PDF Editing Update: Yesterday, I bought PDF Complete ($60) and PDF Pro 10 ($14), but I can't find a way to edit with either. I would like to change page numbers, for one thing, but PDF...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yesterday, I bought PDF Complete ($60) and PDF Pro 10 ($14), but I can't find a way to edit with either. I would like to change page numbers, for one thing, but PDF Pro 10 has no online tutorials, and PDF Complete has very few - none covering editing.

I downloaded PDF Element, and I can easily edit with that, but I'm not going to pay $79 a year for it. Editing PDFs isn't that important to me. So, if you are looking for a good PDF editor, so am I.

EDIT: I just downloaded a trial of Nitro Pro. Sometimes I could select text to edit, and sometimes I couldn't. It probably has something to do with how the PDF pages were made, but if I can't edit them, why spend the money?

ClarkG Loc: Southern Indiana USA

See if there are any tutorials on YouTube.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

There are programs that create PDF files but do not edit existing PDF files. Foxit has a program that will edit
PDF files. Here is the link https://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf-editor/
There is a free trail. It is not super cheap but appears to be very functional. This has a perpetual license.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

ClarkG wrote:

See if there are any tutorials on YouTube.

That's what surprised me. There was only an advertising video for one, and about three that I didn't need for the other.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

fetzler wrote:

There are programs that create PDF files but do not edit existing PDF files. Foxit has a program that will edit
PDF files. Here is the link https://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf-editor/
There is a free trail. It is not super cheap but appears to be very functional. This has a perpetual license.

Thanks. I'll take a look.

MichaelH Loc: NorCal via Lansing, MI

Jerry, can you select the text in your PDF and copy it to another application like Word? If not the PDF is an image file and the text will not be editable. A scanned document that is saved in PDF format is usually an image file and hence will not be editable.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

MichaelH wrote:

Jerry, can you select the text in your PDF and copy it to another application like Word? If not the PDF is an image file and the text will not be editable. A scanned document that is saved in PDF format is usually an image file and hence will not be editable.

Yes, I've discovered that as I've tried to edit some files. I took the suggestion above and downloaded a trial version of PhantomPDF. I was able to do all I wanted with it right off the bat - no directions needed. They have a lot of video tutorials available, too. I'll probably buy it ($129). I paid for the other programs, so I'll play around with them and try to figure them out.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

fetzler wrote:

There are programs that create PDF files but do not edit existing PDF files. Foxit has a program that will edit
PDF files. Here is the link https://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf-editor/
There is a free trail. It is not super cheap but appears to be very functional. This has a perpetual license.

I downloaded it and was able to use it right away - no directions needed. Thanks for the recommendation.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/acrobat/how-to/pdf-editor-pdf-files.html

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

jerryc41 wrote:

Yesterday, I bought PDF Complete ($60) and PDF Pro... (show quote)

If the text is included in a graphic, you won't be able to edit it.

RGreenway Loc: Morristown, New Jersey

I have been sometimes able to edit pdf files in Apple Preview which is included free on all Mac's. It seems to depend on how the pdf is created. Some can not be edited. When that happens and I only have to change things on a page or two, I then add white shape like a rectangle of the part I need to change, like the page number and then add the new page number over the rectangle. That works even on text added originally as an image, but isn't practical for changing page numbers on a lot of pages!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

JohnSwanda wrote:

If the text is included in a graphic, you won't be able to edit it.

Yes, I found that out trying to insert page numbers. A workaround is to use the "Insert Text" tool. I was going through 183 pages, and I was surprised to learn how many were graphics, rather than actual PDF. They were PDF files, but they were also graphics.

This PhantomPDF looks good, although it does cost $129. If I still like it after fourteen days, I'll buy it - after wasting $74 on other programs. There are a lot of online tutorials for it.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

RGreenway wrote:

I have been sometimes able to edit pdf files in Ap... (show quote)

Thanks. I'll try that.

CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

I just use Photoshop if I want to "mess" with a pdf file.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Jerry, here's a bit of advice. If the PDF document is a scanned document it is a raster image and a PDF editor cannot edit it for it is a "picture" of the document, not a live document.

If that is the case you may...or may not...have luck using an OCR converter that reads and converts image text to live text. If you do, be very mindful that there is a lot of 'guessing' in the software so words can get a bit wonky and they may inadvertently change the spelling and even the entire word itself.