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I have created, using hyperref, a set of fillable PDF forms. When I open the PDFs in Adobe Acrobat Reader, the forms work as expected (these are simple no-frills forms without any JavaScript - one of those fill-it-in-and-print-it-out varieties).

However, when I try to include these forms in a larger LaTeX document (where these will be present in the Appendices), using (pdfpages):

\includepdf[pages={-}]{Form1.pdf}

and pdflatex that larger document, I just get the static text fields in the appendix - the fillable part of the form is gone!

I wish to retain the PDF form as is (which I thought was how pdfpages worked). What are my options (if I am not missing something rather simple)?

Is there an alternative to pdfpages here?

user2751530
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  • Unfortunately, I don't think that is how pdfpages works. See the last paragraph before section two. I believe it relies on graphicx, which suggests to me that it is simply (to use an unfair adverb) inserting an "image" in a clever way. – jon Jul 17 '14 at 03:58
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    I think, that pdfpages includes the files as flat, i.e. without any further PDF feature, just like a graphics file. –  Jul 17 '14 at 08:37
  • Any non-pdfpages solution? – user2751530 Jul 17 '14 at 19:44
  • @ChristianHupfer : I think you are right. I just made a quick test, and when embedding with pdfpages a pdf with links, they disappear. I was'nt aware of this lack. – Clément Jul 17 '14 at 20:06
  • @user2751530 : if this form was generated by LaTeX, why could'nt you include its source code in your larger document? Did you consider the standalone package? – Clément Jul 17 '14 at 20:08
  • @Clément: The problem is, that there mustn't not be more than one \begin{Form}...\end{Form} in a document. It is not possible to combine multiple separate forms, unfortunately –  Jul 17 '14 at 20:10
  • @user275130: The only way is to use one giant \begin{Form}...\end{Form} with multiple pages and place your elements there, but this will probably mean to rename the elements ids... (well, I have not done this for a long time now) –  Jul 17 '14 at 20:12
  • @ChristianHupfer I have multiple \begin{Form}...\end{Form} blocks. I know its not "permitted" in hyperref, and since it did not seem to affect me, I was wondering when it might come back to bite me in the ass. I guess this is one example. One question though - why would doing this prevent pdfpages from flattening the document? Or are you referring to the standalone package? – user2751530 Jul 18 '14 at 08:32
  • @user2751530: I did not say that multiple Form environments will prevent flattening. I wrote one giant... environment, which is logically sectioned into multiple 'pages', either for print or for for screen usage. In this case, all field elements should work anyway and they are not flattened at all. –  Jul 18 '14 at 12:19
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    @user31729 Some workarounds are mentioned at https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/194958/includepdf-combined-pdf-highlights-missing – Andrestand Apr 05 '19 at 10:25

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