PDF Editor Alternatives, Preferably Open Source
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@tim_g said in PDF Editor Alternatives, Preferably Open Source:
@scottalanmiller said in PDF Editor Alternatives, Preferably Open Source:
Person testing just said that LibreOffice Draw appears to work for them!
LibreOffice Draw is great. I didn't think of using that to make PDFs.... I've only used it to make charts, maps, and diagrams.
But I just did a quick search and found this:
https://www.maketecheasier.com/create-a-pdf-with-fillable-forms-in-libreoffice/So awesome!
All parts of LibreOffice can create a PDF natively.
I thought the criteria was to edit an existing PDF.
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@scottalanmiller said in PDF Editor Alternatives, Preferably Open Source:
Person testing just said that LibreOffice Draw appears to work for them!
So it is opening an existing PDF, editing, and then saving again, correct?
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@jaredbusch said in PDF Editor Alternatives, Preferably Open Source:
@scottalanmiller said in PDF Editor Alternatives, Preferably Open Source:
Person testing just said that LibreOffice Draw appears to work for them!
So it is opening an existing PDF, editing, and then saving again, correct?
Yeah I tested that myself. I opened a 175 page PDF and could edit it as if it was native to it.
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I have found 2 solutions which work well for our CPA firm.
For the past few years we have been happy with:
https://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-editor
Also, for another pdf editing option, which includes some DMS like features is:
https://www.lucion.com/filecenter-overview.html
However, neither is open-source, but you can license the Tracker solution code for dev purposes. Actually that is that the "File Center product does, and add other bells and whistles on it. -
@jaredbusch said in PDF Editor Alternatives, Preferably Open Source:
@scottalanmiller said in PDF Editor Alternatives, Preferably Open Source:
Person testing just said that LibreOffice Draw appears to work for them!
So it is opening an existing PDF, editing, and then saving again, correct?
yes.
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Try the "Edit" feature in the Tracker product I post above. For example, on an existing PDF you can edit, move or delete things:
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@spiral said in PDF Editor Alternatives, Preferably Open Source:
Try the "Edit" feature in the Tracker product I post above. For example, on an existing PDF you can edit, move or delete things:
But it just made the whole PDF out of line on the text.
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I was demonstrating that I could edit a pdf. Using Form 1040, which the IRS created originally, I can delete text, move it, or change it to whatever I want using the edit feature in Tracker's PDFedit
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@spiral said in PDF Editor Alternatives, Preferably Open Source:
I was demonstrating that I could edit a pdf. Using Form 1040, which the IRS created originally, I can delete text, move it, or change it to whatever I want using the edit feature in Tracker's PDFedit
Sounds good.
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@spiral said in PDF Editor Alternatives, Preferably Open Source:
I was demonstrating that I could edit a pdf. Using Form 1040, which the IRS created originally, I can delete text, move it, or change it to whatever I want using the edit feature in Tracker's PDFedit
True, but if the demonstration you give also spews garbage on the original PDF< that is not a good sign for me wanting to use it.
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I'll have to try OpenOffice myself to see if you can redact pdf text with it.
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@eddiejennings said in PDF Editor Alternatives, Preferably Open Source:
I'll have to try OpenOffice myself to see if you can redact pdf text with it.
You want LibreOffice, not OpenOffice. It's a bit more modern.
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Bah. I meant LibreOffice :P. Brain is too tired this morning.
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PDF Escape has been great for me. There is free cloud version which allows you to make simple edits and it works quite well for the one off here or there file. However, if you need to edit pdf files regularly try the desktop version. I have found it to be fairly powerful and it comes with a 14 day trial with no strings attached. I want to see the price of software was around $50 or so. I cant remember exactly, but I am fairly certain it was less than $70
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Check SumatraPDF copy PDF to image capabilities, this was my go to choice for PDF editing.
You can copy PDF to any image editor easily
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@jaredbusch lol, the "garbage" was my deliberate editing of the original pdf layer. (albeit not very pretty) However, I could of just annotated the pdf in another layer, keeping the original layer intact.
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@spiral said in PDF Editor Alternatives, Preferably Open Source:
@jaredbusch lol, the "garbage" was my deliberate editing of the original pdf layer. (albeit not very pretty) However, I could of just annotated the pdf in another layer, keeping the original layer intact.
See, that makes more sense, but was not clear in your original post as to what that was.
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I believe that is "tax season" affecting my communication skills.... :winking_face:
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That's great that LibreOffice worked out!
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Free, but not sure about open source... LibreOffice Draw works well. Inkscape is worth checking out; typically a vector graphics tool, but also has some PDF editing capabilities.
I've used Foxit PhantomPDF across a few clients, and have had some issues with the driver just randomly experiencing issues when trying to print to PDF or to a printer. So, just a heads up. But their price is very attractive. As @JaredBusch also pointed out, PDf Element is a good alternative at a slightly lower cost than Foxit PhantomPDF (roughly $30).
