OK. So I've got a manual from a company that I'm doing some work for. It's a
pdf file, nice quality images. I want to combine a few of the images, to
create composite pages that I can print out tiled across four sheets. I
don't have a problem with the printing. The pdf viewer that I'm using at the
moment, allows for that, and I do it all the time to get printouts of
schematics up to a sensible size.

Where I am having trouble, is finding some software that will do a simple
(erasure) edit of part of a page. A 'for instance', then. One of the pages
shows a layout of one of the boards. I want to print it in the middle of a
4-sheet tile set, with a clear surround on all four sides so that I can
either hand annotate some of the things on it, or add in images from
elsewhere in the document. Trouble is, there's a bloody great header all
across the top of the page, and a footer at the bottom, so I want to either
(preferably) 'delete' these from the page, leaving just the board image, or
alternately, select the board image from the page, in its pdf format, and
drop it elsewhere, still in its full-res pdf format, without going through
any in-between conversions to bitmap or whatever, as happens if you use a
snapshot tool to dump it to the clipboard.

You would have thought it would be easy to find a piece of freeware that
could do a 'select - edit - cut' operation on a page, but I'm buggered if I
can find one. There are loads of packages out there that claim to be pdf
editors with endless features, and they do have, but none seem to have just
simple tools to allow me to do what I want.

I used to have a fully registered version of Acrobat, and I'm sure that
allowed you to do it, but I am no longer able to use it, because when I
upgraded my OS to Win 7, it was no longer compatible, and there was no route
within Adobe, to upgrade an existing installation.

So, does anyone know of a SIMPLE piece of free software, that will
definitely allow me to work on this document 'in situ' and preferably by
just being able to define and select an area and then erase it, or define
and select an area then copy and paste it ?

Arfa

What you probably need is a program that can convert the document to "plain
form". You can edit it, then reconvert to PDF.

Type "pdf converter" in Google. There's a lot of free PDF converters out
there.

If necessary, you can send the edited material to me, and I'll do a PDF
conversion. (Thanks for the warning about W7.)

On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:02:02 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:

So, does anyone know of a SIMPLE piece of free software, that will
definitely allow me to work on this document 'in situ' and preferably by
just being able to define and select an area and then erase it, or define
and select an area then copy and paste it ?

Might try the free PDF-XChange reader from Tracker Software
http://www.tracker-software.com/pdf-xchange-products-comparison-chart

I don't use the free one, myself (been using their "Pro" version for
years) but it may have the ability to overlay existing content with a
rectangle, which can match the page's background color, and then add
comments over top of that, if desired. Then "print" the individual pages
out to PDF format.

Also try the free Foxit reader. I believe that it also has commenting
tools. http://www.foxitsoftware.com/

--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA

On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:02:02 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:

So, does anyone know of a SIMPLE piece of free software, that will
definitely allow me to work on this document 'in situ' and preferably by
just being able to define and select an area and then erase it, or define
and select an area then copy and paste it ?

Free online PDF editor:
http://www.pdfescape.com
Free, but limited to 10MB files and 100 pages. There's also a problem
with security as you have to upload the document to their web site in
order for the editor to work online.

PDFedit:
http://pdfedit.cz/en/
Free, not simple, but should do whatever you might need:
http://pdfedit.cz/en/screenshots.html

The way I usually do it is to import the PDF document into MS Word
(Office 2003), make the necessary changes, and save the document as a
PDF using CutePDF.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/convert-documents-between-pdf-and-word-HA001168333.aspx
http://www.cutepdf.com
http://convertpdftoword.net
This usually reformats the document, but that's fine as I now have
more control over formatting in MS Word than I would in most PDF
editor. It's also easier to modify graphics (i.e. schematics and
diagrams) in an external editor (GIMP) than inside a PDF editor.

