[PLUG] Good PDF Editor

[John Jason Jordan]

On Thu, 26 May 2011 17:50:43 -0700
MJang <mike at linuxexam.com> dijo:

>Related request (I think) -- I'd just like to be able to turn on the
>"Comment and Markup" toolbar in Adobe Reader for Linux, without having
>to beg my editors with the full up Acrobat for help.
>
>Does anyone know how to do that? It makes life a lot easier for
>documentation to be able to mark up a PDF with cross-outs,
>replacements, insertions, etc.

That's what xournal does. That is, xournal can add *to* an existing
PDF, but cannot edit the underlying PDF. You can save it as a new PDF,
however, which then makes your additions part of the new PDF.

There are FOSS tools that claim to be able to actually edit a PDF file
but, frankly, about all they can do is add page numbers or something
simple. If you really need to edit a PDF file you have to bite the
bullet and get Adobe Acrobat - and a Windows or Mac to run it on as,
last I checked, it won't run under WINE. Or be a graduate student at
PSU and use one of the graduate student computer labs. 

And even Acrobat is limited as to how much editing it can do. The
problem is that when a document is exported from the originating
program as a PDF the text is made into chunks of text so line wrapping
no longer works correctly. And some programs export the text as
outlines or the whole pages as bitmaps, where there no longer is any
text at all. Real edits to a PDF file are a PITA. A PDF is the end
product that is not meant to be edited by design. Save the original
document for future editing.