How do i copy items from PDF's effectively?

[Waylander the Slayer]

I have recently started using my laptop to GM and was wondering if there was an easy way to copy information from PDF's into one file for each of my sessions. How do i go about doing this?

 

[DMFTodd]

Do you mean how do you copy in a PDF? You use the Text Select or the Image Select tool and then Edit > Copy.

Do you mean what do I do with it once I copy it? You'll have to paste it into some other program to put it all together. Word, DM's Familiar, or something else.

 

[XCorvis]

You use the Text Select or the Image Select tool and then Edit > Copy.

But only if the PDF allows you to do that. Some have restrictions on them. You also can't use the Text Select tool on a PDF that has no OCR Text (OCR text is text that was scanned in as an image, processed and converted to real text.)

 

[tarrasque246]

i just got hold of abbyy finereader 7

it is an OCR program that works straight off the pdf's

pretty easy to use and accurate for the pdf's that i've done with it so far

there is a demo on their website

Chris

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

To clarify:

1.How do i go about combining portions of Multiple PDF's into one PDF for my ingame use?
2. How can i change information on a given PDF (for example, names of NPC's listed) so that i can use it during the game.

I have Acrobat standard 6.0 and there does not seem to be any security restrictions on the PDF.

 

[mac1504]

i just got hold of abbyy finereader 7

it is an OCR program that works straight off the pdf's

pretty easy to use and accurate for the pdf's that i've done with it so far

there is a demo on their website

Chris

Does it work with DRM enabled PDF's?

 

[Nareau]

The simple answer is: you can't. PDF's are designed to be read, not modified.

That said, you can get around it in a few ways. Buy the full Acrobat authoring package, and you should be able to edit your PDF's. Or you can import them into Photoshop as images, erase the existing text, type over the space, then resave it (though it will make the files much bigger, and it's a mess). Or worse yet, copy-paste the contents of the PDF into Word, work on it there, then convert the Word doc to PDF (there are online converters, software you can buy, etc.)

Spider

 

[Bobitron]

To clarify:

1.How do i go about combining portions of Multiple PDF's into one PDF for my ingame use?
2. How can i change information on a given PDF (for example, names of NPC's listed) so that i can use it during the game.

I have Acrobat standard 6.0 and there does not seem to be any security restrictions on the PDF.

With the full version of Acrobat, you have a 'Create PDF' feature that can take multiple files and combine them into one, regardless of the source format. For example, you could take a 2 page pdf character sheet and add a word document (character background), a .jpg (character illustration), and another pdf (Spell list) to make a five page pdf.

Changing information is trickier, and you are going to need another program to do it effectivly, such as Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. You can, however, add text to a document using Acrobat very easily by inserting a feild that can be typed in. You could write notes in the margins, put -----'s through names and write the new ones above, etc.

 

[barsoomcore]

1.How do i go about combining portions of Multiple PDF's into one PDF for my ingame use?

Why do you want one PDF? That is, would one Word document work out for you? Or a web page or something? Or is there a reason you want it in PDF format?

2. How can i change information on a given PDF (for example, names of NPC's listed) so that i can use it during the game.

The easiest answer (which you probably won't like) is

Use a Macintosh. Macs can, without any Adobe software whatsoever, copy from and create new PDFs. Any application allows you to print to pdf, so you could copy the text, paste it into Word, add some images and save as a PDF.

I'm not sure what PDF-making software exists for PCs, but that's what you want. I suspect alternatives to Adobe exist.

However, I further suspect you would find some other format actually more useful for you. PDF isn't really the ideal format for what you want to do -- it's designed for sharing documents across computers that may not have the same fonts installed, and for defining print layout exactly. Neither of which are things you're trying to do. For pure reading and displaying on your computer, I wouldn't go with PDF.

But then I have a Mac, so all things are easier for me.

Oh, except play recent games. Oh, and run... er... Windows. Oh, and sell software I've written. And use Visual Studio. And use EditPlus.

Never mind. But do consider why you want PDFs, because from what you've written, I don't see any compelling reason to do so.

 

[XCorvis]

Use a Macintosh. Macs can, without any Adobe software whatsoever, copy from and create new PDFs. Any application allows you to print to pdf, so you could copy the text, paste it into Word, add some images and save as a PDF.

This is true, with qualifications. Like I said earlier, you can only select text from a PDF that allows you to select text. Some PDFs don't, usually because they were scanned as an image and then not run through a character recognition program. If this is the case, you must use the pdf-combining technique from the full version of acrobat. Or the photoshop hack.

Now, if you can select text from a PDF, you can paste it into word (or open office, or anything that can do RTFs), usually with no problem. Then edit it all you want and print it to a PDF. On a Mac, the basic PDF creating software is built-in. Equivalent products are available for PCs - namely, PDFcreator (free) and PDF995 (ad-supported), but they work about the same.