setup PDF Import. We recommend that you use no lower than 120dpi resolution. The higher the resolution and/or color depth, the larger the file size created and the longer it will take to convert. FYI: We have found a way to use GhostScript (GS) to convert PDFs to graphic images and embed them into new EZ-Forms forms on-the-fly. GS is a freeware program available under the GNU license. For more information on GS, click here. Note1: Most .PDFs can be imported by the method/process described above. However, certain PDFs may be encrypted, corrupted, require special fonts, etc. These may convert/import partially, not at all, or look strange when displayed or printed. Check back to the original source of the .PDF file if you are having problems. You can also check the following link for alternate import procedures. Note2: Some imported PDFs may not print, even if they are viewable on screen. If you are using EZ-Forms Silver/Gold, then right-click on the background image and make sure the Printable attribute is checked. Otherwise, the image(s) may be too complex for your computer/printer combination. (In EZ-Forms PDF Typer, the background image is always set to printable.) Try selecting a lower resolution PDF import conversion. You can set the resolution level by going to your !EZ-Forms Goodies folder and clicking on the appropriate icon. Also, your imported image may contain fonts that are not available on your computer/printer. In this case you will have to acquire the font, install it and consult with your printer manual/manufacturer for proper operation.
How do I create a document from my favorite application for use in EZ-Forms? 1. Print your document to a
PDF file. If you do not already have a PDF creator, you can download
PDFmaker. This
program installs as a printer driver and can save almost any printable output
in the PDF format. 2. Import the PDF file into EZ-Forms (PDFtyper). 3. Create fill-out fields as required.
How do I create ("write") .PDF files with the results of EZ-Forms, so that others may view them? The short answer is to download PrintToPDF. This program installs as a printer driver and can save almost any printable output in the .PDF format. So, If you would like to create non-fill-able PDF files with the results of EZ-Forms, download and install PrintToPDF - Click here. Please note that this free product is not produced or supported by EZX/EZ-Forms. We provide this link as a convenience to you. PrintToPDF may use elements of GhostScript, as does the .PDF to EZ-Forms Conversion. Files created with PrintToPDF are static and not fill-able. You can send the .PDF as an email attachment, or post it to a web site. Anyone receiving a .PDF file, will of course, have to have Acrobat or something similar on their system.
How do I Find the .PDF Form(s) and documents I want? Note: .PDF files are created by Adobe Acrobat, GhostScript, pdfFactory, pdf995, primoPDF and others. There are literally millions of .PDF files available for free download via the web (a.k.a. internet). The methods described below will help you import most of them into EZ-Forms Bronze TYPER, Silver PRO or Gold ULTRA. But where to find them? We recommend that you visit www.dogpile.com. Do not let the name offend you. We found that despite its name, this "meta search engine" gives some very interesting and useful results since it scans many other search engines. The best thing to do is to enter what you are
looking for in the search box. Once you've got the .PDF file you want, you can proceed to import it into EZ-Forms fill it out, save it, etc.
The PDF files I import into EZ-Forms have small color pictures. They are being converted to black and white during import. Colored text and colored images manually import just fine. The default color depth setting within EZ-Forms is for 2-color (black and white) PDF import. This was done to minimize import time and files size. (The default resolution is 600 dpi - dots per inch.) However it is very easy to set the PDF import parameters to your liking. With EZ-Forms running, click on File-Configure PDF Import. Select the color depth and resolution you desire. Note that more color and more dpi can increase file size dramatically
I'm
having trouble with the direct import of PDFs and/or other images into EZ-Forms. Are there
other solutions? Most .PDFs can be imported by the standard method built into EZ-Forms. However, certain PDFs may be encrypted, corrupted, require special fonts, etc. These may convert/import partially, not at all, or look strange when displayed or printed. Check back to the original source of the .PDF file if you are having problems. Certain operating systems and combinations of software sometimes cause unexpected results. There is a work-around if your system exhibits this "no-import" behavior. We are as perplexed by this behavior as you are since we cannot reproduce the problem on the various machines we have tried here. So we have come up with a list of the usual suspects. (pi) 1. The first
thing to try is: 2. The next
thing to try is: If the above options fail, the alternative is ... Take your .PDF file, convert
it to a Once you have your graphic
images, (1 per page) then ...
This answer is usually not practical, however the next answer is usually the best choice.
