Free .pdf editor ?

[Hand of Evil]

Doing a search I turned up...

eDocPrinter PDF Pro Danish 5.58

http://www.download.com/eDocPrinter-PDF-Pro-Danish/3000-2088-10203652.html?tag=lst-0-6

There are others...

 

[Thanee]

Will check that one, thanks.

So far my searches only turned up programs that could only transform text documents into .pdf format.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Zulithe]

Hmm ... true that OpenOffice.org does not handle opening of PDF files as it should (damn ... too bad ) But you could use OpenOffice.org to create/edit the sheet and then just save it to PDF when necessary for distribution, would that be adequate? I suggest this since OpenOffice.org would save you a lot of cash

 

[pensiv]

Usually PDFs are created in such a way that keeps them from being editable, even if you have Acrobat. However, if you have Acrobat Reader, you can save the entire sheet as a graphic and type over it using any graphic editor.

 

[Psionicist]

There are a couple of choices available:

www.pdf995.com

and

http://pdfcreator.sourceforge.net/

Edit: Sorry, http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator

 

[Pasus Nauran]

Unfortunately, there are a multitude of PDF printer utilities (those which allow "printing" to PDF format from most applications). Many have been mentioned here. However, I have yet to find an inexpensive way to edit and save existing PDFs. I have looked into thise issue extensively; with many posts and searches on Adobe's website, as well as the excellent PDF resource: Planet PDF, and found nothing.

The best option is for Adobe Document Server for Reader Extensions. It allows the creator of a PDF to enable the PDF with save rights which become available within the free Adobe/Acrobat Reader versions. The problem, is that Document Server is horrendously expensive ($65,000+) as it is aimed at large corporations. I have contacted Adobe about this, and they don't curently have any plans to allow saving or exporting of form data within dobe/Acrobat Reader (though the sales agent I spoke with said I wan't the first to express affordable interest in such capabilities).

With my character sheet (available through the link in my signature), I have offered several options for users of Reader:

- I have a button which exports the form data to an .FDF (Adobe Acrobat Form Data File), and attaches it to an email. The user can then save the .FDF from the email (never actually sending the email), and can be later import the form data simply by double clicking the .FDF file. It's a bit complicated (detailed better in my ReadMe file), but is the only real workaround for saving form data from Reader.

- I have downloaded a free trial version of Document Server from Adobe. This trial version is fully functional, but puts a large watermark across every page within the PDF. However, if you can look past the watermark, the PDF allows saving from within Reader.

If there is a specific character sheet you like, I'd suggest contacting the creator to see if they can implement either of these options.

Of course, these options are only viable if you're goal is to save the form data within the character sheet. If you are trying to modify the sheet (change fields and/or customize the sheet for your particular use) you'll require a commercial version of Acrobat.

 

[barsoomcore]

However, if you have Acrobat Reader, you can save the entire sheet as a graphic and type over it using any graphic editor.

Hm, not the version of Acrobat Reader I have. It only allows saving as PDF or TXT files.

But if you can get your PDF converted to a graphic format, you should be able to use any image editing program (the GIMP is free) to add text elements overtop of it.

 

[Thanee]

Yeah, I've already found the Gimp, that's one pretty nifty program for sure.
I'm currently using it to create my PbP battle map icons.

Anyways, thanks everyone for all the information, it really makes the picture more clear to me.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Marius Delphus]

CutePDF Form Filler (http://www.cutepdf.com/) appears to cost "only" $30. The trial version (time limited also? don't know) stamps a small banner on the first page.

 

[pensiv]

Hm, not the version of Acrobat Reader I have. It only allows saving as PDF or TXT files.

Adobe Reader 6.0 - Snapshot tool - selected area goes to the clipboard for easy pasting into anything that will take graphics (Word, Wordpad, Paint, Photoshop, etc.)