Jump to content

OT: Anyone know how to save .pdf files


Recommended Posts

I don't have the adobe application, just the latest reader. It seems you cannot copy or save as or do anything with the .pdf files even if they are just standard manuscript with no graphics or anything. Is that true or is there a way to copy a page onto a Word document and then edit it. Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't have the adobe application, just the latest reader. It seems you cannot copy or save as or do anything with the .pdf files even if they are just standard manuscript with no graphics or anything. Is that true or is there a way to copy a page onto a Word document and then edit it. Thanks.

154155[/snapback]

 

Mick, PDF's are designed to stop just that. The Feds, among others, use them because they got tired of having crumbs reword their public sites. I believe you can buy a pricey conversion program.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mick, PDF's are designed to stop just that. The Feds, among others, use them because they got tired of having crumbs reword their public sites. I believe you can buy a pricey conversion program.

154161[/snapback]

 

Sorry, but PDFs are not designed to stop that.

 

Load the PDF, select "file|save as," then save it as an RTF (Rich-Text Format) file.

 

I'm not sure if that's an option in the free Acrobat Reader, but is defiantely an option in the fullfledged version.

 

Adobe also has a distiller you could run it through (my company does things like that all the time, as we're a printing company, amongst other things).

 

CW

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You could always pirate a full up Adobe. Just PM TracyLee.

154184[/snapback]

 

Even better, find out if the company where you work has it that you could legally use. (foreign concept, I know). For example, with the license we have with Microsoft, all of the employees can legally run the full Office suite on their home PCs. (obviously have to uninstall it if you quit).

 

CW

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gotta back up Fezmid on this one... The Distiller is the best way to convert but is pricey... It will strip text nicely and give you sensible formatting in your Word Processor.

 

The fully paid up Reader gives an option to copy text - but expect to have to spend a LONG time reformatting it as line breaks, punctuation and so on do not copy over well.

 

If your pdf is graphics heavy - you can forget about trying to rip text out other than with the distiller... It's just too much of a waste of time... Print it and copy out by hand.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In version 6 of the free Acrobat reader, try

File | Save as text

It makes a crappily formatted Notepad file.

 

Better, though, is:

Edit | Copy file to clipboard

Just open a new Word doc, and paste it in. It is formatted pretty well, can be easily fixed.

 

Just upgrade to the free V6 if V5 does not have those options.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for all the responses. Apparently, whomever is responsible for the .pdf files can shut off the "copy to clipboard" function before you get it, or restrict it in several ways. I bought an ebook, from amazon, which was sent in a pdf file. It allowed one "copy" of about 15 pages and then shut down and didnt allow it any more. I assume it was because of copyright laws for the book, but do not know for sure. I tried the same ebook off a netlibrary, which allowed me to download the whole thing but didnt allow any copying at all. All of the editing functions at the top of the browser or program were gray and unavailable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...