How to fill PDF form in Django/Python?

Question

I'm trying to fill pre-made pdf form with database data and flatten it. For example, if the user inputs a field called "name", it should be placed in the name field of the pdf form.

Answer 1

You can use reportlab library in combination with Django views :

from io import BytesIO
from reportlab.pdfgen import canvas
from django.http import HttpResponse

def some_view(request):
    # Create the HttpResponse object with the appropriate PDF headers.
    response = HttpResponse(content_type='application/pdf')
    response['Content-Disposition'] = 'attachment; filename="somefilename.pdf"'

    buffer = BytesIO()

    # Create the PDF object, using the BytesIO object as its "file."
    p = canvas.Canvas(buffer)

    # Draw things on the PDF. Here's where the PDF generation happens.
    # See the ReportLab documentation for the full list of functionality.
    p.drawString(100, 100, "Hello world.")

    # Close the PDF object cleanly.
    p.showPage()
    p.save()

    # Get the value of the BytesIO buffer and write it to the response.
    pdf = buffer.getvalue()
    buffer.close()
    response.write(pdf)
    return response

Django documentation : https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.9/howto/outputting-pdf/

Reportlab documentation : http://www.reportlab.com/documentation/