How to create interactive PDFs with LibreOffice | Te... about:reader?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.techrepubli...

techrepublic.com

How to create interactive PDFs with

LibreOffice
Jack Wallen

6-7 minutos

on October 26, 2016, 7:35 AM PDT

How to create interactive PDFs with LibreOffice

If you're looking for the simplest, cheapest route to interactive

PDFs, Jack Wallen walks you through the steps of creating such
documents with LibreOffice.

We may be compensated by vendors who appear on this page

through methods such as affiliate links or sponsored
partnerships. This may influence how and where their products
appear on our site, but vendors cannot pay to influence the
content of our reviews. For more info, visit our Terms of Use
page.

1 of 6 22/10/2022 03:04
How to create interactive PDFs with LibreOffice | Te... about:reader?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.techrepubli...

Ah, the PDF. Portable Document Format. For the last decade,
the PDF has been a critical element in business. Granted, over
the last few years the prevalence of the PDF has been reduced,
thanks to mobile apps and other digital tools. Nevertheless, the
PDF still holds powerful sway over business. Why? It’s easy to
use, easy to create, and can be viewed on nearly every type of
device.

One of the more important, business-centric elements of the

PDF is the ability to create interactive documents. With these
files, users can answer questions, fill in missing information, and
so much more.

Most assume you have to work with a tool specifically designed

to create interactive PDFs (such as Scribus). Or worse, that you
would have to use a command line tool like LyX. You’d be
surprised to find out that neither are required. In fact, thanks to
LibreOffice, interactive PDFs are incredibly easy to create.

Let’s walk through the process of creating an interactive PDF

with LibreOffice 5. For reference, I’ll be using LibreOffice 5.2.2.2
on Elementary OS Loki. These same steps will work on any
platform.

What you can add to PDFs

2 of 6 22/10/2022 03:04
How to create interactive PDFs with LibreOffice | Te... about:reader?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.techrepubli...

It should come as no surprise that you can add numerous

interactive elements to a LibreOffice document. If you click on
Insert | Form Control, you will see the entire list of elements
(Figure A).

Figure A

I’m going to walk you through the process of adding a couple of

these elements and then exporting the document so it can be
distributed to your users.

3 of 6 22/10/2022 03:04
How to create interactive PDFs with LibreOffice | Te... about:reader?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.techrepubli...

Adding an element

Let’s add the elements to a simple document. You will first want
to have your document designed and the necessary images and
text entered, prior to adding the interactive elements. Let’s first
add a text box. Say you need users to enter their name. Click
Insert | Form Control and the cursor will change so that you can
draw the box (Figure B). If the text box doesn’t wind up where
you need it, fear not, you can drag and resize it accordingly.

Figure B

Once you have the text box in place, you’re ready to move on to
the next element. Let’s say you want a group of checkboxes so
the user can select an option. Each checkbox will also contain a
label, so you don’t have to worry about first creating the text for
each. Click Insert | Form Control and the select Check Box.
Once the cursor changes, click on the document and drag it to
draw the element. Double click on the newly drawn check box to
bring up the Properties window and fill out the options as
needed (Figure C).

Figure C

4 of 6 22/10/2022 03:04
How to create interactive PDFs with LibreOffice | Te... about:reader?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.techrepubli...

Once you’ve customized the check box, click the X in the upper
left corner to close out the Properties window. Continue to add
check boxes until you’re satisfied. With all of your check boxes
completed, drag/resize them until they are exactly where you
need them (Figure D).

Figure D

You will also notice, in Insert | Form Control, a number of

elements (such as List Box, Combo Box, and Group Box) that
require the addition of a data source. This data must come from
a LibreOffice created database. I’ll deal with the creation of such
data in a later post.

Exporting your document

When you’ve added the necessary elements to your document,

click File | Export as PDF, accept the defaults, click Export, give
the document a name, select a location to save the document,
and click Save.

Once the document has saved, you have created your first
interactive PDF with LibreOffice. When a user opens the PDF,

5 of 6 22/10/2022 03:04
How to create interactive PDFs with LibreOffice | Te... about:reader?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.techrepubli...

they can enter their data and will be prompted to save before
closing. They can then return the document to you…data intact.

Interactive PDFs made easy

Congratulations, you’ve created your first interactive PDF with

LibreOffice. Until you get involved with combo/list/group boxes,
the process is incredibly easy and should not prevent anyone
from creating much-needed interactive documents.

Also See

• It's time to make LibreOffice and OpenOffice one again

(TechRepublic)

• How to save from LibreOffice directly to Google Drive

(TechRepublic)

• How to install and run Dropbox from a headless Linux server

(TechRepublic)

• How to encrypt a single partition in Linux (TechRepublic)

• Open source

• Software

6 of 6 22/10/2022 03:04