To: IAP Computer Gurus - Help Please - Editing a .pdf file

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magpens

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I have been sent ( via email ) a couple of forms to fill out.

The forms are in .pdf format

So, I guess that means that I have to edit a .pdf file

I do not have any word processing software. . All I have is the bare bones stuff that comes with Windows 10 ( Notepad ) and my email software ( Yahoo ).

Can I do what I have to do with what I have ? ..... If so, how do I do it, please ?

I can read the forms with my email software ( Yahoo ).
I can download/save the forms ..... they appear on my computer in the Downloads directory.
I can copy the forms to my desktop and I can read the copied forms.

But I cannot find a way to edit the forms, which I think is what I have to do in order to provide the information I have been asked to provide.

I don't really want to add any document editing software ( e.g. Microsoft Word ) to my computer.

Please help me to do what I have to do with the existing software ..... i.e. the bare bones stuff that comes bundled with Windows 10.
Perhaps my email software ( Yahoo ) can do it. . But I cannot find a way to do it. . Maybe Notepad can do it. . But I can't find a way.

Thank you ! . . I apologize for my ignorance, lack of computer savvy, and lack of experience.
 
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penicillin

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Hi Mal,

I wish I had an easy answer for you, but I don't. I prefer to complete PDF forms on my computer, rather than printing them out and writing the information by hand. (Question: Is it sacrilege to say that in a Pen Turning forum??)

Some PDF forms are designed to allow you to enter information in their boxes and you can just open the PDF file in whatever default program is on your computer for reading PDF files. For those lucky few PDF forms, just click, type, and save the file. Use Tab to move to the next box. Unfortunately, perfect PDF forms like that not common.

Many PDF files are not created to support that, and many that are supposed to work correctly have issues, preventing you from entering important information in one or two boxes because the person who created the form messed up. Sometimes PDF files have password-protection and other security enhancements that prevent you from doing anything more than viewing or printing the form. I have ways to work around all those issues, but none of them easy.

Years ago, I bought a special professional PDF editing program for my Mac, and I continue to use it to this day. (For others: The program is called PDFPenPro). You can find many PDF editing programs for Windows, Mac, Linux and other operating systems. Some are free and others are not. I wish I could advise you on which may be the best, but I cannot.

Others may have found other methods, but here are some of the tricks that have worked for me. Sadly, I think fear that they may be too complex to work for you:
  • If the PDF file has password or other security protections, I use the computer's Print-to-PDF (or Save As PDF) feature to save the output to a separate PDF file. The resulting "printed" PDF file has no security protections, so I can edit them.
  • If the PDF file was not created as a form with ready-to-fill boxes or there are issues with some boxes, then I use my PDF editor to create a separate "floating" text block and paste it over the box in the PDF form. Next, I drag-copy the text block and edit the new entry for its box. I keep copying text blocks and editing them until the PDF form is done. For checkboxes, I edit a one-character text block with "X" and use it. It feels more like editing graphics than typing a form.
  • My PDF editor lets me paste signatures into PDF forms. It has a feature that lets me make the non-ink part of the signature transparent, so that it looks like a real signature without a white rectangular block around it, covering up part of the PDF form. I have scans of the signatures that I need and drop them into the forms. If the form requires many signatures in different places, I may use a graphics tool to distort or alter some of them before pasting them in, so they don't all look exactly the same. (Don't edit your original files, duh!!)
-> I hope that others can suggest good programs for your Windows computer to edit PDF files. Even with a good PDF editor, the nature of the different types of PDF files can make them easier or harder to complete on a computer. Sometimes I wonder whether it is worth the effort, but I like the clarity of typed text to reduce the chance of mistakes or errors by the person who receives the completed forms.

- - - - -

OFF TOPIC, BUT VERY IMPORTANT COMMENT ABOUT SIGNATURES:
I want to make it very clear that I have formal, written powers of attorney to use those signatures. If you have elderly parents, or you are an elderly parent, or will someday face similar care situations, you may want to give consideration for that. Having the foresight to collect and scan those signatures long ago has helped our family provide loving care to those who needed it over the years. At the same time, you must also prepare the legal framework (medical, financial, end-of-life, etc.) long before they are needed. The up-front legal costs to prepare those documents were the best money we ever spent, and saved us a fortune in legal fees that we might have spent if our loved ones found themselves not easily able to assist later.
 

leehljp

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PDF PenPro is what I used also (as Penicillin does.) I was unaware of Adobe's Acrobat ability to edit. IF so, that is probably the way to go. However, I am getting leery of the companies that make one go through a bunch of hoops to use a free service, and instead try to push cloud usage with subscription services, as I have run into with Adobe.
 

