PDF Editor?

B

Buck268

Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
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Does anybody know of a free PDF editor that will allow for form fill-ins? I'm about to start a new job search and it seems everybody is providing online, PDF-format applications now; figure it would look a whole lot better if I had everythig neatly typed and printed instead of scrawled by hand.

I've been browsing CNET (downloads.com) as they typically has something that will come through in these types of situations, but to no avail. The closest is PDFill, but thats not free. Any suggestions?
 
I think there is a plug in for OpenOffice 3.0. But I've never tried it.
A friend of mine really likes Tomahawk PDF+, but I haven't tried that either.

Peter
I'm sure somebody else knows more than I do.
 
Buck268 said:
I've been browsing CNET (downloads.com) as they typically has something that will come through in these types of situations, but to no avail. The closest is PDFill, but thats not free. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

I've been looking for a freeware PDF editor or form filler for a while too - be very interested in any answers.

However there may be a roundabout way to do this
(caveat I haven't tried it yet)

Use Free PDF to Word converter -
which claims to preserve layout, graphics etc
- edit in Word or equivalent
- then print, or output as PDF (eg: Open Office or any of the many freeware PDF creators via Windows "printing")

(more caveats - when I visited the home site of Free PDF to Word - my antivirus (Avira) warned me of a possible Virus!
pdf2wordvirusea6.gif

But the PDF2Word installation file that I downloaded from Softpedia scanned fine using Avira and Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware as well as SpyBot S&D)

EDIT to ADD -

I just installed and tried PDF2Word (no viruses or spyware detected)
it does indeed convert to .doc -
but for the one PDF I tried - it lost the photo and the layout wasn't quite the same -
at least when I opened it in Open Office 2.4.1
Open Office 2.4.1 can output to PDF - but the layout was still wrong and the photo was still lost.
It might work better with a simpler document - but as far as I am concerned it didn't work properly.

--
Vincent
http://picasaweb.com/UnknownVincent
http://UnknownVincent.Shutterfly.com
http://UnknownVT.Shutterfly.com
http://groups.msn.com/UnknownVincent/shoebox.msnw
 
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Hmm, I definately don't want to mess around with layouts and what-not, I'll have to keep on searching. Keep the ideas coming, though, and I'll be sure to update if/when I run into something!
 
Buck268 said:
Hmm, I definately don't want to mess around with layouts and what-not, I'll have to keep on searching. Keep the ideas coming, though, and I'll be sure to update if/when I run into something!
Click to expand...


As mentioned by stockman242 there is an Open Office import PDF extension - but it has to be OO 3.0 beta or later -

PDF Import Extension at Open Office Wiki

--
Vincent
http://picasaweb.com/UnknownVincent
http://UnknownVincent.Shutterfly.com
http://UnknownVT.Shutterfly.com
http://groups.msn.com/UnknownVincent/shoebox.msnw
 
Usually all forms meant to be filled out in the same file will have it incorporated into the pdf itself and Adobe Reader will allow it to be typed in (there would be a yellow box where you need to/want to type). If this is not the case try foxit reader, there is a free version and you can select a place to type text into the document with a selection box and then type in it.

Hope this helps!
 
Doing a google on "free PDF form filler" I came across this -

PDFescape - Free PDF Editor & PDF Form Filler - Your Free Online ...
Your Free Online PDF Reader, Free PDF Editor, Free PDF Form Filler, Free ... ( Psst, it's the only free PDF editor & form filler online!) ...

can't say anything about this - as I have not tried it, and do not have any intention of doing so in the near future.
might be OK for a one off trial.....
but make sure to backup the PDF original file, and that you have all your security programs - antiVirus, anti-spyware anti-malware and firewall working.......

--
Vincent
http://picasaweb.com/UnknownVincent
http://UnknownVincent.Shutterfly.com
http://UnknownVT.Shutterfly.com
http://groups.msn.com/UnknownVincent/shoebox.msnw
 
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Wow, VT, that might just be perfect. Thanks for the link. Didn't even think about the query "form filler" :o
 
For anyone looking to print to PDF, there is an excellent, free PDF-writer called CutePDF (http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp) that I found out about a couple of years ago. It works great!

You can use it in any type of software that allows printing -- all you do is prepare your document for printing, then select the CutePDF as the printer, and send it on it's way. It'll prompt for a name and location for storage, then voila! There's your PDF, formatted exactly the way it was in your Word/Excel/whatever document.

To use CutePDF, you need to have Ghostscript installed. They may have changed the link, but the last time I installed it the link provided was to an old version of Ghostscript. Just make sure to get the latest one, and you'll be fine.
 
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