If you use LibreOffice (spinoff from Open Office), there is an
extension to Writer (pdfimport) that will import the PDF. However,
it's not a real editor as it imports the PDF into the Draw drawing
program, and not into Writer. You can edit a few lines here and
there, but that's about it. Export as PDF is also built in for saving
the results.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:02:02 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:

I used to have a fully registered version of Acrobat, and I'm sure that
allowed you to do it, but I am no longer able to use it, because when I
upgraded my OS to Win 7, it was no longer compatible, and there was no route
within Adobe, to upgrade an existing installation.

£228 including VAT for an upgrade from Acrobat 8 and below:
http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/acrobat.html

What version of Acrobat?
Acrobat Standard or Pro?
32 or 64 bit Windoze 7?

Looks like Acrobat 9 and later are compatible with Windoze 7.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/Windows-7/en-us/Search.aspx?l=en&type=Software&s=acrobat

I have Acrobat Pro 6 mostly running on Windoze 7 at a customers. I
had to use "run in compatibility mode" to make it work:
Make sure you are installing the program as an administrator.
Right click on the setup file and select properties.
Now click on compatibility tab.
Under compatibility tab, check "Run this program in compatibility
mode".
From the drop down menu select Windows XP.
Run the install.



--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

"Rich Webb" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:02:02 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:

So, does anyone know of a SIMPLE piece of free software, that will
definitely allow me to work on this document 'in situ' and preferably by
just being able to define and select an area and then erase it, or define
and select an area then copy and paste it ?

Might try the free PDF-XChange reader from Tracker Software
http://www.tracker-software.com/pdf-xchange-products-comparison-chart

I don't use the free one, myself (been using their "Pro" version for
years) but it may have the ability to overlay existing content with a
rectangle, which can match the page's background color, and then add
comments over top of that, if desired. Then "print" the individual pages
out to PDF format.

Also try the free Foxit reader. I believe that it also has commenting
tools. http://www.foxitsoftware.com/

--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA

Hi Rich. I have the 'free' version of the Pro PDF-XChange reader, but have
not found anywhere in that one, that allows me to do a simple edit. I also
downloaded Foxit that I was sure would have the feature, but again, not as
far as I can see. It will do everything including scratching your arse for
you, but define - select - cut ? Nope ... :-|

Arfa

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
What you probably need is a program that can convert the document to
"plain
form". You can edit it, then reconvert to PDF.

Type "pdf converter" in Google. There's a lot of free PDF converters out
there.

If necessary, you can send the edited material to me, and I'll do a PDF
conversion. (Thanks for the warning about W7.)



I really did not want to have to mess around converting to other formats and
importing and exporting to other progs etc. There will be quite a lot of
iterations to achieve what I want, if I go the whole hog and add snipped
graphics from elsewhere in the document. There is a lot of good work to come
from these people, and it is worth spending some time to make the
documentation more 'service friendly', but there is a limit to the amount of
time I want to spend doing this ... Thanks for the offer of conversion help.

Arfa

"Jeff Liebermann" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:02:02 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:

So, does anyone know of a SIMPLE piece of free software, that will
definitely allow me to work on this document 'in situ' and preferably by
just being able to define and select an area and then erase it, or define
and select an area then copy and paste it ?

Free online PDF editor:
http://www.pdfescape.com
Free, but limited to 10MB files and 100 pages. There's also a problem
with security as you have to upload the document to their web site in
order for the editor to work online.

PDFedit:
http://pdfedit.cz/en/
Free, not simple, but should do whatever you might need:
http://pdfedit.cz/en/screenshots.html

The way I usually do it is to import the PDF document into MS Word
(Office 2003), make the necessary changes, and save the document as a
PDF using CutePDF.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/convert-documents-between-pdf-and-word-HA001168333.aspx
http://www.cutepdf.com
http://convertpdftoword.net
This usually reformats the document, but that's fine as I now have
more control over formatting in MS Word than I would in most PDF
editor. It's also easier to modify graphics (i.e. schematics and
diagrams) in an external editor (GIMP) than inside a PDF editor.

