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iTextSharp create PDF from another and add form data

I use ITextSharp to create a PDF with form data based on another PDF.
The problem is the file generated is not editable (the form on it).
If I use ITextSharp in append mode, I get the form editable but most of the form data is not preserved. I want the user to see the resulted PDF with the PDF Form data preserved.
I understand there is NOTHING I can do. The only way for the user to edit the resulted PDF is to use a paid Acrobat version on it. This is because I CHANGE the PDF file by entering form data and setting fonts on it.
Is there something I can do?
Paul

Your question isn't very clear, but here are some answers to similar questions that have been asked before:
End users can't edit a form locally unless the form is "reader-enabled". Making a form reader-enabled is only possible when you use Adobe software: "Adding Enable for commenting Adobe Reader" using Acrobat
You need to fill out reader-enabled forms in append mode if you don't want to break the reader-enabling: Pdf with Acroform editing using iText
This doesn't mean you can't ask people to fill out a PDF form to gather data. See
Edit pdf embedded in the browser and save the pdf directly to server
You can capture that data, and fill out the form without flattening if you want to serve this form (including the data) to the end user: How to fill out a pdf file programmatically?
I'm pretty sure one of these question is a duplicate of what you're asking, but since your question isn't clear, it's hard to mark your question as an exact duplicate of one of them.

Short answer: No
Pdf file are likely to be secure (read only) and this is why everyone is using it. Most of the time, we convert a file into a pdf so maybe if you can get the 'file' and not the pdf will be a good move there.
From my experience in the past, I can confirm with you that iTextSharp may not convert all your data properly and this can make your generated file unusable. If not, you might have some weird line or some changes in the document behavior (ex. fields are not editable anymore).
If you really want to work with pdf file as input and do your stuff with it, you will need to understand the inner structure of it:
[PDF file format]
http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/pdf-file-format-basic-structure/
This can be a hell of a ride. You might need to re-consider the use of a pdf as input. If you can't change that, you might need to use some sort of adobe pluging to do so. Alot of third party pdf library is doing that.
Good luck

Mail merge or merge-like functionality from C#

I need to print a few thousand stickers with a few text fields (name, position, etc) as well as a barcode image.
Each staff member gets two unique stickers, and the sticker paper has 4 per sheet so that's 2 staff per sheet.
I already have all the code to generate the barcode as an Image, and the staff details are stored in a List of object.
If possible, I'd like to avoid using MSWord directly since my development environment is quite different from the target environment and I've had issues in the past from the disparity. (Win7-64, MSOffice2010 vs. WinXP-32, MSOffice2003).
What's the best way to accomplish this?
If I save the document as an XML format and replace the mail merge fields with unique tokens which I can replace with my actual values (and I can even replace the binary image data with base-64 encoded image bytes) then that works but it's clunky. For starters, I'd have to save the XML file and then somehow print it transparent to the user (don't want Word showing up). Also, the XML template is 1 page, but I might have several dozen to print. I can send each page to the printer individually but that's not exactly ideal.
Any other suggestions?

I would use DevXpress XtraReports as I have used it in the past in similar scenarios with great results. If you prefer other engines like Crystal or Telerik is the same, as easy as dragging some fields in the page details section and assign your object list as datasource. DevXpress has also a RichTextBox with builtin mailmerge feature. at last if you decide for word do not forget that you can automate and use it while keeping it invisible so users wont see it.

Generating PDF Report from database in C#, specifically ASP

I need to generate a high quality report based on information in a SQL Server database, and I want very explicit control of the layout and appearance from inside C#.
I have several choices that I know of that are already being used for various other reports at our company:
1) SQL Server's built in Reporting Services
2) Adobe Forms
3) Crystal Reports
This information I need as PDF directly parallels what is already being displayed in the user's web browser as HTML, so creating a print stylesheet and converting the browser body to PDF is an option as well.
So this creates option 4:
4) JavaScript convert HTML to PDF (my preference at this time)
Does anybody have a recommendation as to which approach I should take, or even better an alternative? All the choices seem pretty horrible.

I've used iTextSharp with very good results. It is an open-source .NET port of a java library. It works really well for creating PDFs from scratch. Remember that editing PDFs will always be hacky with any library, because PDF is an output format, not a read-write format.
Provided your HTML is fairly clean (remove javascript postbacks, anchors, ...),the iText HtmlWorker can convert HTML to PDF, if you prefer that route.
HTML to PDF in using iTextSharp:
Document doc = new Document(PageSize.A4);
HTMLWorker parser = new HTMLWorker(doc);
PdfWriter.GetInstance(doc, Response.OutputStream);
Also here.

Use SSRS, it has a built in PDF rendering mode.

I have used two other PDF report libraries with great success; Active Reports and Telerik Reporting. Personally I prefer the latter when it comes to programmatic control of layout and such.

