The form has to has that option creator of the pdf for this function to work.

If you compare how the PDF form works in your stand-alone PDF program (maybe it's Adobe software, or something else), could you explain how it's different in Firefox?

Thank you for your replies.

PDF's are a standard form issued by banks, governments - almost everybody. When asking for information these PDF's often include 'check boxes' that require a 'tick' - even ballot forms require a negative 'cross' to identify who you have selected (rather than a positive 'tick').

I know that in Libre Office - Draw, I can add a character to a 'pdf' in a text box as I have done it and printed the result to prove it.

However trying to find the 'tick' and the 'cross' proves ridiculously complicated for such a common character. Even the 'Apple' logo comes before a 'tick' or a 'cross'.

I mainly use Linux-Mint, but the programmes are very similar to Windows - Scribus can load PDF's, it can provide text boxes etc, but I have not yet found a way to store the 'tick' and 'cross' characters (as I can in Libre Office under 'Insert Special Characters'.

If anyone can help with Scribus or in identifying a suitable programme/App that can easily annotate the standard PDF I would be very grateful.

Many thanks Andrew Winton

Hi Andrew, some forms are built using controls that you just need to click to check or uncheck. It sounds like your example is a plain text box that isn't interactive (just a printed rectangle).

In Firefox, there is a set of annotation tools you could use to position the cursor over the box and type an X to "check" the box. I don't know how you would generate a check mark or other special character, but you might be able to copy/paste it from a LibreOffice document. I have attached an image to give you a rough idea of how you use it:

For more information on the annotation/editing tools in Firefox's PDF viewer, see:

View PDF files using Firefox’s built-in viewer

Please be warned: Firefox doesn't save the changes as you work, you need to use the Save/Download button. If you accidentally close or reload the form, any changes you didn't save to disk will be lost.

Mozilla has a product suggestion site at https://connect.mozilla.org/. Although I suspect that adding symbols to this tool wouldn't be give the highest priority, I think it would be a good idea to post this request there to get into the current feedback stream. Use the "Ideas" section of the site (at https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/idb-p/ideas). (Sometimes new suggestions are merged with a more active suggestion, so you also could search for other PDF editing/annotating threads first.)

Thank you for your continued support. I have previously tried the Firefox PDF option but the 'tick' and 'cross' were not easily available.

As you suggested, I have therefore submitted an 'idea' to Mozilla:

Improve PDF Form Completion in Firefox with Easy Access to Tick and Cross Symbols

Category: Desktop, PDF Viewer Idea: As an end user, one of my key needs is the ability to read, fill out, and save PDF documents in Firefox for future reference. While adding text to PDF forms is straightforward, there's a common feature in many PDF forms that could be greatly improved: checkboxes.

Currently, when completing PDF forms, users often encounter checkboxes that need to be marked with a tick (✔) or cross (✘). However, these symbols are not easily accessible in the Firefox PDF viewer. To enhance usability and streamline form completion, I propose introducing a simple dropdown or toolbar option that includes these commonly used symbols.

Proposed Solution:

   Add a feature to the Firefox PDF viewer that provides quick access to tick (✔, Unicode: U+2714) and cross (✘, Unicode: U+2718) symbols.
   This feature could be implemented as part of the text annotation or form-filling tools, making it intuitive and readily available.
   Include the option to insert these symbols directly into checkboxes or any other relevant areas of a PDF form.

Benefits:

   Significantly improves the user experience for completing PDF forms in Firefox.
   Saves time and effort by eliminating the need to copy and paste these symbols from external sources.
   Encourages users to rely on Firefox as a comprehensive PDF viewer and editor.

This small addition would make a big difference for users like me who frequently fill out and save forms using the Firefox PDF viewer. Thank you for considering this idea, and I hope it aligns with your commitment to creating user-friendly and accessible tools.

Will see what happens.

Unless those pdf forms have the "blue" boxes to check or input the data they are standard forms to print and fax or scan to email to send back. Only program that can "edit" pdf is Acrobat professional a $600 program that will do that AFAIK. Maybe there is are other pdf software that can edit pdf but I highly doubt those will be free to use. Also unless the institution makes the option a "fillable pdf" it's print and fax or scan to email back or snail mail it back.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Mark.

I appreciate the distinction between older, fixed PDF forms and newer, interactive fillable ones. You’re absolutely right that many older PDFs were originally intended to be printed, completed by hand, and returned via fax or post.

However, my focus is on those older PDFs where I simply need to add text or a check-mark to complete the form digitally. I’ve found that tools like LibreOffice Draw allow me to do this by adding text boxes or overlays. For instance, I’ve managed to include tick (✔) and cross (✘) symbols by customising my setup. This enables me to fill out older forms, save them, and send them back without needing to print.

I’m not expecting Firefox to offer full PDF editing capabilities akin to Acrobat Professional. Rather, I’m suggesting a simple enhancement to the existing tools - such as the ability to insert these commonly used symbols directly through a dropdown or similar feature. This would streamline the process for end users like me, who often deal with such forms.

Thank you again for your input, and I hope this helps clarify my suggestion. I think this could be a practical addition to Firefox’s already excellent PDF viewer without over complicating things.

Kind regards Andrew Winton

Here's my experiences with pdf files.

1. Download and print to fax or scan and send by email or snail mail 2. Onsite fill in the data and it creates a pdf forum to submit or print 3. Limited fill-in pdf or has blue boxes to fill in and submit online or print to send back

If your using LibreOffice to do that then you should contact their support about editing pdf files. Also since there is no links to what pdf files your referring to that makes it harder for anyone to see or test what your also referring to as well. Like I mentioned before I have Acrobat Professional that can edit a pdf that doesn't have options to fill in the data points. As to others software to do that - that is up to those devs to support that feature and provide support for using it.