The.pdf (Portable Document Format) file extension, developed by Adobe Systems, has become one of the most common formats among digital documents. This format is widely used due to its wide compatibility and flexible feature set. While some simple tasks like viewing, combining, and digitally signing pdf files can be done with free software, for more complex editing tasks, you need to purchase Adobe Acrobat. This guide will cover some of the basic use cases for reading, creating, and editing.pdf files.
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Create and edit PDF files
Step 1. Determine how you will use the PDF files
If you need to do complex editing and manipulation of PDF files, you will need to purchase Adobe Acrobat. If you only want to open or export existing files as PDF, then you have several options free of charge.
- Acrobat Reader, Foxit Reader, and the Windows Reader application are some of the free options for viewing.pdf files.
- You can create a document in a word processor such as Word, Google Docs and save it as a.pdf file, but that PDF can no longer be modified without Acrobat.
Step 2. Create a PDF file from an existing file
Open Adobe Acrobat and press Tools> Create PDF File. This is where you should start if you want to import files to transform into PDF or create a new PDF from scratch.
- There are several import options to choose from, including: importing one or more files, a scanned file, a web page, and other clipboard content.
Adobe supports a limited number of file types. These are: Microsoft Office (2007 and later), OpenOffice documents, basic text documents (.txt,.rtf), image files, and other Adobe products
- Selecting a file will create a PDF copy of that file in the same location on your computer as the original file.
Step 3. Edit text in the imported file
With the file now open, hit "Edit PDF" and choose a highlighted text box. You can write the changes you want to make, or use the options in the "Format" section.
Step 4. Edit the images in the imported file
Hit "Edit PDF" and choose any of the highlighted images. Use the options in the "Objects" section to manipulate the image.
Part 2 of 4: Rearrange PDF files in Adobe Acrobat
Step 1. Choose the document you want to rearrange
Open a PDF file in Acrobat and hit "Organize Pages" on the right panel. The interface will change and the thumbnails of all the pages will now be displayed. A new toolbar will appear with several options: "Rotate", "Delete", "Extract", "Insert" and "Replace".
Step 2. Rotate a page
Select the thumbnail of the page you want to rotate and press the "Rotate Left" or "Rotate Right" arrow buttons to rotate the page 90 degrees.
Step 3. Delete an unwanted page
Select the thumbnail of the page you want to delete and press "Delete" (the trash can icon). Then press "OK" to confirm.
You can select multiple pages to delete in one go by pressing Ctrl + click (or ⌘ Cmd + click on Mac)
Step 4. Insert a new page
If you press the "Insert" tool, a menu will appear with options similar to creating a new PDF: "Insert from file", "Web page", "Scanner", "Clipboard" or "Blank page". Either of these options will cause a new page to be inserted at the end of the document.
- You can also access this menu with the "+" button that appears next to the thumbnail views of the pages. This method is used to insert a new page at that location.
- You can insert any type of file that is compatible with Acrobat. It will be integrated into the.pdf as if you were importing any other file.
- If you use the free version, you can combine PDF files using some online services. Typically the process involves uploading a file to a site, choosing the order, and downloading the combined file.
In this case, all files must be in PDF format to be able to combine them
Step 5. Replace an existing page
Click on the thumbnail of the page you want to replace and press the "Replace" button. Go to the location of the page with which you will replace the first one, select it and press "OK" to confirm the replacement of the page.
- You can replace multiple pages with others by selecting a page range in the box before confirming.
- Keep in mind that replacement pages must be of an Acrobat-compatible file type.
Step 6. Rearrange the pages
Select the thumbnails of the pages you want to move and simply drag and drop them to the desired location in your PDF. Before you drop them, a blue line will indicate the area you selected to place them.
In the "Select page range" menu, you can choose specific page ranges or other options, such as odd or even pages
Step 7. Extract the pages from a PDF
Select the pages you want to extract, press the "Extract" button on the toolbar and then press the "Extract" button that appears below the first one. Doing so will extract the selected pages into a new separate PDF file. These pages will not be removed from the original document.
Before making your selection, you will see two options to the left of the "Extract" button: "Delete pages after extraction" and "Extract pages as separate files". If you select the first option, the extracted pages will be deleted after extraction. If you select the second, a separate PDF file will be created for each extracted page
Part 3 of 4: Create a Fillable Form with Adobe Acrobat
Step 1. Scan or import the document
In Acrobat, select Tools> Prepare Form. Then select the option to open or scan a document and press Beginning. After the import is complete, Acrobat will automatically analyze the document for blank fields and insert fillable spaces there.
Step 2. Create or edit the form fields
There are a variety of tools to modify the form fields and ensure that the digital version is as accurate as the physical copy.
- If you want to add more fields, you can select the area and choose the desired field type in the panel on the right.
- Acrobat's autoscan might miss signature fields that are not very well defined. On the toolbar, press the "Digital Signature" button to add one manually. Click and drag to select the area of the form where you want to add a digital signature field.
- Existing fields can be easily edited by right-clicking (or Ctrl + clicking on the Mac) a field and selecting Properties…> Options.
- You can remove the unwanted fields by right-clicking and selecting "Remove."
Step 3. Preview your changes
You can check the changes at any time by pressing the "Preview" button and completing the form.
Note that the "Preview" button changes to "Edit" when pressed. This is because you exit edit mode. To make more changes or finish the form, you must return to edit mode
Step 4. Complete the form
Once you've finished making changes, press Edit> Distribute to submit your digital form.
Step 5. Complete a fillable field
The recipient of the fillable form must have some kind of PDF viewing program in order to open the fillable form. Most free programs, including Adobe Reader, allow their users to fill out fillable forms.
As for signatures, the most complete solution is Adobe Reader. When the user opens the file, Adobe Reader will detect the signature field and ask you to add your signature. The user will be able to scan or capture an image of their digital signature, draw a signature with the mouse, or type their name and let the software make a digital approximation
Part 4 of 4: Working on PDF security
Step 1. Add a password to restrict read access
If you don't want anyone to be able to access your PDF, go to Tools> Protection> Encrypt> Password Encryption and select Request a password to open the document. Enter the desired password and confirm it.
From this menu, you can also configure advanced settings such as the encoding level and compatibility with previous versions of Acrobat to ensure that users without permission cannot access it
Step 2. Set a password and restrict editing permissions
If you want people to be able to see your PDF but at the same time make sure that nobody makes changes, you can restrict the editing permissions. Go to Tools> Protection> Restrict Editing. Enter the desired password and press "OK" to confirm.
Step 3. Remove the password
If you want to undo the security checks of your PDF, go to Tools> Protection> Encryption> Remove Security. Press "OK" to confirm and save the changes.