I recently downloaded Form 1040-ES from the IRS site.[1]

This is a fill-in form. I can fill in the appropriate fields (pages
9 or 11). However, as I move from one field to the next, I can no
longer see the previous entry. If I click on a field, I can see that
my entry is there, but viewing one field at a time is less than
useful. More disturbingly, when I print the form, none of the entered information shows up. This makes the idea of a fill-in form less
than useful.

If I edit the form in my browser, the fill-in fields have a light
blue background, which I've come to expect from an IRS form. Also,
I can simultaneously see everything that I've entered. However,
saving the edited form and opening it in evince puts me back in
the situation where a field's contents can only be seen after
clicking on it.

When I get to doing my taxes, I won't be filling out the entire
form at once. I'll be doing it (multiple forms, actually) one bit
at a time, reviewing and cross-checking, printing, and doing another
QA check. So, doing this in my browser is right out.

I've tried this on versions 3.18.2 and 3.28.4 of evince. Does anybody
have any knowledge of why this would no longer work? Any word if
the gnome folks are aware of this problem, or if the IRS is? I really
don't want to go back to filling in these forms with pen, and
restarting every time I transpose two digits or put an entry into the
wrong line.

Thanks.

[1] <https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf>
--
Michael F. Stemper
I feel more like I do now than I did when I came in.

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Michael F. Stemper wrote:

However, saving the edited form and opening it in evince puts me back
in the situation where a field's contents can only be seen after
clicking on it.

I only know what I read about this, not from personal experience.

My understanding is that the problem is XFA forms (which KDE's Okular
alerts for IRS 1040) and that one solution is to use PDF Master Editor
which is available as a .deb for Ub and others.

https://code-industry.net/free-pdf-editor/

Requirements: Qt 5.95 or later:
master-pdf-editor-5.8.20-qt5.x86_64.tar.gz

Debian 8 - 11 / Ubuntu 14.x - 21.x: master-pdf-editor-5.8.20-qt5_included.x86_64.deb

Debian 9 - 11 / Ubuntu 18.x - 21.x:
master-pdf-editor-5.8.20-qt5.x86_64.deb

openSUSE 15.x / CentOS/RedHat 7x -8.x: master-pdf-editor-5.8.20-qt5.x86_64.rpm

--
Mike Easter

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I never had problems with KDE Okular


--
The hungry rabbit jumps

"Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> Wrote in message:r

I recently downloaded Form 1040-ES from the IRS site.[1]This is a fill-in form. I can fill in the

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On 20/12/2021 10.47, Mike Easter wrote:

Michael F. Stemper wrote:

However, saving the edited form and opening it in evince puts me back
in the situation where a field's contents can only be seen after
clicking on it.

I only know what I read about this, not from personal experience.

My understanding is that the problem is XFA forms (which KDE's Okular
alerts for IRS 1040) and that one solution is to use PDF Master Editor
which is available as a .deb for Ub and others.

https://code-industry.net/free-pdf-editor/

Well, I can see entries in fields other than the active field. I can
save, exit, and reopen, and the entries are still there. I can print
and the entries show up on paper.

Thanks.

Three rants, none of which are directed at you:

1. The UI sure is cluttered compared to evince. I guess that's because
this is an all-singing, all-dancing program rather than bare-bones.

2. It would have been nice if their web page included the real name of
the program. I managed to find it in /usr/bin, but having to look
shouldn't have been necessary.

3. A failing that it shares with evince is that you can't just do a
"Save" (which would automatically over-write the file you loaded), but
have to do "Save As", which then warns you that you're about to over-
write the original document, which you have to acknowledge. Libre
Office, Open Office before it, and I believe MS Office, all support
"Save". I sure wish programs to manipulate PDFs would move forward
into the 1990s.


--
Michael F. Stemper
Deuteronomy 24:17

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Michael F. Stemper wrote:

3. A failing that it shares with evince is that you can't just do a
"Save" (which would automatically over-write the file you loaded),
but have to do "Save As", which then warns you that you're about to
over- write the original document, which you have to acknowledge.
Libre Office, Open Office before it, and I believe MS Office, all
support "Save". I sure wish programs to manipulate PDFs would move
forward into the 1990s.

