Thanks for the compliments Leo! I agree this is more of a simple ‘hack’! I call it the TTO - Transparent Terminal Overlay 😊. It had helped me in unusual situations such as when a proprietary PDF had ‘fillability’ issues.
Your solution is ‘designed for purpose’ and sounds wonderful. My best wishes and looking forward to its realisation. Cheers Balaji Sent from my iPhone > On 23 Jul 2024, at 3:45 AM, Leo Butler <leo.but...@umanitoba.ca> wrote: > > Hi Balaji, > > This is an ingenious solution, but wouldn't something like xournal(++) > be easier to use[1]? > > A drawback to either method is that the PDF file that is created no > longer has the form data available for subsequent edits. This is a > serious drawback when one needs to fill in some parts of a PDF form and > then pass it on to a colleague who needs to fill in other parts. > > At the moment, my solution is to use pdftk to generate an FDF file, fill > in the textfields & buttons using some guesswork, and then use pdftk to > generate a new PDF. If I need to insert an image, then I resort to a > using a python library (pymupdf). All of this is done within an org > document, of course. > > It would be really nice to have an org-babel/org-export library that > could parse the FDF file into some structure understood and easily > edited in Org (e.g. an Org document fragment with some special labels, > perhaps) and also be able to generate a new FDF with the edited > structure. > > Best regards, > Leo > > > [1] https://xournalpp.github.io/ > https://xournalpp.github.io/guide/whirlwind-tour/#annotating-pdf-files > > > >> On Fri, Jul 19 2024, Balaji Bikshandi <balaji...@icloud.com> wrote: >> >> Hi Ihor, >> >> Glad you are interested. I have attached the screenshot showing how it >> is possible from within Org-mode! I concur on the need for font sizing >> and zooming the terminal at times. But for the most part I find it >> just works for various types of PDFs. I have filled multi-page >> documents but yes you will have to screenshot the pages separately. >> >> I am sure you will get the idea but please let me know if you require >> clarification. Hope this helps you like it does to me. >> >> x >> >> >> Cheers >> Balaji >> Sent from my iPhone >> >>>> On 18 Jul 2024, at 5:00 PM, Ihor Radchenko <yanta...@posteo.net> wrote: >>> >>> Balaji Bikshandi <balaji...@icloud.com> writes: >>> >>>> I use a transparent terminal over the PDF and then screenshot it! >>>> >>>> This is, as you would expect, an ultralight and ultrafast solution. >>>> >>>> In fact, I use mupdf to open the PDF, then open the venerable SC >>>> spreadsheet calculator in a transparent terminal over it. Once >>>> ‘filled’, I just take a screenshot! Then use Imagemagick to convert >>>> it. >>> >>> Interesting. >>> May you expand a bit on how exactly you do it? >>> >>> In particular, how does Org mode enter the picture? I imagine that you >>> need to align the text layout in the Org file to fit the underlying PDF, >>> but I am not sure if Org is the most suitable program to achieve such >>> alignment. Something like M-x artist-mode might probably be more flexible. >>> >>> -- >>> Ihor Radchenko // yantar92, >>> Org mode contributor, >>> Learn more about Org mode at <https://orgmode.org/>. >>> Support Org development at <https://liberapay.com/org-mode>, >>> or support my work at <https://liberapay.com/yantar92> >> > > -- > --- > Best regards, > Dr Butler
