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How do you edit your pdf files?

by GordonJ
22 replies
Once upon a time, a few computers ago, I had the Adobe Suite. I could edit pdf files with it, but that hard drive has long since been trashed.

So, I'm looking at Adobe ProDC at a 15 dollar a month fee, which seems reasonable.

But for simple changes to pdf files, I'm looking at pdfEscape. Anyone used both?

OR do you have a suggestion for something different? I'm leaning toward the Adobe ProDC, but a little concerned about the learning curve. I just want to change text for the most part and update some old work.

Thanks for any ideas or suggestions you have based on your use.

GordonJ
#edit #files #pdf
  • Profile picture of the author DeadRooster
    If you've lost access to the source files you're in for a lot of work. I've never seen any software that does what you're asking with any decent results.

    My suggestion is to pay someone to retype it into a new source file (or, do it yourself).
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    • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
      Originally Posted by DeadRooster View Post

      If you've lost access to the source files you're in for a lot of work. I've never seen any software that does what you're asking with any decent results.

      My suggestion is to pay someone to retype it into a new source file (or, do it yourself).
      A LOT of work is what I'm trying to avoid. I'm under the impression that Adobe Acrobat Pro would do the job and allow text editing. Am I wrong?

      If no user has an answer, I'll download their 7 day trial, and either cancel or buy it. I was hoping for feedback from people who have found a solution to editing the pdf.

      Thanks,

      GordonJ
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  • Profile picture of the author DeadRooster
    Give it a 7-day trial, try. You've got nothing to lose:

    https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/acro...pdf-files.html
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  • Profile picture of the author SARubin
    Hey GordonJ,

    Don't know if this is what you're looking for. But I've used PDFescape for some basic editing. I've only used their online tool, but they have a downloadable option also.

    https://www.pdfescape.com/windows/

    Worth checking out.

    Edit: I just re-read your post and see where you mention PDFescape. So yes, I've used it before and it works OK
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    Create your orignial in Word or another word processing program and just save it as a PDF. Then, if you ever need to make a change you do that in the original Word file and save as PDF. No expensive software involved other than Word.
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    • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
      Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

      Create your orignial in Word or another word processing program and just save it as a PDF. Then, if you ever need to make a change you do that in the original Word file and save as PDF. No expensive software involved other than Word.
      Yes, most all were created in Word or something similar, but those files, some of which are 20 25 years old, may be on a 3.5" floppy disks.
      adober
      Today, I do almost everying in Open Office. But I don't have the original documents at my finger tips, I have PDF files, and wish to UPDATE them, even those done in 2010, now are dated and need to be revised. Amazing what changes every few years Internet time.

      I have 40 years of work, and most of it was converted to PDF when Adobet first came out, and at one time, the Adobe Suite had an Acrobat editor, which did the job.

      I'll just go ahead and do the 7 day trial and if it works, use it.

      Mostly just swapping out broken links, sites gone bye bye, and changing referrals to people who no longer are around or who have quit what they once did.

      It is about time, I may just have someone convert pdf to word, and have them clean the editing.

      Thanks for the referrals.

      GordonJ
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      • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
        You might try eBay for a used but not obsolete copy of Acrobat editor. There are quite a few of them up for sale right now, many different versions, new and used. Maybe something there would work for you. Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisBa
    I normally keep a word file for editing and convert that to PDF and if I need to I'll just edit the word file and convert it again.
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    • Profile picture of the author Maxima123
      Originally Posted by ChrisBa View Post

      I normally keep a word file for editing and convert that to PDF and if I need to I'll just edit the word file and convert it again.
      Write it helps a lot editing a pdf file take some time and it may cause hurdles so its better to have the word with you always whenever you are going to share the pdf file.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    I was going to say type it up on MS Word, but you said you use Open Office, and that you're not dealing with the source files themselves. The problem with some pdf readers is that when you want to change or edit a PDF, the aftermath formatting sucks and gets lost. But this is why companies offer free trial periods and offer money back guarantees. Pick a program of your desire, and see if it works for you. And if it works to your liking, keep the integrity and dont ask for a refund if you know the software is absolutely phenomenal.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    I have PDF files, and wish to UPDATE them, even those done in 2010
    PDFEscape will work perfectly well for simple editing and updates. The only issue is you have to overlay everything, you can't click to edit text.

    I've used their free version for years and it's always done the trick.

    Brent
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    I use Easy PDF converter which turns any PDF file into an "rtf" (rich text format) file which can be read by Word or Open Office.

    You then have a document that you can edit, save and output it as a new PDF. This would give you the advantage of being able to store you new doc file in a folder so you can edit it again in the future, if needed.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteNameSales
    I have a subscription to Soda PDF Anywhere. Fairly inexpensive and does a lot more than the free software I've dealt with. Like many, has a free trial.
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  • Profile picture of the author warlovemag
    hi bud,
    soda pdf is a great tool, i use it myself for a quite a long time now, you can claim your free trial at
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  • Profile picture of the author laurencewins
    I always start with Word documents. However, if you have a PDF, I have always found it best to convert it to Word, edit it and then convert it to a new PDF.
    I tried Open Office a long time ago but found it wasn't overly compatible with Word and when editing, all sorts of formatting errors would appear and my clients found errors because they used Word. So I prefer Word (even though you pay for it) because it's the most commonly used form of writing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bivhab
    It is a easy process. You do not need to use any software you will get many online support for this. You will get many online converter.
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  • Profile picture of the author DIABL0
    I use to use Open Office, now I just use Google Docs.
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  • Profile picture of the author shepettibone
    For such purposes as ones you've described, I would suggest you PDFfiller https://edit-pdf.pdffiller.com/ It has a paid annual plan in order to get the access to all the features as well, but speaking off simple edit to make, there are some free to use. And you also can get a free trial to test all things out firstly. To me, it's pretty good alternative to Adobe's solution, and cheaper furthermore.
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    • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
      Originally Posted by shepettibone View Post

      For such purposes as ones you've described, I would suggest you PDFfiller https://edit-pdf.pdffiller.com/ It has a paid annual plan in order to get the access to all the features as well, but speaking off simple edit to make, there are some free to use. And you also can get a free trial to test all things out firstly. To me, it's pretty good alternative to Adobe's solution, and cheaper furthermore.
      Y

      I appreciate this.

      I asked about editing PDF files. Not documents. You answered my question, a rare feat these days on Warrior.

      Yea guys, I use Open Office, export to PDF, keep the original, yea, I know I can edit that. In fact, I even offer a course, or did, on how to do it. Been at this game a while now. Back a time ago, I used Adobe, but I just wanted to edit a couple of pdf files as they are.

      So again, THANKS for answering the question asked and not going off on your own little tangent or rant.

      Appreciated.

      GordonJ
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  • Profile picture of the author affmarketer101
    Convert it into Docs, then edit it with Words, then save them again as PDF.
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  • Profile picture of the author SergeFloyd
    I have suggestion for something different for you .

    I am using ZetPDF SDK number of time. It is too easy to develop PDF functionality using this SDK. You can download the SDK from here. (ZetPDF.com - PDF library for .NET, Windows Forms, ASP.NET, Mono, WPF, Silverlight)
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    I don't know if it's still available, but a couple of years ago Adobe was offering free downloads of an older version of Acrobat and other products. I grabbed a copy when my original got fried in a HDD meltdown (along with the license).

    Might still be available...
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