[PLUG] Good PDF Editor

Tim Wescott tim at wescottdesign.com
Wed Jun 1 15:40:40 UTC 2011


On 06/01/2011 08:27 AM, Tim Wescott wrote:
> On 05/31/2011 10:52 PM, John Jason Jordan wrote:
>> On Tue, 31 May 2011 21:20:18 -0700
>> Tim Wescott<tim at wescottdesign.com>   dijo:
>>
>>> On 05/26/2011 04:53 PM, John Jason Jordan wrote:
>>>> On Thu, 26 May 2011 16:41:47 -0700
>>>> Mark Phillips<mark at phillipsmarketing.biz>    dijo:
>>>>
>>>>> I have found Scribus to be the best. It is not a pdf editor per se,
>>>>> but if you want to add information to a pdf file, you bring the pdf
>>>>> in as an image then insert text fields in the places you want to add
>>>>> text. Can also add graphics, or make drawings, etc. Then export as a
>>>>> pdf and it is all there in one pdf. Works well for filling out
>>>>> forms, signing pdfs, etc. I never could get pdfedit to work for me,
>>>>> and gimp is harder to deal with than Scribus. It is in the Debian
>>>>> repository, so I assume it is in others.
>>>> Scribus is what I used to use until I found xournal. You open the
>>>> PDF in xournal, then you can add text, lines, objects and shading,
>>>> among a few other things. You can save it as an xournal file, or as
>>>> a new PDF. And xournal pays little attention to restrictions in the
>>>> original PDF file. It's just a simple little light applet that works
>>>> perfectly for filling out PDF forms, whether the PDF was created to
>>>> be editable or not.
>>> You add objects as in graphics?  I can't see how to do this.  (xournal
>>> 0.4.5, on Ubuntu 8.04).
>> No, xournal cannot add graphics. You can make your own "graphics" with
>> xournal - shapes, lines, etc. But you cannot import graphics from
>> outside. Xournal is mostly designed for markup. If you have a form to
>> fill out that the creator stupidly did not make as an editable PDF
>> xournal lets you enter text boxes over the blanks. You can also
>> highlight and a few other things. But it can only add its own native
>> objects.
> I can stop looking, then.
>> If I need to add a graphic on top of a PDF I use Scribus. There may be
>> other, simpler tools that will do so, but since I know Scribus it's
>> simpler for the rare times I need to add a graphic to a PDF.
>>
>> And note that neither xournal nor Scribus can actually edit the PDF.
>> All they can do is open the PDF and let you place things on top of the
>> PDF, then resave as a new PDF.
> That part is OK -- I'm electronically replicating the "print it out,
> sign it, scan it in, email it" routine with new contracts.  All I need
> in the end is a facsimile of the original document with my signature
> attached, that I can email to a client.
>
Scribus barfs at my pdf file -- says it's an unacceptable format.

-- 
Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
Voice: 503-631-7815
Cell:  503-349-8432
http://www.wescottdesign.com





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