Editing PDFs in Kubuntu

[Aykay]

Why is this so hard? I recently moved, so I've been filling out lots of job applications, but downloading a PDF and typing into it is nigh-impossible. Okular flat-out cannot do it, and "PDF-edit" is a confusing, cluttered attempt at doing it (which is hypothetical, because I haven't successfully used it yet.) Currently I'm using Gimp to add text boxes, but there has to be a better way than this, right?

[oshunluvr]

Re: Editing PDFs in Kubuntu

I totally agree - Okular doesn't even do existing "forms" on pdf very well.

Adobe products are so laden with crap they qualify as virus's in my book so that's not an option.

best solution I've come up with is to use PDFtk (pdf tool kit - adds functions to right click for pdf's) to convert each page to a graphic, then set the new image and the background in open office document and margins to 0. Then type over the background and print. Use the highest dpi you can when you convert - at least 300x300 dpi - otherwise printing gets blurry

[claydoh]

Re: Editing PDFs in Kubuntu

I have had some luck using Openoffice and it's pdf import plugin

[kyonides]

Re: Editing PDFs in Kubuntu

Well, the OOo extensions website was displayed in German not in English, for me it isn't a problem but I just wanted to tell you about it in case I'm right...

[claydoh]

Re: Editing PDFs in Kubuntu

Not for me, it is in English in Konqueror and FF....

[claydoh]

Re: Editing PDFs in Kubuntu

Well, I lied, in FF it is definitely German, but you can easily change that at the top of the page

Odd.

[oshunluvr]

Re: Editing PDFs in Kubuntu

I installed the new version of the extension. It imported a 2 page PDF into DRAW rather than word and the fonts were oversized and the image was larger than the page.

I'd give it a 60% success. The added effort to adjust everything would make it OK if you were doing a single page and not often.

I think my method is just as useful, but at least they're trying.

[claydoh]

Re: Editing PDFs in Kubuntu

for me I opened it in Writer, or rather when Writer was open I used it to open my files (tax forms) and i was able to edit the text in text-blocks

They were single page file iirc, but everything looked normal except for the text block areas - they seemed big, but only had single lines of text so editing was pretty simple for me

[The Liquidator]

Re: Editing PDFs in Kubuntu

You might find this handy

https://www.ocrterminal.com

Using this I was able to convert a 20 page pdf (which itself was created by scanning a photocopied document) into editable text. Worked very well.

[Snowhog]

Re: Editing PDFs in Kubuntu

Interesting. But their stated privacy policy leaves much out. They say that the actual contents of the uploaded documents aren't backed up - that they 'regularly' delete these files. But they don't tell you what 'regularly' is. Daily? Monthly? Less frequently? Heck, it could be 'once a year'. That they don't specifically tell you up front what the deletion schedule is bothers me.

[The Liquidator]

Re: Editing PDFs in Kubuntu

From the FAQ

https://www.ocrterminal.com/about-us/faq.cgi

"
How long do my files stay on OCR Terminal?

The only file we store in our system is the last file you uploaded. You can access this from the dashboard by clicking "Take me to the last processed document". This is done in case you are face internet connectivity problems after uploading.

All other files are deleted from our servers on a weekly basis. None of our system admins are allowed access to any uploaded files. You can view our privacy policy here .

https://www.ocrterminal.com/legal/privacy.cgi "

Obviously you need to be careful what you use it for, I wouldn't upload my tax return for example, but on the example I quoted (a bankruptcy checklist which itself was a photocopy of a photocopy) it saved me hours of work.

[Snowhog]

Re: Editing PDFs in Kubuntu

That was the point I intended to make - don't upload personal/sensitive documents.

[askrieger]

Re: Editing PDFs in Kubuntu

Re. sun-pdfimport.oxt:

PDF documents are imported in Draw and Impress to preserve the layout and to allow basic editing. It is the perfect solution for changing dates, numbers or small portions of text.

So it does EXACTLY what it says it does, but no more.

[Aykay]

Re: Editing PDFs in Kubuntu

I signed up for the free trial of the OCRTerminal service, and the .txt and .doc files I downloaded were still clumsily-reformatted to the point of being unusable for my purposes. Ie, Lines of Question : Yes No (boxes) turned into lines of questions in a paragraph without spacing and then several checkboxes. At least they let me try it for free.