PDF Form Filler

Automated tool for filling insurance claim forms and other PDF documents. This tool analyzes PDF forms, detects field locations, and fills them with provided data.

Features

• Automatic Field Detection: Uses computer vision to detect form fields in PDFs
• Template Management: Save and reuse field templates for consistent form filling
• Multiple Filling Methods: Choose between image overlay or ReportLab methods
• Google Drive Integration: Store and retrieve forms from Google Drive
• Batch Processing: Fill multiple forms with different data sets
• Command Line Interface: Easy-to-use CLI for all operations

Installation

1. Install system dependencies:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install poppler-utils tesseract-ocr

2. Install Python packages:

cd pdfform
pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Make the CLI executable:

chmod +x pdfform.py

Quick Start

1. Analyze a PDF Form

First, analyze your PDF to detect fields and create a template:

./pdfform.py analyze path/to/form.pdf -o templates/

This creates a template file with detected field coordinates.

2. Edit Template (Optional)

Review and name the detected fields:

./pdfform.py edit-template templates/form_template.json

3. Create Data File

Generate a data template from your form template:

./pdfform.py create-data templates/form_template.json -o data/my_data.json

Edit the JSON file to add your actual data.

4. Fill the Form

Fill the PDF with your data:

./pdfform.py fill path/to/form.pdf templates/form_template.json data/my_data.json -o output/filled_form.pdf

Usage Examples

Quick Fill (Auto-detect fields)

./pdfform.py quick-fill form.pdf data.json --auto-detect

Batch Processing

for data in data/*.json; do
    output="output/$(basename $data .json)_filled.pdf"
    ./pdfform.py fill form.pdf template.json "$data" -o "$output"
done

Google Drive Integration

Upload forms to Google Drive:

./pdfform.py drive upload output/filled_form.pdf --folder "Insurance_Claims"

List forms in Drive:

./pdfform.py drive list --folder "Insurance_Claims"

Download a form:

./pdfform.py drive download FILE_ID output/downloaded_form.pdf

Configuration

Google Drive Credentials

For Google Drive integration, place your service account credentials in one of:

• ~/.config/gcloud/application_default_credentials.json
• ~/google_credentials.json
• config/google_credentials.json

Commands

• analyze - Analyze PDF and extract field coordinates
• fill - Fill PDF using template and data
• quick-fill - Quick fill with optional auto-detection
• create-data - Create data template from form template
• edit-template - Interactively edit field template
• drive upload - Upload PDF to Google Drive
• drive download - Download PDF from Google Drive
• drive list - List PDFs in Google Drive
• setup - Check dependencies and configuration

Workflow for Insurance Claims

1. Initial Setup (one-time per form type):

   ./pdfform.py analyze insurance_claim_form.pdf
   ./pdfform.py edit-template templates/insurance_claim_form_template.json

2. Monthly Claims:

   # Create data file for this month
   cp data/sample_insurance_data.json data/claim_2024_12.json
   # Edit with current month's data
   nano data/claim_2024_12.json
   # Fill the form
   ./pdfform.py fill insurance_claim_form.pdf templates/insurance_claim_form_template.json data/claim_2024_12.json -o output/claim_2024_12_filled.pdf
   # Upload to Drive
   ./pdfform.py drive upload output/claim_2024_12_filled.pdf

Advanced Features

Custom Field Types

The tool supports different field types:

• text: Regular text fields (default)
• checkbox: For checkboxes (places X or checkmark)
• signature: For signature fields

Fine-tuning Detection

Adjust detection parameters in the analyze command:

./pdfform.py analyze form.pdf --dpi 400 --interactive

Higher DPI provides better accuracy but slower processing.

Troubleshooting

• Fields not detected: Try higher DPI or use interactive mode
• Text misaligned: Adjust coordinates in template JSON
• Google Drive errors: Check credentials and permissions
• Missing dependencies: Run ./pdfform.py setup to check

Data Privacy

• All processing is done locally on your machine
• Google Drive integration is optional
• No data is sent to external services