The EZ-PDF2PNG answer: almost automatic If you do not already have it, download: EZ-PDF2PNG (click to download) We recommend that you download by clicking on the link above. Install by running the downloaded file from folder to which it was saved. Note that there are actually 2 embedded installs that will proceed automatically, once started. The first is EZ-PDF2PNG, the second is called GhostScript. Accept all defaults during the installs. EZ-PDF2PNG calls an external program called GhostScript in order to export the pages of a .PDF file into individual graphic image files. Note that these programs are freeware, therefore EZX/EZ-Forms does not warranty or provide support for same. To use, simply double click on the EZ-PDF2PNG icon that will be placed on your desktop and follow the notices and prompts. You will be asked for the name and location of the input .PDF file. Browse to the location and select. It is very important to let GhostScript finish its conversion. While it may seem to just sit there (unless you get an error message), it really is working and will close on its own. When finished, one file for each page of your .PDF document will be placed into the same folder as the original .PDF file. These image files will have the .PNG extension and have resolution of 600dpi, monochrome. The files
names will look like: Once you have the .PDF file converted to a series of .PNG images, run EZ-Forms Gold ULTRA, Silver PRO, or PDF TYPER designer edition. The Filler or Viewer editions will not work for this procedure. Create a new master form (.FRM) file (File-New) of the page length, size and orientation desired. Import (Edit-Insert Graphic) one of the images (.PNG) you created above, per page. Position image, insert filler-fields, other objects and attach database (Gold ULTRA only) as desired. If you later need some color, export it as color, but crop the image and import it separately. This will minimize your .FRM file size in EZ-Forms. Another good idea is to store the image external to the .FRM. This minimizes file size and disk usage for often used forms. However, you must remember to move the images to the same folder (subdirectory) that contains the .FRM, .FOF or .FOM file. If you have a Developer's Edition and will be distributing your forms far and wide, it is good idea to keep the graphics embedded in the form (.FRM) file. If you determine that the bitmap image needs cropping, permanent resizing, or other enhancements, there are some image/graphics manipulation programs available at the FreeSOFT web site. IrFanView is our preferred choice. You can also use a variation this method to import almost any printable document. The trick is to print to a virtual PostScript printer. This method is for experts, but basically works like this: 1) Install a Postscript compatible printer driver on your system. 2) When you print your document, select this printer and print to file. 3) The output file can then be used by GhostScript to effect a conversion to .PNG. Note: Most .PDFs can be imported by the method/process described above. However, certain PDFs may be encrypted, corrupted, require special fonts, etc. These may convert/import partially, not at all, or look strange when displayed or printed. Check back to the original source of the .PDF file if you are having problems. Once you have your graphic
images, (1 per page) then ...
We recommend that you stop here unless you are really interested in the inner workings of GhostScript. The next two sections are for experts.
If you do not already have them, download: GhostScript (click to visit download site) and GSView (click to visit download site) We recommend that you download and install them in the above order. This can be done by simply running them from the download folder. Accept all defaults. Note that these freeware programs were not developed by EZX, therefore we cannot provide support for same. Basically the procedure is to use GSView, which calls GhostScript, to export a .PDF file to .PNG (preferred), .JPG or .BMP image files, which can then be imported into EZ-Forms Gold ULTRA/Silver PRO/Bronze TYPER. One image file per EZ-Forms page must be exported, so that it can later be imported into EZ-Forms. The trick is to use GSView to export the PDFs at 600dpi monochrome, one page at a time. Run GSView and select File-Convert. Open the .PDF file you want to convert. Then select "PNG - Portable Network Graphics ...mono" and "600" dpi resolution. Click OK. You will be prompted for a file name. One .PNG file will be generated for each page in the source .PDF file. Feel free to experiment with color, no color, higher or lower dpi (dots per inch), etc. Use what suits you best. We recommend at least 600dpi if you save .PNG files. This give a reasonable per-page size and great resolution. If you use .JPG or .BMP you may have to adjust the dpi resolution to suit. .BMP files can get huge. Use this format as a last resort. Next, create a new master form (.FRM) file (File-New) of page length, size and orientation desired. Import (Edit-Insert Graphic) one of the images (.PNG/.JPG/.BMP) you created above, per page. Position image, insert filler-fields, other objects and attach database as desired. If you later need some color, export it as color, but crop the image and import it separately. This will minimize your .FRM file size in EZ-Forms. Another good idea is to store the image external to the .FRM. This minimizes file size and disk usage for often used forms. However, you must remember to move the images to the same folder (subdirectory) that contains the .FRM file. If you have a Developer's Edition and will be distributing your forms far and wide, it is good idea to keep the graphics embedded in the form (.FRM) file. If you determine that the bitmap image needs cropping, permanent resizing, or other enhancements, there are some image/graphics manipulation programs available at the above FreeSOFT site. IrFanView is our preferred choice. You can also use a variation this method to import almost any printable document. The trick is to print to a virtual PostScript printer. This method is for experts, but basically works like this: 1) Install a Postscript compatible printer driver on your system. 