Question

Overlay fields on image of form?

Forms Ideas

Updated January 29, 2020

asked on February 3, 2014

I believe this is a use case scenario for an upgrade request but please let me know if I'm incorrect. We are currently looking at Laserfiche Forms as a potential purchase this year.

Is it possible to import an image of a form (or any image for that matter) and overlay fields on top?

Currently, we take PDF files of forms (W-4, I-9, etc.), save as an image file and import into our existing forms application. We can then overlay the necessary fields so we don't spend unnecessary time on building text and image objects on a blank form; as well all know these federal forms can be overwhelming to try and replicate from scratch.

I understand from reading other Answers posts that field data can be passed to PDF form fields using Workflow, but this doesn't account for the additional information that may be included throughout the form.

Thanks!

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Answer

APPROVED ANSWER

replied on February 3, 2014 • Show version history

This feature is not currently available in Forms. I'll let the team know about this feature request and we'll consider it for a future release. Thanks!

Instead of doing what you're suggesting, it's probably better to capture the user's data in a simplified form you create in Laserfiche Forms and then use the submission data in Workflow to fill out the PDF form. See Sarah's answer to this question.

As for additional information included throughout the form, you should be able to capture this within Forms. Creating a simplified form will almost certainly be faster and easier than trying to do what you're suggesting.

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replied on February 3, 2014

Thanks for the replies guys.

Not sure if you are aware, but some of these forms are very lengthy. I cannot add a field without first explaining what the field does. Creating the fields as well as the text boxes would be an arduous task. Having the ability to import an image as the form background and overlaying the fields would be very convenient and is available in our current forms software. This also gives the end user a sense of filling out the actual form which they are already familiar with. I used the government forms as an example but we have many other forms which we use this capability for.

CSS is possible but we could not empower our departments to create/edit their own forms with this answer. The IT department was able to develop their forms initially and every year, when the new forms are released, they are able to copy the existing form and import the new image/adjust form field positions/add new fields.

Thanks again!

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replied on February 3, 2014

This feature is not currently available in Forms. I'll let the team know about this feature request and we'll consider it for a future release. Thanks!

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replied on February 3, 2014 • Show version history

Creating the ability to import image files would enable us to convert files from existing formats much quicker. Instead of having to create the text boxes/tables/lines and other items, we could save the existing form as an image, import the image and overlay the fields.

Also, if the form ever needs to change, the "non-Laserfiche-Forms" user could edit the form in Microsoft Word/Adobe Pro and forward the file to the person with Forms access to easily update the image file without having to recreate the wheel.

I do this now with some of our forms. Just a thought.

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replied on April 8, 2015

I am a former Alchemy VAR. I have a customer that I use this EXACT application for. I can not convert my Alchemy customers over to Laserfiche because of this. It should not be hard to do. In Alchemy, we scan the form. We take the same print file that would have gone to the printer to print on the form and overlay it on the scanned image. It is a .prn file. There are no fields. In Alchemy, there is a tool called forms designer. You simply manipulate the text data to line up with the form and save the form file. Alchemy creates a pdf file with the data. You can use Quickfields and tokens to collect the metadata to populate the search template. The only piece that is missing in LF that I see is the overlay designer. The acronym for this application is called COLD. Computer Output to Laser Disc

I AM HAPPY TO SUPPLY DEVELOPMENT WITH ANYTHING THEY NEED TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN!

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Replies

replied on November 30, 2018

Boy, wouldn't this be nice! Scan a PDF, place the fields over the form fields, voilà! Please?

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replied on January 29, 2020

Another 2 years, I'm wondering is this functionality planned for laserfiche?

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replied on February 3, 2014

Technically speaking you could overlay fields on an image using Forms, but it would take custom CSS to accomplish. You could set the image of the form as the background image and then using CSS align the fields correctly on the form. To me that seems like a lot of work. Most of the federal forms are already available as a fillable PDF. When the employee meets with your HR person, you could have them readily available on an iPad (or other touch device) and sign the document right then and have it imported into Laserfiche.

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replied on March 5, 2018

Hello,

Since this post is 4 years old I would like to know if this feature has been added in Forms.

Thanks,

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replied on March 5, 2018

Nope, it is still not the available.

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Overlay fields on image of form?

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