If you use LibreOffice (spinoff from Open Office), there is an
extension to Writer (pdfimport) that will import the PDF. However,
it's not a real editor as it imports the PDF into the Draw drawing
program, and not into Writer. You can edit a few lines here and
there, but that's about it. Export as PDF is also built in for saving
the results.

--
Jeff Liebermann

Thanks Jeff. I'll look into it.

Arfa

On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 17:35:11 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:



"Rich Webb" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:02:02 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:

So, does anyone know of a SIMPLE piece of free software, that will
definitely allow me to work on this document 'in situ' and preferably by
just being able to define and select an area and then erase it, or define
and select an area then copy and paste it ?

Might try the free PDF-XChange reader from Tracker Software
http://www.tracker-software.com/pdf-xchange-products-comparison-chart

I don't use the free one, myself (been using their "Pro" version for
years) but it may have the ability to overlay existing content with a
rectangle, which can match the page's background color, and then add
comments over top of that, if desired. Then "print" the individual pages
out to PDF format.

Also try the free Foxit reader. I believe that it also has commenting
tools. http://www.foxitsoftware.com/

--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA

Hi Rich. I have the 'free' version of the Pro PDF-XChange reader, but have
not found anywhere in that one, that allows me to do a simple edit. I also
downloaded Foxit that I was sure would have the feature, but again, not as
far as I can see. It will do everything including scratching your arse for
you, but define - select - cut ? Nope ... :-|

You don't actually edit the existing text so much as stick a comment box
over it so that the area to be "erased" is still there (under the box)
but no longer visible. Print that page to a new PDF and voilà!

--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA

On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 09:12:22 -0800, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

PDFedit:
http://pdfedit.cz/en/

Sorry, bad URL. Try:
http://pdfedit.cz/en/index.html

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

En el artículo , Arfa Daily
escribió:

I used to have a fully registered version of Acrobat, and I'm sure that
allowed you to do it, but I am no longer able to use it, because when I
upgraded my OS to Win 7, it was no longer compatible, and there was no route
within Adobe, to upgrade an existing installation.

So run your existing version of Acrobat on an XP virtual machine within
Win7. It's called XP Compatability Mode or something like that.

--
(\_/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

"Mike Tomlinson" wrote in message
...
En el artículo , Arfa Daily
escribió:

I used to have a fully registered version of Acrobat, and I'm sure that
allowed you to do it, but I am no longer able to use it, because when I
upgraded my OS to Win 7, it was no longer compatible, and there was no
route
within Adobe, to upgrade an existing installation.

So run your existing version of Acrobat on an XP virtual machine within
Win7. It's called XP Compatability Mode or something like that.

--
(\_/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

I actually don't have it any more. It was a fully registered version on a
machine that I bought from an outfit that I did work for, when they packed
it all in. The machine was a properly registered XP Pro one, and all updates
to the Acrobat and OS were done on a regular basis. Then the machine was
'upgraded' to Win 7, and when I came to reinstall the Acrobat, it wouldn't
have any of it. I'm sure I tried to install it under a compatibility mode as
well, but it was having none of it. When I went to the Adobe site, expecting
to be able to download some patch-pack, as it was a registered version, I
discovered that there was no route to upgrading - only buying a new version,
as Jeff has said. I didn't use the creation side of things enough to justify
the expense, so I ended up just letting it go, and downloading the free
Reader 9. The original drive that both the built application, and the
original installation files was on, has since failed, and I don't think that
I now have it anywhere else.

I've actually now managed to do the basic thing that I wanted. I ended up
very carefully zooming the image (that was hard to do precisely, as the zoom
bar wanted to 'snap' in 25% increments and didn't allow actual values to be
typed in) until the bits that I didn't want were off the top and bottom of
the screen, and the bit that I did want was centred. I then did a "print"
and then "current view". Finally, I used the "Tile large sheets" option with
the 'composite view' selected, and then used the print zoom to find the
point where it just jumped up to two pages, and left an even border around
the edge.

