How to Edit PDF Files

PDF files are often used to condense large files for emailing.

The Portable Document Format -- PDF -- facilitates sharing of already completed documents. Even so, occasional editing is necessary. You can only edit a PDF file if you have the full version of the Adobe Acrobat software; your Adobe Reader is not capable of editing PDF documents.

Instructions

1. Open Adobe Acrobat. From the File menu select "Open." Browse to the document you wish to edit and double-click the file to open it.

2. Add or remove pages by selecting the "Tools" menu on the right-hand side of the page. Select the "Pages" option. Choose the appropriate action: "Insert from file," "Delete," "Extract" or "Replace," to name a few options. For example, to add pages from another PDF file, click the "Insert from file" option and select the file you wish to insert. Follow the prompts to tell Acrobat where to insert the additional pages (before or after the existing pages) and click "OK." Delete pages by the clicking the "Delete" option and highlighting the pages you wanted deleted from the PDF file.

3. Edit the text within the pages by selecting "Tools," "Content," "Edit Document Text." Highlight the text you need to edit and type in the new text.

4. Click on "Tools," "Content" and "Edit Object" to move objects around on the page, resize them, flip or rotate them. You can also edit the size and orientation of images and text boxes using this option.

5. Complete the necessary editing, proofread your changes and click "Save As" from the File menu. Name your document something to indicate that it is a revised version of the original document and click the "Save" button.

Tips & Warnings

• It may be possible to edit PDF files with other applications, this is just one example

• Be absolutely certain to save your new document with a new name. Always keep a copy of the original document for reference and just in case the newer version is not agreed upon by all parties using the document.

References

• AdobeTV: Episode: Manipulating Pages in Acrobat
• Adobe Acrobat X Pro: Touching Up Content in a PDF File