Apparently there is a free and pay v. of Master. There is also an
online manual which has a discussion of handling .pdf form fields of the
types interactive and non-interactive.

PDF files can include two kinds of forms: interactive and
non-interactive. Interactive form is a PDF form with fields, which
can be filled without any additional functions. Non-interactive form
is just a file with text and lines to write your data over them.
Master PDF Editor allows to fill non-interactive forms with Insert
Text tool.

https://code-industry.net/masterpdfeditor-help/

I didn't see a page which described differences between free and paid,
just calling it 'full version' and giving different license prices by
number, 1-9 being $70.

Aha. I see the diff.

Before purchasing the application, you can download its demo version
from our site. The demo allows you to test all the possibilities the
software provides and see if it fits your requirements. Demo version
has no functional limitations except for a watermark on output file.

--
Mike Easter

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On 22/12/2021 11.36, Mike Easter wrote:

https://code-industry.net/masterpdfeditor-help/

I didn't see a page which described differences between free and paid,
just calling it 'full version' and giving different license prices by
number, 1-9 being $70.

Aha.  I see the diff.

Before purchasing the application, you can download its demo version
from our site. The demo allows you to test all the possibilities the
software provides and see if it fits your requirements. Demo version
has no functional limitations except for a watermark on output file.

Y'know, I saw that on the relevant web page, but when I test-printed a filled-in version of 1040-ES, no watermark showed up. For which I was
very glad.

I think that maybe there's a free version, a paid version, and a demo of
the paid version.

--
Michael F. Stemper
Exodus 22:21

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On 22/12/2021 08.28, Michael F. Stemper wrote:

On 20/12/2021 10.47, Mike Easter wrote:

Michael F. Stemper wrote:

However, saving the edited form and opening it in evince puts me back
in the situation where a field's contents can only be seen after
clicking on it.

I only know what I read about this, not from personal experience.

My understanding is that the problem is XFA forms (which KDE's Okular
alerts for IRS 1040) and that one solution is to use PDF Master Editor
which is available as a .deb for Ub and others.

https://code-industry.net/free-pdf-editor/

Well, I can see entries in fields other than the active field. I can
save, exit, and reopen, and the entries are still there. I can print
and the entries show up on paper.

Thanks.

When I get a program off of a website like this, instead of through apt,
how are updates handled? Do I need to periodically go back to the same
site (assuming that I remember) and check for updates? Or does the
download somehow inform my apt?

--
Michael F. Stemper
Nostalgia just ain't what it used to be.

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Michael F. Stemper wrote:

When I get a program off of a website like this, instead of through apt,
how are updates handled? Do I need to periodically go back to the same
site (assuming that I remember) and check for updates? Or does the
download somehow inform my apt?

That depends on the app; most likely it will NOT phone home by default,
because many users don't like that, considering it to be an invasion of
their privacy.

I see from the online docs that the preference settings have an item
named 'Updates' in the L pane which might be configurable to your taste.

I generally use apps that are installed from my repo/s or from a .ppa
repo which handles the update process via the update manager.

https://code-industry.net/masterpdfeditor-help/masterpdfeditor-settings/
Master PDF Editor Preferences. -- In order to open settings Master PDF Editor, choose Tools -> Settings in Main menu.

--
Mike Easter

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On 09/01/2022 10.06, Mike Easter wrote:

Michael F. Stemper wrote:

When I get a program off of a website like this, instead of through apt,
how are updates handled? Do I need to periodically go back to the same
site (assuming that I remember) and check for updates? Or does the
download somehow inform my apt?

That depends on the app; most likely it will NOT phone home by default, because many users don't like that, considering it to be an invasion of
their privacy.

I see from the online docs that the preference settings have an item
named 'Updates' in the L pane which might be configurable to your taste.

I generally use apps that are installed from my repo/s or from a .ppa
repo which handles the update process via the update manager.

https://code-industry.net/masterpdfeditor-help/masterpdfeditor-settings/
 Master PDF Editor Preferences. -- In order to open settings Master PDF Editor, choose Tools -> Settings in Main menu.

I called it up to find the settings, and it immediately told me that
there was an update available and asked if I wanted to install it.

Life is good. Thanks again.

--
Michael F. Stemper
Life's too important to take seriously.

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