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May 31, 2016
Question

How to open pdf in editable mode in the browser

  • May 31, 2016
  • 4 replies
  • 2822 views

I have downloaded 4 blank pdf templates. I need to open these templates  with the help of drop down select box. For eg. If user selects option 1 then one pdf will be opened and if user selects option 2 then another pdf will be opened in the browser. But the problem is that these pdf must be opened in editable mode so that user can fill some data and then save it. I am facing the problem to open these pdfs in editable mode. I am using jsp and java script. I am not able to implement the code of opening the pdf in editable mode. Please help.

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4 replies

May 31, 2016

Oh sorry sir. yes I mean Adobe Reader(Pdf Viewer) need to be integrated either in jsp or javascript or html of our web project. Is there any solution for that? If so please let us know.

try67
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 31, 2016

You can embed a PDF file in your HTML page, but which actual app will be used to open it is up to the browser.

May 31, 2016

Yes these pdfs contain form fields and they can be edited if I am opening these directly from acrobat but when it is opening on browsers, it can not be edited.

try67
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 31, 2016

That depends on the plugin used to open the file inside the browser window. There's nothing you can do about that, except for instructing the users not to open the file in the browser window, but to save it locally and then open it using Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader, as Max described.

Legend
May 31, 2016

I guess you mean "fillable", and not "editable" (there's quite a difference between these two terms).

Whether a fillable PDF is indeed fillable when viewed in a browser depends strictly on the PDF viewer used to display the document.

The PDF viewing components coming with the common web browsers are too dumb to display fillable fields, and even more so to provide support for the logic behind the fields.

State of the Art is using the Acrobat/Reader browser plug-in. However, fewer and fewer browsers support its architecture.

Suggested workaround: Force download of the file, and open it in a suitable viewer, such as Acrobat/Reader.

Hope this can help.

May 31, 2016

ok sir thank you. I have one more question. Can Adobe be integrated with jsp or javascript or HTML? Please share the code if possible.

try67
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 31, 2016

"Adobe" is a company. Do you mean a PDF file? Or do you mean the application itself (Acrobat/Reader)?

And what do you mean by "integrated", exactly?

try67
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 31, 2016

There's no such thing as an "Editable mode". If the PDF files contain form fields, and the application used to open them supports fillable fields, then the user will be able to edit those fields when the file is opened.