Subject: Re: [Techtalk] Editing a PDF file

[raen7 at ihug.com.au]

Has anyone tried this is Open Office 1.1.2?

http://www.linuxhotbox.com/officesuite/openoffice features.htm

OpenOffice.org 1.1 introduces the one-click PDF export feature that enables 
you to easily create PDF files without the need for any additional third 
party software. This feature makes exchanging documents in a standard 
"read-only" file format a trivial task. The creation of PDF files normally 
requires relatively expensive third party add-on tools. With OpenOffice.org 
this feature comes for free. 



>>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.