How to Edit a PDF....for free?

[log1kq2]

How can I edit a PDF file so that you can actually type in the fields designated? Instead of printing it out and hand writing on it, I'd like for the person to be able to actually type on the PDF.

What software would I need to accomplish this? Ideally for free. If not I'll purchase whatever is necessary.


Thanks in advance.

 

[AFurryReptile]

Foxit Reader will work if you don't mind a watermark.

 

[fralexandr]

if you just need to do minor editing stuff, pdf-xchange viewer is pretty good. it loads faster than adobe too :S

some pdf forms are images though so i don't think its possible to type on those, at least with free version of pdf-xchange viewer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF-XChange_Viewer

 

[log1kq2]

I should clarify exactly what I need to do. I want to make an application for people to fill out. I have found an application in PDF form that currently has not been formatted to permit being typed on. I know there are some PDFs where you can type on by simply using the basic Adobe reader, this making it very user friendly. I don't want people to have to use a third party program to type into the field Is there anywhere I can edit that application I've found to permit typing in the designated fields?

Am I making sense?

Thanks

 

[log1kq2]

if you just need to do minor editing stuff, pdf-xchange viewer is pretty good. it loads faster than adobe too :S

some pdf forms are images though so i don't think its possible to type on those, at least with pdf-xchange viewer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF-XChange_Viewer

PDF xchange is a great program and I use that right now. But I need to change the format of the PDF so that it permits being typed in by simply using Adobe reader.

 

[wyamarus]

What you need to do is create form fields in the PDF. Scribus supports this for free (search the support forum), but if you have a good budget to work with there's always InDesign,or Adobe Acrobat Pro. Editing PDFs is not like editing a word processing document, though; they were not designed to be modified after their initial creation, and the 'editing' capability falls into the category of a sometimes useful hack. All edits are done on a line by line basis without any reflowing of text or graphics (you lose the layout), and PDFs created from what was originally a graphic image (some free PDF print drivers work this way, you don't have any editable text information in the PDF) are essentially a "placed" graphic element that is treated as a single block of data. Open Office v. 3.x has a plug-in from Sun Microsystems that lets you do editing of PDFs, and it seems to work pretty well, but AFAIK it can't create the form fields you need. Inkscape can also open PDFs, but I have had mixed results with the editing... bizarre font substitutions and layout changes that were unintended. Another point; fonts used in the document need to be present on the system doing the editing, or a full character set embedded in the PDF or you will get bizarre and unexpected font substitutions in your edited documents. Some PDFs are created with the text saved as raw bezier curves/coordinates to minimize font substitution problems on the printer, and should be considered as effectively un-editable as a PDF'ed graphic image.

I have used both the Infix and the NitroPDF editors, as well as OOo with the PDF import plug-in, and OOo holds it's own against the commercial alternatives. Nitro will let you create form fields in an existing PDF document, and Acrobat Pro 7 (or higher) is the only other way I know of doing this effectively.

 

[wyamarus]

Just another thought and some clarification...

Scribus, and InDesign support creation of form fields in a PDF when you are creating a document from scratch. PDFs are imported like a graphic image, and are un-editable in place. (There is an available commercial plug-in for InDesign that allows editing inside of the app- "PDF2ID", but I don't think it supports creation of form fields, itself. There is most likely a corresponding 'xTension' for Quark xPress that provides the same function)

The other thing that is a potential problem is the permissions (if any) set on the document. PDFs have two levels of permissions that may present problems. The lower level is 'document' security, which prevents printing or changes to the document, and there are plenty of free utilities to "fix" this. The second is 'owner' security, which encrypts the whole document, and controls opening, viewing, and changing the 'document' security setting; and unless you know the password, you will not get too far in editing it, or even printing it, if the 'document' settings prevent this. (it's fairly strong encryption, and even with good resources (the right software, multiple GPUs to handle the number crunching and password generation, and a comprehensive password list for a "dictionary attack" it's likely to take even a determined person a week or better to hack the password. A "brute force" attack with randomly determined character strings for the password would take even longer. Not totally un-crackable, but effectively so for most purposes. Check that the form you want to use has the security turned off before you even start trying to make changes like adding form fields (under 'File > Properties > Security'). Hope this helps.

 

[wyamarus]

Just another thought and some clarification...

Scribus, and InDesign support creation of form fields in a PDF when you are creating a document from scratch. PDFs are imported like a graphic image, and are un-editable in place. (There is an available commercial plug-in for InDesign that allows editing inside of the app- "PDF2ID", but I don't think it supports creation of form fields, itself. There is most likely a corresponding 'xTension' for Quark xPress that provides the same function)

The other thing that is a potential problem is the permissions (if any) set on the document. PDFs have two levels of permissions that may present problems. The lower level is 'document' security, which prevents printing or changes to the document, and there are plenty of free utilities to "fix" this. The second is 'owner' security, which encrypts the whole document, and controls opening, viewing, and changing the 'document' security setting; and unless you know the password, you will not get too far in editing it, or even printing it, if the 'document' settings prevent this. (it's fairly strong encryption, and even with good resources (the right software, multiple GPUs to handle the number crunching and password generation, and a comprehensive password list for a "dictionary attack" it's likely to take even a determined person a week or better to hack the password. A "brute force" attack with randomly determined character strings for the password would take even longer. Not totally un-crackable, but effectively so for most purposes. Check that the form you want to use has the security turned off before you even start trying to make changes like adding form fields (under 'File > Properties > Security'). Hope this helps.