Mart

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a low-tech solution; if you have a printer and access to a scanner (local library?) then it might be easier to print it, fill it out, scan that to a file. Might be less hassle than going thru the technical hurdles of downloading software and figuring it out.
 

zig613

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Mel,

You have is a form that was saved as as PDF file, and not created as a fillable PDF file. You will have to print the PDF file and complete by hand. Then you can scan the completed form and save it as a PDF file. It you don't have scanning capabilities take it to someplace like Staples and they can do the scan and save it as a PDF file so you can e-mail to whoever.

Wade
 

Curly

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Mal I use Libreoffice. It is a free office suite like Microsoft Office and the word processing program part can open the PDFs for editing and then save it as a PDF again. https://www.libreoffice.org I know you said you didn't want to download a program but sometimes you have to and free is a pretty good thing to me.
 

leehljp

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OH, before I learned of PDF editable software, I would often open a PDF and save as a Pict or graphics file, open it in a graphics app (Photoshop) and place the cursor where I wanted and type in the words/names etc. But this does require a good working knowledge of the graphics app.
 

Mr Vic

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"Adobe Acrobat Reader DC" has several tools. One is the previously mentioned "Fill and Sign". I belive it is free and I use it all the time.
 

monophoto

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Acrobat and the pdf format were created to allow a user with access to commercial word processing software such as Microsoft Word to create a document that can be opened and read by another user who doesn't have the same software. This was important back in the day when there were many word processing systems in use and there was limited compatibility between software formats.

Adobe made Adobe Acrobat available at no charge so that users could read pdf files created by Adobe Writer or Adobe Distiller. But Adobe Writer and Adobe Distiller continue to be commercial software that Adobe sells, and their intention was that you would buy one of them to edit pdf files. Likewise, there is 'un-pdfing' software that supposedly converts a pdf file to a document that can be edited by a word processor, but my experience with them is that they don't work very well. And of course Microsoft Word can save a document as a pdf file, but that's a one-way process - it can't open and read a pdf file.

There are workarounds, including the somewhat limited 'Fill and sign' option in Acrobat, and some freeware that allow you to edit pdf files, but they aren't all that convenient, and the term 'edit' sometimes is used in a rather casual sense. For example, the LibreSoft package that Pete mentioned appears to allow you to fill out a pdf form by pasting text boxes on top of a graphic version of the original pdf file. That works, but it's a bit clunky

The easiest solution is to open the pdf file in Acrobat, print it, fill in the form by hand using a nice fountain pen with brightly colored ink, and then either scan it or snail mail it back to the originator. The advantage of this approach is that your entries are clearly distinguishable from the original form.
 

leehljp

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Louie, Thanks for that. That was very good.

OCR:
One other that Mal probably would not do - OCR software. Optical Character Recognition software. I use this quite often. It "reads" PDFs and translates it into editable documents so that things can be added or changed. If it has graphics or tables, that does present a bit of a problem, but for those who do this often, it is not a big problem.

I have OCR that can take PDFs or Scanned docs and reads them, making editable docs out of them. One key is - don't fool around with "good", get the best. A 96% success rate is a failure for everyday docs.
 

goldendj

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Mel,

You have is a form that was saved as as PDF file, and not created as a fillable PDF file. You will have to print the PDF file and complete by hand. Then you can scan the completed form and save it as a PDF file. It you don't have scanning capabilities take it to someplace like Staples and they can do the scan and save it as a PDF file so you can e-mail to whoever.

Wade
Note that you probably have a scanner in your pocket right now ... I usually use my phone rather than try to get the printer-scanner working. Microsoft has an app called Microsoft Lens that takes pictures, straightens/rotates/un-distorts them to be correct, and saves as a pdf.
 

monophoto

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Note that you probably have a scanner in your pocket right now ... I usually use my phone rather than try to get the printer-scanner working. Microsoft has an app called Microsoft Lens that takes pictures, straightens/rotates/un-distorts them to be correct, and saves as a pdf.

Good point - I have a desktop scanner that I almost never use anymore - I find that using the standard camera app on my iPhone produces a far better scan. And its much more convenient than the scanner - I can scan anywhere, and the controls are much easier to use.
 

zig613

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Note that you probably have a scanner in your pocket right now ... I usually use my phone rather than try to get the printer-scanner working. Microsoft has an app called Microsoft Lens that takes pictures, straightens/rotates/un-distorts them to be correct, and saves as a pdf.
Thanks for the tip. Just done downloaded the app.
 
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