Dsblank: Created page with "{{Third-party addon}} {{man label|PDF Forms}} lets you turn genealogy data collection into a paper (or PDF) workflow: generate a blank, fillable PDF — a historical census fo..."

2026-07-11T15:38:45Z

Created page with "{{Third-party addon}} {{man label|PDF Forms}} lets you turn genealogy data collection into a paper (or PDF) workflow: generate a blank, fillable PDF — a historical census fo..."

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{{Third-party addon}}
{{man label|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 {{man menu|File -> Import}}. It adds one {{man menu|Tools -> Utilities}} tool, {{man label|Generate PDF Forms}}, and one importer that recognizes any PDF the tool produced.

{{man note|Both directions only work with Gramps-generated PDFs|The importer looks for a hidden marker field that {{man label|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 {{man menu|Tools -> Utilities -> Generate PDF Forms}}. Choose one of two form types at the top of the dialog:

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

Pick an {{man label|Output file:}} location (a sensible default filename is suggested automatically), optionally leave {{man label|Open PDF after generating}} checked, and click {{man button|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 {{man menu|File -> Import}} and select the completed <code>.pdf</code> 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 2''n'' and 2''n''+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 {{man label|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 {{man label|Given Surname}} or {{man label|Surname, Given}} order, or an existing Gramps ID in brackets (e.g. <code>[I0023]</code>) to link to that person instead of creating a new one. Date fields accept the full range of Gramps date formats (exact, <code>abt</code>, <code>bef</code>, <code>aft</code>, <code>bet ... and ...</code>, etc.) — the same as typing a date directly into Gramps.

== Bundled forms ==
The {{man label|Form:}} dropdown is populated from form definitions provided by the [[Form Gramplet]] addon (see [[#Prerequisites|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 ==
* [https://pypi.org/project/reportlab/ reportlab] Python module — required by the {{man label|Generate PDF Forms}} tool, to draw the PDF.
* [https://pypi.org/project/pypdf/ 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 {{man label|Generate PDF Forms}} and by the importer to reconstruct field names. It is installed automatically as a dependency when you install {{man label|PDF Forms}} through the Addon Manager.

Enable {{checkbox|1}}{{man label|Allow Gramps to install required python modules}} on the Addon Manager's Settings tab so Gramps installs reportlab and pypdf automatically.

== Credits ==
{{man label|PDF Forms}} was built by Doug Blank.

== See also ==
* [[Form Gramplet]] — supplies the census/event form definitions {{man label|PDF Forms}} uses.
* [https://github.com/gramps-project/addons-source/tree/maintenance/gramps61/PDFForms PDFForms source] on GitHub.

[[Category:Addons]]
[[Category:Plugins]]
[[Category:Tools]]

Addon:PDFForms - Revision history

Dsblank: Created page with "{{Third-party addon}} {{man label|PDF Forms}} lets you turn genealogy data collection into a paper (or PDF) workflow: generate a blank, fillable PDF — a historical census fo..."