2) When you print your document, select this printer and print to file. 3) The output file can then be used by GSView/GhostScript to effect a conversion to .PNG/.JPG/.BMP. Once you have your graphic image file(s) or ... Once you have the .PDF file converted to a series of .PNG images, run EZ-Forms Gold ULTRA, Silver PRO, or Bronze TYPER designer edition. The Filler or Viewer editions will not work for this procedure. Create a new master form (.FRM) file (File-New) of the page length, size and orientation desired. Import (Edit-Insert Graphic) one of the images (.PNG) you created above, per page. Position image, insert filler-fields, other objects and attach database (Gold ULTRA only) as desired. If you later need some color, export it as color, but crop the image and import it separately. This will minimize your .FRM file size in EZ-Forms. Another good idea is to store the image external to the .FRM. This minimizes file size and disk usage for often used forms. However, you must remember to move the images to the same folder (subdirectory) that contains the .FRM, .FOF or .FOM file. If you have a Developer's Edition and will be distributing your forms far and wide, it is good idea to keep the graphics embedded in the form (.FRM) file. If you determine that the bitmap image needs cropping, permanent resizing, or other enhancements, there are some image/graphics manipulation programs available at the FreeSOFT web site. IrFanView is our preferred choice. You can also use a variation this method to import almost any printable document. The trick is to print to a virtual PostScript printer. This method is for experts, but basically works like this: 1) Install a Postscript compatible printer driver on your system. 2) When you print your document, select this printer and print to file. 3) The output file can then be used by GhostScript to effect a conversion to .PNG. Note: Most .PDFs can be imported by the method/process described above. However, certain PDFs may be encrypted, corrupted, require special fonts, etc. These may convert/import partially, not at all, or look strange when displayed or printed. Check back to the original source of the .PDF file if you are having problems. Once you have your graphic
images, (1 per page) then ...
(This is the way we do it within EZ-Forms via function calls.) If you do not already have it, download: GhostScript (click to visit download site) We recommend that you download and install it by running directly from the folder you downloaded it into. Note that this free program was not developed by EZX, therefore we cannot provide support for same. Use at your own risk. GhostScript is a console (no graphical interface) program that can take .PDF files and output them to various devices. So, what we will do here is put the .PDF file you want to convert in the same folder where your EZ-Forms master form (.FRM) will be located. You can use the following command line examples: [GhostScriptInstalledPath]gswin32
-sDEVICE=pngmono -r600x600 -sOutputFile=[outputfilename].%03d.png -dNOPAUSE
-dBATCH [inputfilename].pdf ... will generate .PNG files at 600dpi. One file for each page of your .PDF document. [outputfilename].001.png, [outputfilename].002.png, [outputfilename].003.png, etc. For more details, see the GhostScript Documentation in a "DOCS" folder in GhostScript's installation folder. Once you have the .PDF file converted to a series of .PNG images, run EZ-Forms Gold ULTRA, Silver PRO, or Bronze TYPER designer edition. The Filler or Viewer editions will not work for this procedure. Create a new master form (.FRM) file (File-New) of the page length, size and orientation desired. Import (Edit-Insert Graphic) one of the images (.PNG) you created above, per page. Position image, insert filler-fields, other objects and attach database (Gold ULTRA only) as desired. If you later need some color, export it as color, but crop the image and import it separately. This will minimize your .FRM file size in EZ-Forms. Another good idea is to store the image external to the .FRM. This minimizes file size and disk usage for often used forms. However, you must remember to move the images to the same folder (subdirectory) that contains the .FRM, .FOF or .FOM file. If you have a Developer's Edition and will be distributing your forms far and wide, it is good idea to keep the graphics embedded in the form (.FRM) file. If you determine that the bitmap image needs cropping, permanent resizing, or other enhancements, there are some image/graphics manipulation programs available at the FreeSOFT web site. IrFanView is our preferred choice. You can also use a variation this method to import almost any printable document. The trick is to print to a virtual PostScript printer. This method is for experts, but basically works like this: 1) Install a Postscript compatible printer driver on your system. 2) When you print your document, select this printer and print to file. 3) The output file can then be used by GhostScript to effect a conversion to .PNG. Note: Most .PDFs can be imported by the method/process described above. However, certain PDFs may be encrypted, corrupted, require special fonts, etc. These may convert/import partially, not at all, or look strange when displayed or printed. Check back to the original source of the .PDF file if you are having problems. Once you have your graphic
images, (1 per page) then ...
Click above link to find out more.
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