Addon:PDFForms

This is a Third-party Addon. The Addon/Plugin system is controlled by the Plugin Manager. Please use carefully on data that is backed up, and help make it better by reporting any issues to the bug tracker. Unless otherwise stated on this page, you can download this addon by following these instructions. Please note that some Addons have prerequisites that need to be installed before they can be used.

PDF Forms lets you turn genealogy data collection into a paper (or PDF) workflow: generate a blank, fillable PDF — a historical census form, a vital-record certificate, or an Ahnentafel pedigree chart — send it to a relative or use it yourself, then import the filled-in PDF straight back into your family tree with File -> Import. It adds one Tools -> Utilities tool, Generate PDF Forms, and one importer that recognizes any PDF the tool produced.

Both directions only work with Gramps-generated PDFs The importer looks for a hidden marker field that Generate PDF Forms embeds in every PDF it creates. It cannot read an arbitrary scanned or hand-made PDF — only a blank form generated by this addon and then filled in.

Usage

Generating a blank form

Open Tools -> Utilities -> Generate PDF Forms. Choose one of two form types at the top of the dialog:

• Census / Event Form — pick a specific historical form from the Form: dropdown (see Bundled forms below), and set Rows: for forms with a multi-row household/schedule section (e.g. how many people to leave blank lines for on a census sheet).
• Ahnentafel Pedigree Chart — set Generations: (1–5, covering the subject plus up to 31 ancestors).

Pick an Output file: location (a sensible default filename is suggested automatically), optionally leave Open PDF after generating checked, and click Generate. The resulting PDF has editable, highlighted fields, a one-line instruction printed on the form itself, and the Gramps logo in the header.

Filling it in

The form can be filled in with any PDF viewer that supports form fields (Adobe Acrobat Reader, most browsers' built-in viewers, etc.) — no Gramps installation is needed on the other end. Send it to a relative by email, or fill it in yourself, then save the completed PDF.

Importing the filled-in form

Back in Gramps, use File -> Import and select the completed .pdf file. The importer recognizes the form automatically from the hidden marker field and adds the data as new (or matched, by Gramps ID) people, families, and events. The completed PDF itself is attached as a source media reference on every person and event the import creates, so you can always go back and see exactly what was written on the original form.

Ahnentafel pedigree charts

The pedigree chart uses standard Ahnentafel numbering (subject = 1, father = 2, mother = 3, and so on, with each person's parents at 2n and 2n+1). Not every branch needs to be filled in:

• A filled-in person whose ancestors are all left blank is imported as an unconnected individual — no placeholder ancestors are invented.
• If a known ancestor is separated from person 1 by one or more blank generations, an Unknown placeholder person is inserted at each gap to preserve the correct chain of descent.
• A blank branch with no known ancestors anywhere above it is simply left out, rather than padded with Unknowns.

The spouse field (person 1's partner) only collects a name; it is not part of the Ahnentafel numbering and has no birth/death/place fields.

Census / event forms

Name fields accept either Given Surname or Surname, Given order, or an existing Gramps ID in brackets (e.g. [I0023]) to link to that person instead of creating a new one. Date fields accept the full range of Gramps date formats (exact, abt, bef, aft, bet ... and ..., etc.) — the same as typing a date directly into Gramps.

Bundled forms

The Form: dropdown is populated from form definitions provided by the Form Gramplet addon (see Prerequisites). Bundled definitions include census forms for Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, England and Wales, Poland, and the United States spanning multiple census years each, English birth/marriage/death certificates, and a custom French census template — over 180 forms in total. Which forms appear depends on which form definition files are installed with the Form Gramplet addon.

Prerequisites

• reportlab Python module — required by the Generate PDF Forms tool, to draw the PDF.
• pypdf Python module — required by the importer, to read back the filled-in fields.
• The Form Gramplet addon — supplies the census/event form definitions used by Generate PDF Forms and by the importer to reconstruct field names. It is installed automatically as a dependency when you install PDF Forms through the Addon Manager.

Enable

Allow Gramps to install required python modules on the Addon Manager's Settings tab so Gramps installs reportlab and pypdf automatically.

Credits

PDF Forms was built by Doug Blank.

See also

• Form Gramplet — supplies the census/event form definitions PDF Forms uses.
• PDFForms source on GitHub.