Take a look also at the DevExpress Reporting (non-free 3rd party tool):
Overview
Online Demos
Documentation

Yes, you should use the best tools to get the best solution. The best tool in this case probably is SSRS.
But that's just looking at the capabilities of the tool.
Don't forget to look at your own capabilities!
My story: I know SQL, I know C#. (Both intermediate, I'm not a guru.)
Then I lay my hands on SSRS. And burnt them, once, twice, etc.
At the end, there was a nice result. So burning your fingers is not a wrong thing to do.
But first try to pull your html through an html to pdf converter (demo version) and see if the result it serves your needs.
Currently I'm using both:
SSRS for creating invoices, because amounts have to be transported from one page to the next
Winnovative to generate documents that only need page numbers

I would suggest using .Net ReportViewer control in local mode (no report server required). It works in both webforms and winforms. You create a client-side report (.rdlc) file (which contains all the visuals as well as placement of data fields), link it up to the ReportViewer, and supply the data (DataTable or collection of objects, as long as the fields match, it doesn't matter). In client mode it supports exporting to pdf and excel (and Word too? don't remember). By default these done by a dropdown in the control itself however you can programmatically export to any of the supported formats as well. You'll end up with a byte array you can shove into a file stream.
Basically you get most of the good parts of SSRS without all of that backend complexity. There should be a ReportViewer folder in %programFiles%\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\ReportViewer - but versions exist for 2005 and 2008 as well. Check out http://gotreportviewer.com/

I think the 4th option is the best. In this case you don't need to change either layout of the HTML page or a layout of PDF, if one of them has been changed.
It is also more convenient making a nice design via HTML than programmatically via C# :)
Take a look at WebToPDF.NET which is a .NET component written in C# that converts HTML to PDF. The converter supports HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.0, XHTML 1.1 and CSS 2.1 including page breaks, forms and links. It passes all W3C tests (except BIDI).

You can use Fast Report it's good tool and i has a free version

Quick & Easy PDF Viewer Ideas

This question has been asked several times but my situation is a little different.
I have a web application written in C# where I get a string value passed to this page I'm working on. This string value represents a filename of a PDF file I need to display on this page. I'm supposed to have a left panel where I have some information displayed, and a right panel showing the contents of a PDF file. I'm using a simple table here to separate the panels. All PCs should already have Acrobat Reader installed.
My question is simple. How can I display the contents of the PDF file within this table? I don't need anything fancy. It has to be free and simple enough for a newbie like me to set up. It could even be written in jQuery/AJAX, if there even is a way.
I've looked at a Webbrowser control within an ASP.NET page, but it looks way too complicated for a simple viewer. I looked at Webparts, but I'm not sure if that's doable in a non-Sharepoint environment. Suggestions?

Have you tried the object tag? More ideas are here Make PDF display inline instead of separate Acrobat Reader window

Best way to print Invoices, Pick Tickets etc

Well, heres my scenario.
Client/Server winforms application with SQL Express as the DB. I need to be able to print invoice, packing slips etc..
i would like the customer to be able to modify the invoices. ie. be able to put their logo or change font sizes etc...basically format the display.
Things i have considered so far are.
1) Use a template engine (similar to codesmith or mygeneration) and use templates that output HTML. Then print the html page.
2) Use ReportViewer in local mode. I've heard that users can download a plugin for web dev express and edit the local report files. can anyone confirm this?
3) Use Reportviewer in remote mode.
I don't have much experience with ReportViewer so I'm not sure if i should use local or remote mode as well.
Those of you that have done this kind of thing before whats your recommendation?

After just completing a project with it, I would heartily recommend iTextSharp to create your invoices and other forms as PDFs. In addition to creating PDFs from scratch, you can also use it to fill in PDF forms and/or templates created with Acrobat (or even MS Office/OpenOffice). And it's free.
It's pretty easy to use in Windows apps or in ASP.Net applications. Most of the documentation and the books on it (iText in Action, for example) are about the original Java version, iText. However, there are tutorials and example code on the conversion process and, for the most part, all of the functions and libraries work the same in the .Net version, so adapting the book and reference code has been no problem.
I definitely learned the hard way that HTML and CSS are great for browsers (well, great except for the "every browser interprets it different" problem), but horrible for trying to generate consistent, attractive, and precise printed output and forms.

I'm personally using Aspose Words: they use word documents as templates, and I'm using Words bookmarks function to mark and retrieve the fields I need to fill.
Aspose works nicely with Tables (ie: you can add lines to a table, etc...) and sees Word documents as XML documents. You can then save the document as MSWord or PDF.
I wouldn't say it's the greatest library in the world, but it's definitely worth having a look :)

you can use Crystal Report for this. But first you need to scan the INVOICE and save it as an image,
Next is, on your crystal report, export the image on to it, and DRAG the fields to where they must print on the invoice (IMAGE SERVES AS YOUR GUIDE). Then after everything has been set-up, DELETE THE IMAGE and try it.
hope this helps.