PDFs

[pilgrimav8r]

I am looking for a Pdf read/write/copy/cut n paste App for my iMac, any suggestions that does not cost a fortune!

I have PDF Reader pro on my iPad and it will do everything I want but I would like the same ability on my iMac but its a very expensive App @£40.

So I open a pdf file on my Mac as normal and I can copy, cut paste bits into iWork's.

Many thanks

 

[giradman]

I am looking for a Pdf read/write/copy/cut n paste App for my iMac, any suggestions that does not cost a fortune!

I have PDF Reader pro on my iPad and it will do everything I want but I would like the same ability on my iMac but its a very expensive App @£40.

So I open a pdf file on my Mac as normal and I can copy, cut paste bits into iWork's.

Well, you already have a PDF reader and basic editor on your Mac OS X (not sure which version you have installed) - it's called Preview and is one of the many free apps that are part of Apple's OS - here is Apple's Support Article (scroll down) & another from MacWorld - let us know if Preview solves your needs - good luck. Dave

 

[pilgrimav8r]

Thank you that worked perfectly. Albeit I am relatively new to the iMac, when I got it I bundled all that stuff into boxes I can only find now when I use the launcher. You help was most appreciated.

 

[pilgrimav8r]

Still on PDF's, I now want to be able to turn a PDF back in an Pages/word document any ideas?

 

[twerppoet]

PDF Pen by Smile for the Mac can convert a PDF back to a text editable document. Success depends on the complexity of the document. The last time I tried the app was years ago. I understand it's a lot better now.

However it's a pro level app, so it's pro level priced. If there are cheaper alternatives I'm not aware of them, and I expect they don't work nearly as well.

In general, what you are looking for is OCR (optical character recognition) software.

I don't think their iOS app has that ability, but I could be wrong.

If all you want is the text, it is 'usually' possible to select and copy text in PDF Expert, and most other annotation apps. If the text is actually an image, or the document is locked, you can't. The copied text rarely retains it's formatting when pasted into other apps.

 

[giradman]

Still on PDF's, I now want to be able to turn a PDF back in an Pages/word document any ideas?

Well, not an easy chore w/ 'free' choices - TP has already outlined some of the issues - in my working days when on Windows, Adobe's usually 'expensive' software was available but you may not want to spend a lot - don't know?

I'm sure that you've done some googling, but just was curious myself and found this recent Article - a bunch of options offered - take a look and let us know if any of the suggestions (or others you may find) helps - this comes up occasionally, so others may be interested. Good luck - Dave

 

[twerppoet]

Guess I'm behind the times. Hopefully those will be good-enough solutions.

 

[twerppoet]

Actually, that got me thinking. Calibre is meant to convert ebook formats, and both PDF and Docx are listed as input and export formats. If the PDF is mostly text, it might work well enough. Calibre is free (or you can donate).

I guess I was hung up on professional results, since I usually think of PDF documents as complicated: posters, newsletters, infographics, etc.. Those are a lot harder to convert reliably.

 

[giradman]

Guess I'm behind the times. Hopefully those will be good-enough solutions.

Well, glad that I no longer need to worry about editing and/or converting PDFs back-and-forth - that format was like a file written on the Rosetta Stone - Dave

 

[twerppoet]

Well, glad that I no longer need to worry about editing and/or converting PDFs back-and-forth - that format was like a file written on the Rosetta Stone - Dave

To be fair, PDF was never meant to be editable. It was supposed to be a print layout format, and later graduated to standard electronic document for distributing 'non-editable' content. Even Adobe's PDF app was just a fancy conversion tool, meant to fine tune and export other document formats (Adobe's other apps being foremost). I once bought Adobe's PDF creation app, thinking I was getting a powerful layout tool. Boy was I disappointed

You are supposed to keep the original document to edit, and convert again if needed.

Of course, sometimes we don't have access to the original, and then things get difficult.

.

 

[pilgrimav8r]

Thank you both I will do a bit of reading, frustrating bit is it is my own, very big and hyperlinked all over the place document, that I rushed into pressing 'convert', to impress a pal, no back up, no copy - wot a plonker!!! I certainly learnt a very big and very painful lesson in pressing that button - assuming it would just make a PDF copy, so far has cost a weeks work. Very many thanks again.

 

[scifan57]

Do you have Time Machine activated on your iMac? If so, you could search to find the Time Machine backup that pre-dates your problem, which would have your unconverted document.

 

[twerppoet]

I'm curious about what app you used to create the PDF, because I don't know of any that replace the original file. Everything I've used creates a new PDF file.

 

[pilgrimav8r]

It's called Word to PDF £7:99 and it's my fault. I emailed the developer and he has been as good as gold and recovered the lot barring a single title page (lots of embedded images) which I've already sorted, I basically, when opening the initial app I told it not to save the original.

Sorted many thanks.

 

[twerppoet]

Awesome. Glad to hear it. And it's always good to hear about a helpful developer.