PDF Form Printability Checker: Will the Fields Print?

The rules it applies. ISO 32000-1 (clause 12.5.3, annotation flags) defines how a conforming reader handles annotations when printing: a flag called Print must be set for the annotation to be printed; a Hidden annotation is neither displayed nor printed; NoView keeps it off the screen but, with Print set, still prints it. What is printed is the annotation's normal appearance stream. Content outside the page's printable boundary is clipped, and content in an optional-content layer whose state is off, or whose print state is OFF, is left out.

What each form element gets. The checker looks at every widget annotation and marks it "prints", "may not print fully" or "will not print", with the reason:

• Print flag missing, or Hidden flag set;
• no appearance stream, or an appearance that draws no text although the field has a value;
• a rectangle that lies partly or completely outside the page boundary, or has no size;
• membership in a layer that is off by default or has a print state of OFF;
• widgets that no page lists, which are neither drawn nor printed.

Also reported. The "print only" setting (NoView with Print) is reported as information, because it is a legitimate way to build a form. Document-level scripts that run around printing are named (they are never run here) because they can change what is printed. Other annotation types on the pages, such as stamps and comments without a Print flag, are listed as well, since they belong to the same printout. A per-page table shows how many form elements are expected to print.

Not the same as appearance. This tool asks whether form elements are included in print output. Whether the typed value is drawn on screen is a different question, answered by the PDF Form Appearance Checker.

Read more. The guide Why a filled PDF form looks blank or prints empty covers print flags, appearances and the fixes in plain language.

PDF files with form widgets, up to 80 MB. Password-protected PDFs are refused with a message. XFA forms are noted but not modelled, because a viewer's XFA engine lays them out and prints them.

1. Drop the PDF form onto the box; it is read in your browser.
2. Read the verdict and the counts of form elements that print, may print incompletely or will not print.
3. Go through the list of elements to check; each names the field, the page and the flag or boundary problem.
4. Fix the flags in your form editor (for example set the field to "Visible", not "Visible but does not print"), save, and check again.

• An interactive PDF form prints with empty boxes although the fields look filled on screen
• Fields created as "visible but does not print" that should print
• Checking a form before sending it to a print shop or to many recipients
• Finding fields that stick out past the page edge
• Understanding "print only" fields that appear only on paper

This is a prediction from the file's structure: it reads what the PDF asks for. A print dialog can override it ("Document and Markups" versus "Document", a "print form fields" option, a driver or a PDF printer), and viewers differ. It makes no claim that a printout will be complete or print-ready.

Fonts, colours and the content of the pages themselves are not examined, and scripts in the document are never run. The file is not changed; use a form editor to fix flags.