[ale] is there an open source programpermittingcreating/editing of PDF files ?

Thu Jun 4 11:36:19 EDT 2009

Richard,

The woman that printed this out for me, know nothing  :-)

She doesn't even know what file opened the pdf attachment  :-(

She's a winders user who was kind enough to print it for me. She probably 
could've
changed the aspect, but didn't know how and now it's done. I'm just tryin' 
to avoid
a repeat of this.

So, if I understand you, I need to display said files myself and make sure 
they'll
print out with adequate margins before emailing them, as attachments, to 
her.

Thank you for your time,
Appreciatively,

Courtney

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Bronosky" <Richard at Bronosky.com>
To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts - Yes! We run Linux!" <ale at ale.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 10:51 AM
Subject: Re: [ale] is there an open source programpermittingcreating/editing 
of PDF files ?

Oh, that's good info. So it sounds like you have access to source from
which a new PDF could be created. I think that your solution is to get
your aspect ratio corrected in your source document and create a new
PDF. As I detailed, editing will rarely be desirable. Even if you
friend had access to and a lot of experience with the best tools,
you'd be better of recreating the PDF for her.

I'm curious that you said "many of the" instead of "the" (or "all of
the"). What was unique about the pages that got cut off? Images maybe?
What software did you use for your workflow?

On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 8:39 AM, Courtney Thomas
<courtneycthomas at bellsouth.net> wrote:
> Richard,
>
> Thanks for the informed reply.
>
> I recently had printed a book as a favor by a friend [about 400 pages] and
> upon receipt found that many of the pages were 'cut-off' on the right 
> margin
> which was observed by the printer but she was unable to remedy.
>
> So, I was hopeful this could be avoided in the future without buying 
> Adobe's
> software, as this is, at best, an occasional need. If I was commercially
> involved I'd have no problem buying from Adobe, but that's not, nor will 
> be,
> the case.
>
> Appreciatively,
>
> Courtney
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Richard Bronosky" <Richard at Bronosky.com>
> To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts - Yes! We run Linux!" <ale at ale.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 10:47 PM
> Subject: Re: [ale] is there an open source program
> permittingcreating/editing of PDF files ?
>
>
> I regularly edit files with Adobe Illustrator. Acrobat can annotate
> and make minor edits as has been said. Illuistrator is a whole other
> monster. When you edit a file that was NOT saved with the option to
> "preserve editing ability" (which can add 50-300% to the file size)
> nearly every word will be a separate object with absolute positioning.
> Some times every letter will be its own object. It is a freaking mess.
> I do it when I need to extract a good qualty vector logo, or an image
> at its original resolution, or delete parts I don't want to print,
> etc.
>
> So, you've gotten a lot of info in response to your vague create/edit
> description of your need. Can you return the favor by giving the
> group/list more info about your needs?
>
> On 6/3/09, James Sumners <james.sumners at gmail.com> wrote:
>> "There is also specialized software for editing PDF files, though the
>> choices are much more limited and often expensive. Adobe Acrobat
>> Professional is one example of software that allows the user to
>> annotate (highlight, add notes to) already created PDF files. A free
>> one is PDFedit. As of version 0.46, Inkscape also allows PDF editing
>> through an intermediate translation step involving poppler. A freeware
>> desktop program also exists which allows PDF format order forms and
>> applications to be filled in and printed off, even those previously
>> uneditable using Adobe Reader." -- [1]
>>
>> The second sentence is the key. Acrobat allows you _annotate_ already
>> created PDFs. To actually edit the PDF, you need the source materials.
>> To reinforce this point:
>>
>> "Make simple changes to a PDF document without the source file or
>> application
>>
>> Typos, layout issues, and other minor errors can threaten to delay
>> your project. Editing the original file may be too time-consuming, or
>> even impossible if you do not have the appropriate software and source
>> files.
>>
>> With Adobe® Acrobat® 9 software, you can work directly within a PDF
>> document to implement minor changes. Easily add or replace text and
>> make changes to color, word spacing, character spacing, and text size.
>> You can also move or edit objects such as images and tables." -- [2]
>>
>>
>> [1] -- http://tinyurl.com/e2vvx
>> [2] -- http://tinyurl.com/yojbz4
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 1:43 PM, Geoffrey <lists at serioustechnology.com>
>> wrote:
>>> James Sumners wrote:
>>>> Or install the CUPS PDF printer and create PDFs from any application
>>>> that can print.
>>>>
>>>> PDFs aren't really meant to be edited once they are created. There is
>>>> a plugin for OpenOffice Draw that makes it possible, but I doubt it
>>>> works very well. A PDF is meant to be a digital representation of a
>>>> printed document. Can you make unnoticeable edits to printed paper?
>>>
>>> I would doubt that is correct. After all, there is acrobat. Not the
>>> reader, but the pdf editing application sold by the originator of the
>>> pdf format.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> James Sumners
>> http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/
>>
>> "All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
>> pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
>> is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
>> drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."
>>
>> Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
>> CH:D 59
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Ale at ale.org
>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>
>
> --
> Sent from my mobile device
>
> .!# RichardBronosky #!.
>
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-- 
.!# RichardBronosky #!.

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