List members-

I made a comment that, like Word or Excel, Adobe Acrobat (pdf) files can
be modified.  Some people asked how to modify them and one asked a related
question about large scale modifications which is below.  I'll try to
answer both in one shot.

> Rosemary -
>
> Your response about modifying PDF documents really interested me -
> especially since I work with NSF FastLane submissions in our SR office.
>
> I know that you can edit PDF text (if only line by line) utilizing Adobe
> Acrobat Exchange - but I didn't know that you could modify it on a
> larger scale (which I guessed is what you meant by the comparison to
> Word, Excel, etc. files).  Do you do it by "cut and paste" methods or do
> you have to delete pages and create new ones for insertion?
>
> I'm asking because we've had PIs ask (at the last minute) for our office
> to make corrections to their FastLane PDF files by accessing the PDF
> file and we've been letting them know we can't change their PDF files,
> but that the change must be made to the original document and re-loaded
> - if I've been wrong (drats), we will need to re-think some of our
> support.
>
> Thanks,
>
> - Ellen Beck
>
> Ellen Beck, Research Resource Analyst
> Sponsored Research
> UCLA
> Phone:  (310) 825-4526
> Fax:  (310) 206-4996
> E-mail:  xxxxxx@srnet.ucla.edu

Acrobat files can be modified by opening them in Exchange and performing
certain limited functions only - for example, adding form fields;
embedding applications; inserting graphics, videos, and sound clips.
Wholesale modification of existing text is not really practical.  You can
make small modifications to the actual text of the document using either
the TouchUp Text Tool or the form field tool (more about this one in a
minute).  The TouchUp Text Tool lets you make minor modification such as
correcting spelling errors, changing "was" to "were" or "mg" to "ng" but,
as Ellen pointed out above, this must be done line at a time - and...there
is no word wrap.  If your change is so large that it causes a line to
extend way beyond the margins or fall far short of them, there's nothing
you can do to get things to line up except rewording completely or taking
other drastic action.

As for using the form field tool - with a little luck and a deep breath,
you can insert a form field with white (or other opaque) background over
offending text and use the field's default text to correct the error.  You
can actually cover small paragraphs with this method but it has its
limits.

Please be aware that neither the TouchUp Text Tool nor the form field tool
were designed for the purpose of correcting errors in a prepared document.
What I meant when I said you could manipulate an Acrobat file was that you
can access it and make certain changes supported by the Acrobat software.
Acrobat does not function like either a spreadsheet or a word processing
application.

Rosemary

____________________________________________________________________________
*****************************************************************************
Rosemary H. Ruff                   VOICE: 334-844-4438
Assistant Director                 FAX:   334-844-5953
Contracts & Grants Administration  EMAIL: xxxxxx@mail.auburn.edu
Auburn University, AL 36849-5131
Si hoc signum legere potes, operis boni in rebus Latinus alacribus et
fructuosis potiri potes!