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I refuse to accept that PDFs were never meant to be edited

Community Beginner ,
Feb 02, 2023 Feb 02, 2023

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I REFUSE to accept the answer tht PDFs were never meant to be edited. In Adobe's eyes, maybe. But, there is absolutely no reason that a comprehensive file format such as PDF cannot be edited in a way that is both constructive and not MADDENING!

Adobe Acrobat is [cursing removed] for an editor. Just because they think it work perfectly fine does not mean that it works perfectly fine. [Branched to new thread by moderator]

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Edit and convert PDFs

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 02, 2023 Feb 02, 2023

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Adobe thinks in its perfect world that no one ever has to edit files that they do not have the original source document for and don't want to recreate documents that might be dozens or even hundreds of pages long, or even worse have fields in them that make the only option to edit being in Acrobat. It is like saying do it over or you'll be sorry.

 

I had hoped that when Adobe challenged Quark's monopoly for desktop publishing that they would learn from Quark's mistakes, but they have become far worse than Quark ever was.

 

Adobe and Apple are the Microsofts of the 90s. Their [cursing removed by moderator] doesn't stink and heaven forbid anyone dare challenge their omnipotence.

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Community Expert ,
Feb 02, 2023 Feb 02, 2023

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@Aspire to Inspire wrote:

Adobe thinks in its perfect world that no one ever has to edit files that they do not have the original source document for...


 

 

Maybe, but that's not how I see it. When I started using Acrobat with version 2.0, nothing could be edited or changed. Nothing. That didn't stop people from asking to be able to make edits or change a logo, but it was impossible then. The one and only way was to go to the source document and make a new PDF. Adobe listened to their users and over time has made amazing changes to the application that we never thought were possible in those early days.

 

The way best way to tell Adobe what you would like to see in future releases is not to gripe on the user forums (although you are absolutely welcome to!), but to post a feature request on User Voice. That is the platform the developers follow and where other like-minded users can upvote your idea. 

 

Adobe does not own PDF. They gave it away in 2008 and are now required to follow the ISO standard.

 

Jane

 

 

 

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 02, 2023 Feb 02, 2023

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NO APPLICATION. NONE. Should EVER re-write, re-build, re-work what a human being does, unless expressly given the option. I have spent the past day, trying to move fields and corresponding text around in a single pdf file. Every single time I thought I had it working th way I needed it to, it concatenated the text areas, rewriting formating, leading, etc. making it IMPOSSBLE to move those fields without having to break up each and every text box AGAIN! 

 

To state clearly for the record, Adobe:

quote

NO APPLICATION. Should EVER re-write, re-build, re-work what a human being does, unless expressly given the option to do so.


By @Aspire to Inspire



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Community Expert ,
Feb 02, 2023 Feb 02, 2023

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@Aspire to Inspire wrote:

NO APPLICATION. NONE. Should EVER re-write, re-build, re-work what a human being does, unless expressly given the option.


 

This comment brought me back to the old days when when I would print a ream or more of paper and use we would use couriers and overnight mail. Then FAX machines were invented did wonders for smaller jobs, and finally we had Acrobat that was exactly like a printed document except we could send it electronically. This movie shows you what the world was like in those days and how we had to work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRrpyY8KPWE&t=11s

 

I'm not saying you don't have a good idea, but I am saying that telling other users on a user-to-user forum does not get the word to the Adobe Acrobat developers.

 

For my part, I create and design PDF forms in Adobe InDesign, then export to PDF and avoid all the frustration that you experience. All my frames stay were I put them and none auto-merge. I've been doing this since CS6. I can use Paragraph styles for text and Object styles for buttons and checkboxes. Some fields need a little tweaking in Acrobat, but not much.

 

Jane

 

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Community Expert ,
Feb 02, 2023 Feb 02, 2023

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quote

I REFUSE to accept the answer tht PDFs were never meant to be edited. In Adobe's eyes, maybe. But, there is absolutely no reason that a comprehensive file format such as PDF cannot be edited in a way that is both constructive and not MADDENING!

Adobe Acrobat is a pile of crap for an editor. Just because they think it work perfectly fine does not mean that it works perfectly fine.

 


By @Aspire to Inspire

 

I think you are missing the fact that Adobe create the PDF specification. So they have a pretty good idea about what they meant it to be 😉  Which is electronic paper. You don't edit your paper documents do you?  You can mark them up, you can cut them up and paste the pieces on to a new sheet of paper, but you can't actually edit them can you? If you want to change a paper document you have to go back to the original electronic file and change it, then re-print. 

So this is the situation with PDF files, except you can make some small changes.  And as I stated earlier, there are other tools out there that are setup to "Edit" a PDF. You are just beating your head up against a wall trying to get Acrobat to do something it's not. And for no good reason. Using a real content creation tool is not a hardship. So don't blame Acrobat, you are the one whose trying to use the wrong tool for the job.  You only have yourself to blame for your failure. 

 

 

Thom Parker - Software Developer at PDFScripting
Use the Acrobat JavaScript Reference early and often

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