If you have a blank form can't you scan it or take it to Office Max and have copies made? I often scan a form if I only have one. Stupid me, I always need two, one for practice. LOL

If I understand your problem, you can't really just copy the existing forms, because you use the typewriter to fill them out. Is that right?

Typewriters are actually becoming somewhat scarce. They haven't been made in the US in years and there probably aren't many places left that repair them either. They still have a few specialty applications, so it's tough on people who have a need.

If you want to stick with the typewriter, you could try looking (or posting) on Craigslist and freecycle.

If you want to go with a computerized solution, I think your best bet would be to try to get it into a PDF (by scanning, etc) and save it as a PDF form. You may need some kind of PDF editing program. Adobe is the original, but there are less expensive ones, also. I had one that basically became a plug in for Word that would allow me to do things like this.

If you have a PDF form, you can just fill it in and print it, which sounds like what you want to do.

There is an excellent free solution to your problem - or an even more sophisticated one from the same supplier if you choose to pay. The free version has always done everything that I have ever needed.

PDF-XChange Viewer is the programme that I use. Hover over this title where it is displayed over the lake and rocks picture and click Download.

When you run the programme one of the options is "Typewriter" so you will have no problems finding what you need!

Of course you will have to scan the documents into your computer first but scanners are cheap now and you probably have one already.

If you haven't got a scanner yet then you can test PDF-XChange viewer on any pdf document (manuals or documents) that you have downloaded onto your computer.

Colin

Here is a link that might be useful: PDF-XChange Viewer

Thank you. My problem is not copying the form but typing on it. Some of the keys don't work anymore. I'll check out the PDF-XChange viewer. We have a scanner on our fax-printer-copier but have not started the program. Will I be able to type data into the scanned document without changing it after it is in the computer?

If you already have a pdf document on your computer then you can edit it using the typewriter function. If you save the revised document with a new name then the original version will remain unchanged.

You just put the cursor wherever you want and enter your data. The font / text size can be changed and there is a useful undo function if required.

Colin

I fill out forms by scanning them and using my photo editing program to fill in the text.

It is much easier to manipulate texts boxes in a photo or graphics editing program.

You can adust the text box to any space on the screen by just dragging it to the spot - then type.

You cannot move text boxes around like that in word processing programs.

I use an obsolete program - but Paint Shop Pro and PhotoShop Elements are two common ones.

I tried using Paint (you will have this if you have a Windows based computer - look under accesories). You can easily place a text box anywhere on the scanned form - but it isn't quite as easy as my editing program to move around. But if you have it in the right spot initially - that should work great - and it is free.

I've taken scanned letters and straightened them up in the little free PhotoFiltre graphics program. http://free.photofiltre.com/
And added text and printed them out and they look like you had a perfect typed document you printed.

Good ideas for me. Unfortunately the report pages are not PDF files in the computer but sheets to be used in the typewriter. Looks like my best option is to work the scanner and get the docs in the computer and try the free options mentioned first to see how I can enter the data. I found I could fill in the 941 report at the IRS site and print it out, whew, that helps. I have until next quarter to figure out other report forms so I can try these mentioned options. Maybe I won't have to fix the typewriter or buy one, they don't make them like they used to anymore. The shop I use and others we've checked can't get new parts anymore. The new typewriters are cheap and last about 3 months. Thank you so much for ideas, you guys are awesome.

Firstly to explain a little more about scanned documents, and then I will try to explain what I think is causing the confusion!

When most scanners have scanned the document into the computer they usually have the option to save the file as a PDF (Public Document Format).

All of the methods mentioned by the other contributors work perfectly - I use them all. I recommended PDF-XChange Viewer because it is specifically designed for the your job and has some useful refinements e.g. cross-out, underline and highlight marker, etc.

Earlier you said "We have a scanner on our fax-printer-copier but have not started the program."

The confusion is because you and I are talking about different functions of your fax-printer-scanner!

Scanning is when the machine creates an image of your original document inside your computer.

Copying is when the machine prints out a paper page that you can type on.

The software that came with your fax machine could even have a built-in programme for filling out scanned forms (mine does).

Colin

I'm sure I understand the difference between scanning and copying. We have a regular copier which is not what I need to solve my problem. There is a scan program for the HP fax, scanner, printer, copier but we only use it as a printer for our laptops as it has wireless capability. I used the copy function once but it was so slow I decided we really didn't need the scanner anyway (at that time) as I didn't want to take the time to play around with it. A couple of years ago, Office Depot GAVE me a scanner when we bought our laser printer but we didn't have the room to add another machine we really didn't need. I even considered donating it but it was a flatbed scanner which I thought would come in handy if we ever wanted to scan something from a book. Hopefully there is software with one of the scanners that will enable me to fill out the forms as I normally do with the typewriter. That never occurred to me until Colin mentioned it. In the old days when computers promoted faxing someone claimed an easy way to scan documents into your computer was to fax them to the computer but I never needed that either. It's almost ten years and I'm still in the last century, LOL. Hope to have time next week to try out the scanner at last the wireless one. Will post my results.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I loaded the HP scan program onto my desktop, easy as pie and scanned the report pages onto it. Text file didn't work, PDF couldn't be edited until I downloaded the free PDF-XChange Viewer and scanned the pages again as PDF files. I found the typewriter function and it works great. The forms are now saved and ready for next quarter. I am so grateful for all your help. It did take a few hours as I moved the printer where the regular fax sits to test the fax function and it works great also. I love those wireless functions after looking at the cords I would need to hook up, desks, and files to move just to hook up free scanner. I'll save that for another day.

Better get to work now, but thanks again.

What happened? I tried to scan some more forms the same as last time but they just don't show up anywhere in the computer. I've tried with the X-change viewer running and even clicked scan doc through it but nothing comes up. Just the previously scanned forms from last time. I'm thoroughly confused. Was this program for a trial period only, shoudl I remove and re-download? Do I need to buy a PDF creator, editor, etc? Looks like everyone is asking for electronic submission of reports these days. I feel I'm working twice as hard to save someone else some time. Hopefully, this will get better, learning curve can be pretty steep for me, oh well!

Just a quick answer at present.

X-change viewer is permanantly free provided you chose the right version to instal.

You don't need any other programmes to do what you need but, just for info, there is also a freeware PDF Creator that creates pdf documents from scratch.

So don't buy anything!

I would uninstal your original X-change viewer and download the latest free version as there is bound to be an updated version by now. Then you can start over.

Colin

Thank you, Colin. I'll give that another try. I think I downloaded the free version, will make sure to read all the flags before I download this time.

An Update: I was having trouble downloading anything last week they wouldn't show up after download so I gave up. HP keeps sending to much garbage and I think my computer is as confused as I am. Then, after a couple of days and running a correction for IE-7 the program downloads showed up on my desktop. (the scans are still missing) I had tried to download cutePDF and the PDF-Xchange after deleting the first one but they were lost somewhere. The cutePDF easily converts my Word docs to a PDF file and I can edit them with Xchange. That's a real neat program. It looks like it will do everything I will need to do at this time. I really appreciate all the help I get from this forum. Slow learner here. My brain must be on overload as it takes a lot longer these days to make things sink in and then they get lost in there, OMG!

Also, I woke up yesterday thinking, why didn't I call Kinkos? I'm sure they could have scanned all I ever wanted into a CD that I could stick right into my drive.