Re: Edit PDF in Acrobat Pro?

[Chris Morton <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Again, thanks for all of your input, everyone. For those who responded
privately, I'll let you know if I need to take you up on your kind offers.

> Chris

On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 2:52 PM, Kathleen MacDowell <
kathleen -at- writefortheuser -dot- com> wrote:

> Pat, pat, pat.
>
> Can you pull it out of the hat and amaze everyone :-)
>
> The scanning idea might be the best way to go, depending on how long the
> doc is. I don't know about your software or anything, but I had an old HP
> printer with scanning software on it. It did a pretty good job on an old
> typed "Covenenants and Bylaws" for my HOA. That software has been updated
> quite a bit. I don't know if it can be used without an HP printer, but you
> could check the HP site out if you're interested.
>
> The major problem with scanning is that you then need to proof very
> carefully. (I'm assuming setting up styles and applying them is a basic part
> of the process.)
>
> Considering what you've said, lean on your employers to get you the
> software you need and help with the proofing.
>
> This is one of those situations where cost-cutting (i.e., laying off tech
> writers or using only contractors) is such a shot in the foot. But it isn't
> just small companies!
>
> Good luck!!!!! Let me know if you need some help; I'm a great proofreader
> and available :-)
>
> Kathleen
>
>   On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 4:20 PM, Chris Morton <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com>wrote:
>
>>  Thanks for all the suggestions. It happens that I work for a very small
>> company and no one except me knows anything about the need for native
>> files,
>> why Word isn't suitable for user manual creation, etc. Even our IT guy is
>> frequently in dark when it comes to who has the limited licensed version
>> of
>> software X on their machine, what version it is, and so forth.
>>
>> Like I wrote earlier, I inherited this PDF file and "the keeper" is no
>> longer with the comapny, cannot be contacted at this time for legal
>> reasons,
>> and so forth. The story is complex; you couldn't make it up yourselves as
>> a
>> fiction writer, for your agent would take one look at your synopsis and
>> say,
>> "Ohhhhhh, *COME*-on!!!!"
>>
>> Oh, and did I mention that the updated manual is supposed to be ready to
>> go
>> inside of two weeks?
>> HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA.................
>>
>> On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 1:24 PM, Mike McCallister <
>> mike -dot- mccallister -at- pkware -dot- com> wrote:
>>
>> > One more next-to-last resort, presuming the password issue is sorted
>> > out, is the new OpenOffice PDF Import extension from Sun:
>> > http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/pdfimport
>> >
>> > I have not tried this since a very early beta, but it's officially out
>> > of beta now. The developers warn it's unstable with documents longer
>> > than 20 pages, but it might help somewhat.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Mike McCallister
>> > Document Architect
>> > PKWARE, Inc.
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: techwr-l-bounces+mike -dot- mccallister=pkware -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>>    > [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+mike.mccallister<techwr-l-bounces%2Bmike.mccallister>
>> <techwr-l-bounces%2Bmike.mccallister>
>> > =pkware -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
>> > On Behalf Of Lin Sims
>> > Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 3:08 PM
>> > To: salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com
>> > Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>> > Subject: Re: Edit PDF in Acrobat Pro?
>> >
>> >  On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 3:55 PM, Chris Morton<salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com>
>> > wrote:
>> > > Interestingly, no I can't.
>> > >
>> > > Also, I'm trying the PDF-file trial version, but it won't perform its
>> > > magic because it wants a password that's apparently been assigned to
>> > the PDF.
>> > >
>> > > Now what?
>> >
>> > Geoff nailed it. Neither the trial nor the licensed version will open
>> > that file without the password. Since the file is password-protected,
>> > you need to
>> >
>> > (*) try to find the originals
>> >
>> > or
>> >
>> > (*) get a password cracker (and be careful which one you use) to open
>> > the file and then export it to Word, then slog through it getting things
>> > fixed
>> >
>> > or
>> >
>> > (*) recreate it from scratch
>> >
>> >
>> > The last two options will obviously take the longest, and if you can't
>> > find the original files I'd suggest recreating from scratch, since
>> > trying to fix the resulting mess will likely send you to the funny farm.
>> >
>> > Actually, I lie (a little). If you can get the password removed and can
>> > then export to Word (and I think you have to have Acrobat 7 or later for
>> > that), you can then resave as a plain text file with no formatting. That
>> > will at least save you a lot of typing. At that point, "all" you'll have
>> > to do is create styles and apply like mad, as well as reconverting text
>> > to tables and reimporting any graphics.
>> >
>> > Good luck.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Lin Sims
>> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> >
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>> > 2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
>> > http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/
>> >
>> > Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual authors
>> > and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write once, publish
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>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>
>> Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
>> Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
>> 2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
>> http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/
>>
>> Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
>> authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
>> once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control!
>> http://www.helpandmanual.com/
>>
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>> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as kathleen -at- writefortheuser -dot- com -dot- 
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>
>
> --
> Kathleen MacDowell
> www.writefortheuser.com
> kathleen -at- writefortheuser -dot- com
> kathleen -dot- eamd -at- gmail -dot- com
>
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help  
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

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