Edit PDF Documents: how to open and edit a PDF

No matter how careful you are with proof reading your documents, it's almost inevitable that a typo will creep into the final PDF. And even though it's a tiny mistake, the more you see it, the more it seems to jump out at you.

So, you have three choices (assuming you just can't stand looking at it any more), if you just have to fix it.

1. edit the original word document, then resave it as a PDF
2. covert PDF to Word, edit, then convert back to PDF
3. edit the PDF

My preference is to edit the original word document, then resave that as a PDF. Quick, simple, and you can have it done in a few minutes. But that isn't always possible... if you don't have access to the original document, then there is no choice but to modify the existing PDF.

What software will allow editing a PDF?

You need standalone software, rather than a virtual printer driver. That is because you need a GUI (Graphical User Interface)to open the PDF file, to be able to edit it. If you have something like Docudesk PDF installed, then you will need the UNPDF it software to convert the PDF to Word, before making edits.

How this type of software works, is that is converts the PDF to a Word document, which you then edit and save it as a new PDF file.

I prefer using NITRO PDF Professional, which allows you to open the PDF file (without converting to Word first), making your edits then re-saving the file.

Very easy, and you can do a whole lot more than just fix a few typos. Did you know you can also do things like add bookmarks, hyperlinks, music, videos etc to the PDF?

Edit A PDF Document With Nitro PDF Professional

This is not free software: the cost is $99 at the time this was written. However, you do get a free 14 day trial, so it's worth checking out to see if you feel it's worth the money. In my opinion, the answer is yes, especially if you need to modify or edit PDF files on any sort of a regular basis.

Once you have your PDF open, the tabs for making edits are quite intuitive to use. For example, if you only need to fix a few spelling mistakes, click the Insert and Edit tab.

Subset or Embedded fonts?

Before you make a decision as to which to use, you need to understand the difference. First, an embedded font is one that is part of the PDF...the document does not rely on the viewers computer having that font installed.

If you choose Subset, then the font type is not supplied with the PDF. So the filesize is smaller. The tradeoff is that future editing with the original font choice is limited.

If the filesize is not going to be too large, then using embedded is the best choice. You can always try both, to see what the difference is. Remember, that if the PDF is written with stock standard fonts, then the viewer almost certainly has those fonts installed on their machine. Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana, Georgia are all extremely common fonts .

Adding Video And Music Attachments

This is adding an attachment, not embedding the object. So rather than appearing in the content of the PDF, whatever you add (slideshow, video, MP3 etc) will be visible as an attachment.

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