How to export or collect PDF form data

Form data comes out of a PDF in PDF by Zaweba through its export command, which saves the field values as XFDF, FDF, XML, CSV or tab-separated text. When you have many filled forms to gather, the app can merge several data files into one CSV, with a row per file, ready to open in a spreadsheet. The app is free and works offline on Windows.

That covers both halves of the job: getting the answers out of a single form, and pulling a stack of replies together.

Which format to choose

Each format suits a different next step. CSV and tab-separated text are for spreadsheets and databases, where every field becomes a column. XML suits other software that reads structured data. XFDF and FDF are the PDF world's own form data formats. They are small files holding the values, and they can be read back into the same form later.

If you just want to see or analyse the answers, CSV is usually the right pick. If you want to keep the answers apart from the blank form, or refill the form another day, XFDF or FDF is better.

Exporting one form

Open the filled form and use the form data export. Pick the format and a place to save. The file you get holds the field names and their values, so the names you gave the fields when the form was made become your column headings. That's one good reason to name fields sensibly in the first place.

Importing works the other way round. Import reads any of these formats (and plain XML) and fills the form in one step. It also tells you which names in the data the form doesn't have, which helps when a form has been revised and a field renamed.

Collecting many replies

Suppose you sent a booking form to thirty people and twenty have come back. Export the data from each returned form, keeping the files together in one folder. Then use Merge data files into a spreadsheet. The app gathers the data files into a single CSV with one row per file, so twenty forms become twenty rows.

From there, sort, filter and total the replies in a spreadsheet of your choice.

Keeping the data tidy

Check field names before you send a form out. Two fields called the same thing hold the same value, which is useful for a name repeated on every page but a problem if they were meant to be different answers. The Form fields panel lists every field once with its page, kind and value, which makes duplicates easy to spot.

Drop-downs and radio buttons give tidier data than free text. A column of Yes and No is easier to count than a column where people typed y, yes, Y and yeah.

Keep the original returned PDFs as well as the CSV. The spreadsheet is the working copy; the PDFs are the record of what each person actually sent.

Other ways to do it

For a one-off, you could simply read each form and type the answers into a spreadsheet, but that is slow and invites mistakes once there are more than a handful. Exporting keeps the values exactly as typed.

If what you need is a final copy rather than the data, flatten the form instead. That draws the answers into the page, so the PDF can be filed or printed as a fixed record.

PDF by Zaweba keeps all of this on your own computer, which matters when the forms carry names, addresses or other personal details.