Many of my colleagues and clients ask, “How do you edit a PDF?” The simple answer is, you don’t. But there are ways around the issue. My esteemed writing colleague, Katharine O’Moore-Klopf, has this to say on the topic:
“PDFs aren’t meant for editing, because they are images. You can’t actually correct the text in them; you can only mark them up so that someone can then go in and make the noted corrections to the source document (e.g., to a Word document). That said, if you must mark up a PDF as part of proofreading, there are lots of blog posts and video tutorials on how to do that as painlessly as possible.”
Katharine adds the following: “If the original file went through Adobe Distiller (the application that converts Word, Excel, etc to PDF) and if the security settings weren’t set, you can actually edit the text in a PDF file. But that’s still not great for real editing (i.e., heavy-duty editing.)”
The following links come from the “Editing Tools” page of the Copyeditors’ Knowledge Base, which is curated by Katharine.
*Annotating PDFs: A Piece of the Digital Workflow (a 3-part video):
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBbN0d0UoaQ>
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSY2wuAipfY>
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPvDP1BTBsA>
*”Basic PDF Mark-Up for Copy Editors and Proofreaders”:
<http://blog.catchthesun.net/2011/05/basic-pdf-mark-up-for-copy-editors-a
nd-proofreaders/>, or http://tinyurl.com/6y8rsed
*”Create a Checklist of Your PDF Mark-up in 2 Clicks”:
<http://blog.catchthesun.net/2011/07/create-a-checklist-of-your-pdf-mark-
up-in-2-clicks/>, or http://tinyurl.com/43cufdz
*”Edit Tools for Marking up PDFs in Acrobat”:
<http://blog.catchthesun.net/2011/06/edit-tools-for-marking-up-pdfs-in-ac
robat/>, or http://tinyurl.com/5wfz3ae
*”Key Mark-Up Techniques for Proofreading PDFs”:
<http://blog.catchthesun.net/2011/06/key-mark-up-techniques-for-proofread
ing-pdfs/>, or http://tinyurl.com/62xr4qx
*PDF editing stamps (American proofreading symbols) made available by
Wiley & Sons: <http://www.wiley.com/legacy/ptvendors/production.html>, or
http://tinyurl.com/77gk4h3
*PDF editing stamps (American proofreading symbols): red set and black
set (made available by Copyediting-L): <http://www.copyediting-l.info/>
(click on the “Resources” tab, and then use your browser’s page-search
function to find the phrase “Diana Stirling’s”)
*”PDF Editing–Making the Most of the Stamps Tool”:
<http://louiseharnbyproofreading.weebly.com/4/post/2012/01/pdf-editing-ma
king-the-most-of-the-stamps-tool.html>, or http://tinyurl.com/7zjtxrk
*”Timesaving PDF Markup Using Adobe Acrobat”:
<http://www.copyediting.com/sites/default/files/CE0212_0.pdf>, or
http://tinyurl.com/6o783ce (article in _Copyediting_ newsletter; paid
subscription required)
*”Using the PDF Markup Comments List: One User’s Experience”:
<http://blog.catchthesun.net/2011/07/using-the-pdf-markup-comments-list-o
ne-user%e2%80%99s-experience/>, or http://tinyurl.com/3e3eny5
How Do You Edit a PDF?
By Dr. Meg Bouvier
We stay current on NIH happenings and would be delighted to keep you informed.
Many of my colleagues and clients ask, “How do you edit a PDF?” The simple answer is, you don’t. But there are ways around the issue. My esteemed writing colleague, Katharine O’Moore-Klopf, has this to say on the topic:
“PDFs aren’t meant for editing, because they are images. You can’t actually correct the text in them; you can only mark them up so that someone can then go in and make the noted corrections to the source document (e.g., to a Word document). That said, if you must mark up a PDF as part of proofreading, there are lots of blog posts and video tutorials on how to do that as painlessly as possible.”
Katharine adds the following: “If the original file went through Adobe Distiller (the application that converts Word, Excel, etc to PDF) and if the security settings weren’t set, you can actually edit the text in a PDF file. But that’s still not great for real editing (i.e., heavy-duty editing.)”
The following links come from the “Editing Tools” page of the Copyeditors’ Knowledge Base, which is curated by Katharine.
*Annotating PDFs: A Piece of the Digital Workflow (a 3-part video):
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBbN0d0UoaQ>
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSY2wuAipfY>
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPvDP1BTBsA>
*”Basic PDF Mark-Up for Copy Editors and Proofreaders”:
<http://blog.catchthesun.net/2011/05/basic-pdf-mark-up-for-copy-editors-a
nd-proofreaders/>, or http://tinyurl.com/6y8rsed
*”Create a Checklist of Your PDF Mark-up in 2 Clicks”:
<http://blog.catchthesun.net/2011/07/create-a-checklist-of-your-pdf-mark-
up-in-2-clicks/>, or http://tinyurl.com/43cufdz
*”Edit Tools for Marking up PDFs in Acrobat”:
<http://blog.catchthesun.net/2011/06/edit-tools-for-marking-up-pdfs-in-ac
robat/>, or http://tinyurl.com/5wfz3ae
*”Key Mark-Up Techniques for Proofreading PDFs”:
<http://blog.catchthesun.net/2011/06/key-mark-up-techniques-for-proofread
ing-pdfs/>, or http://tinyurl.com/62xr4qx
*PDF editing stamps (American proofreading symbols) made available by
Wiley & Sons: <http://www.wiley.com/legacy/ptvendors/production.html>, or
http://tinyurl.com/77gk4h3
*PDF editing stamps (American proofreading symbols): red set and black
set (made available by Copyediting-L): <http://www.copyediting-l.info/>
(click on the “Resources” tab, and then use your browser’s page-search
function to find the phrase “Diana Stirling’s”)
*”PDF Editing–Making the Most of the Stamps Tool”:
<http://louiseharnbyproofreading.weebly.com/4/post/2012/01/pdf-editing-ma
king-the-most-of-the-stamps-tool.html>, or http://tinyurl.com/7zjtxrk
*”Timesaving PDF Markup Using Adobe Acrobat”:
<http://www.copyediting.com/sites/default/files/CE0212_0.pdf>, or
http://tinyurl.com/6o783ce (article in _Copyediting_ newsletter; paid
subscription required)
*”Using the PDF Markup Comments List: One User’s Experience”:
<http://blog.catchthesun.net/2011/07/using-the-pdf-markup-comments-list-o
ne-user%e2%80%99s-experience/>, or http://tinyurl.com/3e3eny5