How are you expected to edit PDF files -and what program?

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richard3215
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How are you expected to edit PDF files -and what program?

Post by richard3215 »

I've opened a PDF file which I want to use, but I want to edit the words, paragraphs - change the formatting of text and images etc.

I've OCR'd the document.

I'm expecting to open a PDF document, make changes to it, then save.

Okay, I cannot do this with PDF XChange Viewer.

So, what program do I need to do what I want? Thanks.
richard3215
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Re: How are you expected to edit PDF files -and what program

Post by richard3215 »

I suspect I'd need the Pro version, but wonder if I do, or whether I have a cheaper alternative. Remember, I'm talking about open PDF, edit, save PDF.
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Paul - Tracker Supp
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Re: How are you expected to edit PDF files -and what program

Post by Paul - Tracker Supp »

Hi Richard,

to edit a PDF you need the PDF-XChange Editor https://www.pdf-xchange.com/product/downloads however you have another issue. Assuming you have an image based PDF which is why you ran OCR on it, you may be able to edit the invisible text layered above the images but not the images themselves...

If you want to put the PDF in a zip and post it I can take a look.

hth
Best regards

Paul O'Rorke
Tracker Support North America
http://www.tracker-software.com
richard3215
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Re: How are you expected to edit PDF files -and what program

Post by richard3215 »

I tried to zip, but it only took 1mb off the size.

It's a large download at 53Mb (maybe too large for your liking :c), but here is the non modified file:

http://ee.old.no/library/EE20-colour-en.pdf
richard3215
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Re: How are you expected to edit PDF files -and what program

Post by richard3215 »

Here are 3 pages of the PDF file I want to edit. I think the problem is, you cannot edit the images. I mean, move them around. I think you can edit and move the text around.
Attachments
EE20-colour-en 3 pages.pdf
(518.13 KiB) Downloaded 294 times
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Paul - Tracker Supp
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Re: How are you expected to edit PDF files -and what program

Post by Paul - Tracker Supp »

Hi Richard,

you are absolutely correct. These are images not text. The OCR only places an invisible layer of text over the top of the images. If you want to truly convert this to an editable PDF it would be a lot of work. You would need to OCR, copy to word or use PDF-Tools, then you would have all the text but with potential errors and effectively no formatting and definitely no images. The images could be added using the snapshot tool and copy/paste but it is quite a project you would be taking on.

hth
Best regards

Paul O'Rorke
Tracker Support North America
http://www.tracker-software.com
richard3215
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Re: How are you expected to edit PDF files -and what program

Post by richard3215 »

Why does the program not work like MS Paint, where I can select pixels and move them around?

EDIT: Oh, I see that if I open OpenOffice, I can use the Snapshot Tool to cut and paste images into the OpenOffice document, and I can copy and paste the OCR text using the Edit Content Tool.

A big job on though.
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Tracker Supp-Stefan
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Re: How are you expected to edit PDF files -and what program

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hi Richard,

There's a snapshot tool in our own Viewer and Editor products as well. It's right next to the hand tool in the toolbar and in the main menu in Tools -> Basic Tools -> Snapshot tool.

Regards,
Stefan
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