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Automatically convert web forms into PDFs

Written by

Bernardo Palos

in

Automatically converting web forms into PDFs typically involves capturing form inputs and rendering them into a formatted PDF file. This can be achieved using various tools and programming languages. Below is a practical breakdown of how this can be implemented:

1. HTML Form Structure

A basic HTML form collects user input:

html
<form id="userForm">
  <label>Name: <input type="text" name="name" /></label><br/>
  <label>Email: <input type="email" name="email" /></label><br/>
  <label>Message: <textarea name="message"></textarea></label><br/>
  <button type="submit">Generate PDF</button>
</form>

2. JavaScript to Capture Data and Generate PDF

Use JavaScript (with a library like jsPDF or html2pdf.js) to generate the PDF:

Using html2pdf.js:

html
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/html2pdf.js/0.10.1/html2pdf.bundle.min.js"></script>
<script>
  document.getElementById("userForm").addEventListener("submit", function(e) {
    e.preventDefault();
    
    // Capture form data
    const formData = new FormData(e.target);
    let content = '';
    for (let [key, value] of formData.entries()) {
      content += `<p><strong>${key}:</strong> ${value}</p>`;
    }

    // Create a temporary container for PDF content
    const container = document.createElement("div");
    container.innerHTML = content;

    // Generate PDF
    html2pdf().from(container).save("form-data.pdf");
  });
</script>

3. Alternative Backend Method (Node.js + Express + Puppeteer or PDFKit)

You can also process form submissions on the server and generate a PDF with Node.js:

Backend (Node.js + Express + Puppeteer):

javascript
const express = require('express');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');
const app = express();
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true }));

app.post('/generate-pdf', async (req, res) => {
  const { name, email, message } = req.body;
  const html = `
    <html><body>
      <h1>Form Submission</h1>
      <p><strong>Name:</strong> ${name}</p>
      <p><strong>Email:</strong> ${email}</p>
      <p><strong>Message:</strong> ${message}</p>
    </body></html>
  `;

  const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.setContent(html);
  const pdfBuffer = await page.pdf({ format: 'A4' });
  await browser.close();

  res.set({
    'Content-Type': 'application/pdf',
    'Content-Disposition': 'attachment; filename="form-submission.pdf"',
  });
  res.send(pdfBuffer);
});

app.listen(3000, () => console.log('Server running on http://localhost:3000'));

4. Using Google Apps Script for Google Forms

For Google Forms, responses can be automatically turned into PDFs via Google Apps Script:

javascript
function onFormSubmit(e) {
  const formData = e.values;
  const doc = DocumentApp.create('Form Submission PDF');
  const body = doc.getBody();

  body.appendParagraph('Form Submission');
  formData.forEach((value, index) => {
    body.appendParagraph(`Answer ${index + 1}: ${value}`);
  });

  doc.saveAndClose();
  const pdf = DriveApp.getFileById(doc.getId()).getAs('application/pdf');
  
  // Optionally email the PDF
  MailApp.sendEmail({
    to: 'recipient@example.com',
    subject: 'New Form Submission',
    body: 'See attached PDF.',
    attachments: [pdf]
  });
}

5. Conclusion

Automatically converting web forms into PDFs can be done client-side with JavaScript libraries for quick generation, or server-side for more control and security. Integration with tools like Puppeteer or html2pdf.js allows rich formatting, while backend services enable automation and storage options like email or cloud storage.

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