[Techtalk] Editing a PDF file
Dan Richter
daniel.richter at wimba.com
Tue Feb 24 11:28:13 EST 2004
>>Can anyone advise me on what application to use
>>to fill out a form within a PDF file?
>
> No saving in PDF is then possible (but you can print it to a
> PS file if you wish to save it anyway).
> If you must really edit the PDF, then you'll have to pay for it I
> believe :( complete Acrobat stuff...
Don't give up yet!
As Isabelle notes, you can "print" the PDF file to a PS file. (Most
Linux programs that can print allow you to "print to a file," which
means saving in a file the PostScript instructions that would normally
be sent to the printer.)
PostScript is an open format. You can open it with a text editor and
read it if you like! A good PostScript programmer might amuse himself by
coding the answers by hand. However, most of us would prefer to open the
PostScript file in a graphics editor to write your answers to the questions.
Uh, does anyone know of such a graphics editor? The Gimp is a really bad
choice because it will convert the PostScript to bitmap graphics, which
will look lousy when printed. (Yes, you can save in PostScript using the
Gimp, but it saves and bitmapped PostScript, which hardly qualifies as
PostScript.) Does anyone know of a graphics editor that allows you to
modify and save a PostScript file?
Once you've gotten past this step, use ps2pdf to convert the PostScript
file back into PDF:
ps2pdf foo.ps
If anyone has a good graphics editor for PostScript files, I'm as
interested as Ed to know what it is.
--
Truth is incontrovertible: ignorance can deride it, panic may
resent it, malice may destroy it, but there it is.
- Winston Churchill
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