When it was printed off and joined, I made my notes by hand, with a
draftsman's fine tip pen, which is good enough for this job. Some jobs are
just too difficult, frustrating and time consuming to do on a computer, and
this, I think, is one of them. Whilst cutting and pasting and manipulating
and juggling images onto sheets, and annotating in pretty bubbles with
perfect text, looks all very pretty and professional, the end result that
I've achieved is just as practical from a repair-use point of view, and took
probably a quarter or less of the time, ignoring of course, the time wasted
on trying to find software that would do it ...

Arfa

Arfa Daily wrote:

OK. So I've got a manual from a company that I'm doing some work for. It's a
pdf file, nice quality images. I want to combine a few of the images, to
create composite pages that I can print out tiled across four sheets. I
don't have a problem with the printing. The pdf viewer that I'm using at the
moment, allows for that, and I do it all the time to get printouts of
schematics up to a sensible size.

Where I am having trouble, is finding some software that will do a simple
(erasure) edit of part of a page. A 'for instance', then. One of the pages
shows a layout of one of the boards. I want to print it in the middle of a
4-sheet tile set, with a clear surround on all four sides so that I can
either hand annotate some of the things on it, or add in images from
elsewhere in the document. Trouble is, there's a bloody great header all
across the top of the page, and a footer at the bottom, so I want to either
(preferably) 'delete' these from the page, leaving just the board image, or
alternately, select the board image from the page, in its pdf format, and
drop it elsewhere, still in its full-res pdf format, without going through
any in-between conversions to bitmap or whatever, as happens if you use a
snapshot tool to dump it to the clipboard.

You would have thought it would be easy to find a piece of freeware that
could do a 'select - edit - cut' operation on a page, but I'm buggered if I
can find one. There are loads of packages out there that claim to be pdf
editors with endless features, and they do have, but none seem to have just
simple tools to allow me to do what I want.

I used to have a fully registered version of Acrobat, and I'm sure that
allowed you to do it, but I am no longer able to use it, because when I
upgraded my OS to Win 7, it was no longer compatible, and there was no route
within Adobe, to upgrade an existing installation.

So, does anyone know of a SIMPLE piece of free software, that will
definitely allow me to work on this document 'in situ' and preferably by
just being able to define and select an area and then erase it, or define
and select an area then copy and paste it ?

Arfa

http://www.pdf995.com/pdfedit.html

http://www.freeware995.com/bin/pdfedit.exe


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense.

En el artículo , Arfa Daily
escribió:

I've actually now managed to do the basic thing that I wanted. I ended up
very carefully zooming the image (that was hard to do precisely, as the zoom
bar wanted to 'snap' in 25% increments

There are a couple of good alternative PDF readers. I use Foxit Reader,
which allows you to set a zoom down to three decimal places. Free.

Some jobs are
just too difficult, frustrating and time consuming to do on a computer

Amen to that :-)

--
(\_/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

On Tue, 22 Nov 2011 01:47:58 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:

I've actually now managed to do the basic thing that I wanted. I ended up
very carefully zooming the image (that was hard to do precisely, as the zoom
bar wanted to 'snap' in 25% increments and didn't allow actual values to be
typed in) until the bits that I didn't want were off the top and bottom of
the screen, and the bit that I did want was centred. I then did a "print"
and then "current view". Finally, I used the "Tile large sheets" option with
the 'composite view' selected, and then used the print zoom to find the
point where it just jumped up to two pages, and left an even border around
the edge.

Reading between the lines, it appears that all you need is an
efficient way of extracting a JPG out of a PDF file. No big deal:
http://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer
The PDF-Xchange Viewer includes a *free* PDF to JPG converter. I'm
usually lazy and just convert the entire document, which extracts a
large number of JPG's, most of which I discard. There are other PDF
to JPG converters, but this is the only free one that I found which
actually worked.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558