Re: Editing PDF files
Last time I needed to fill a form I used Evince (in Ubuntu before I started using OpenBSD) it apparently worked fine, why don't you try it. - Original Message From: Predrag Punosevac punoseva...@gmail.com To: misc@openbsd.org Sent: Mon, January 4, 2010 10:20:52 PM Subject: Editing PDF files I hope, I am not going to annoy too many people with this rather general question. I have some PDF form that I need to fill in. I thought that I would be able to accomplish the job in couple of minutes. Namely, my idea was to convert PDf file to PS file and then to use pstoedit to convert the PostScript file into fig file. Then like in old good times I would just add text to fig file and export to PDF. Just to be on the safe side I was to do the above process a single page at the time. My problem is that pstoedit is producing a huge non-usable fig file. What would be more claver way to accomplish above task short of buying Acrobat or using on-line PDF editing tools and exposing my private information. I heard that KOffice and Scribe have the ability to edit PDF file as well as Gimp. I am somewhat familiar with PDFEdit even though it is not ported to OpenBSD and not very enthusiastic about its abilities. Most Kind Regards, Predrag Punosevac
Re: Editing PDF files
2010/1/5 Predrag Punosevac punoseva...@gmail.com: I have some PDF form that I need to fill in. Just to make sure we're on the same page here, are you talking about a PDF that makes use of Adobe's PDF form field features? (Cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF#Interactive_elements and http://www.google.com/search?hl=ensafe=offq=PDF+form+fields .) Or are you trying to edit a static PDF that only happens to render (things that look like) form fields, but that don't actually make use of the said features? regards, --ropers
Re: Editing PDF files
ropers rop...@gmail.com wrote: 2010/1/5 Predrag Punosevac punoseva...@gmail.com: I have some PDF form that I need to fill in. Just to make sure we're on the same page here, are you talking about a PDF that makes use of Adobe's PDF form field features? (Cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF#Interactive_elements and http://www.google.com/search?hl=ensafe=offq=PDF+form+fields .) I believe so but I am using mupdf to see the document so I am not 100% sure. From mupdf the document looks static. Or are you trying to edit a static PDF that only happens to render (things that look like) form fields, but that don't actually make use of the said features? regards, --ropers
Re: Editing PDF files
Take a look at pdftk. It is a simple command line tool, that can do a lot of things with pdf files: merge, split, rotate, fill forms etc. http://www.accesspdf.com/pdftk/ Regards -Urspr|ngliche Nachricht- Von: owner-m...@openbsd.org [mailto:owner-m...@openbsd.org] Im Auftrag von Predrag Punosevac Gesendet: Dienstag, 5. Januar 2010 06:21 An: misc@openbsd.org Betreff: Editing PDF files I hope, I am not going to annoy too many people with this rather general question. I have some PDF form that I need to fill in. I thought that I would be able to accomplish the job in couple of minutes. Namely, my idea was to convert PDf file to PS file and then to use pstoedit to convert the PostScript file into fig file. Then like in old good times I would just add text to fig file and export to PDF. Just to be on the safe side I was to do the above process a single page at the time. My problem is that pstoedit is producing a huge non-usable fig file. What would be more claver way to accomplish above task short of buying Acrobat or using on-line PDF editing tools and exposing my private information. I heard that KOffice and Scribe have the ability to edit PDF file as well as Gimp. I am somewhat familiar with PDFEdit even though it is not ported to OpenBSD and not very enthusiastic about its abilities. Most Kind Regards, Predrag Punosevac
Re: Editing PDF files
2010/1/5 Predrag Punosevac punoseva...@gmail.com: ropers rop...@gmail.com wrote: 2010/1/5 Predrag Punosevac punoseva...@gmail.com: I have some PDF form that I need to fill in. Just to make sure we're on the same page here, are you talking about a PDF that makes use of Adobe's PDF form field features? (Cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF#Interactive_elements and http://www.google.com/search?hl=ensafe=offq=PDF+form+fields .) I believe so but I am using mupdf to see the document so I am not 100% sure. From mupdf the document looks static. Well, you need to know whether you want to fill in existing PDF form fields or edit a regular, static PDF file, otherwise a discussion is pointless. The difference is broadly similar to the difference between a PDF containing text or an image of text. Entirely different problem domain. Find out what you're looking at. Evince has had forms support for quite some time. This file contains an example Forms.pdf: http://www.pdfonline.com/easypdf/sdk/programming-pdf/java/sample-projects/document.zip Also see http://www.mjmwired.net/linux/2009/04/10/evince-and-acrobat-pdf-form-edits/ . See how that Forms.pdf and your file compare, both in evince and mupdf. Mupdf does not appear to support PDF form fields. If you want to edit or annotate a regular pdf, pdfedit and flpsed are GUI programs that allow you to do that -- but I've actually never tried to build them on OpenBSD, nor am I sure if anyone else has. Scratch your itch and the community may welcome new ports. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDFedit , http://www.ecademix.com/JohannesHofmann/flpsed.html ) The capabilities of flpsed are very limited, but it does allow you to add arbitrary text in arbitrary places, which may be enough for your purposes. PDFedit is not what I would describe as completely easy to use, and it too has its limits. I have not, for instance, found a way to replace an existing image in a PDF with another one with PDFedit. And yeah, Christoph's suggestion is also good, if a command-line tool is what you're looking for. regards, --ropers
Editing PDF files
I hope, I am not going to annoy too many people with this rather general question. I have some PDF form that I need to fill in. I thought that I would be able to accomplish the job in couple of minutes. Namely, my idea was to convert PDf file to PS file and then to use pstoedit to convert the PostScript file into fig file. Then like in old good times I would just add text to fig file and export to PDF. Just to be on the safe side I was to do the above process a single page at the time. My problem is that pstoedit is producing a huge non-usable fig file. What would be more claver way to accomplish above task short of buying Acrobat or using on-line PDF editing tools and exposing my private information. I heard that KOffice and Scribe have the ability to edit PDF file as well as Gimp. I am somewhat familiar with PDFEdit even though it is not ported to OpenBSD and not very enthusiastic about its abilities. Most Kind Regards, Predrag Punosevac
Re: Editing PDF files
I heard that KOffice and Scribe have the ability to edit PDF file as well as Gimp. Gimp will work for short forms. I'm pretty sure Gimp necessarily converts the image to a bitmap; then you can just use the Text tool to add stuff. Then print to PDF. It's clunky but will work in a pinch.
Re: Editing PDF files
I just want to document the simplest solution for editing PDF files. Step 1: Convert the file to PostScript Step 2: Directly edit PostScript file In particular to add the text to specific position you will need to upload the file to gv and use the cursor to find the coordinates of the position where you want to add the text. Then fire up that vi editor and add something like gsave /Times-Roman findfont 24 scalefont setfont 100 250 moveto (Your text here) show % more moveto/show pairs for the remainder of the page grestore before the last showpage in your PostScript file. Step 3 Convert PostScript file back to PDF file. Cheers, Predrag
Re: Editing PDF files
On Tue, 5 Jan 2010, Predrag Punosevac wrote: ... What would be more claver way to accomplish above task short of buying Acrobat or using on-line PDF editing tools and exposing my private information. OpenOffice.org and enable the pdfimport extension. -- Antoine
