Overcoming issues with PDF documents

PDF documents are a very popular way of ensuring that a document cannot be edited once saved in PDF form. This can be very useful when sending out electronic quotes and invoices, which understandably need to remain locked to the recipient so that they cannot amend any of the contents. If a company sends out an invoice in the form of a simple word document, they are running a risk as it can be readily edited and changed. PDF format creates an additional level of security so that a document can essentially be “read only”, ensuring it is secure once it has left the office.

There are many problems that can be caused by this facility however; the creator of the PDF can often need to edit the original document at a later date. If the original source file is lost (such as a word document) then the creator is left with a PDF that cannot be edited. The most popular practice in many businesses is to use software that creates a print to PDF facility. A word document is created, and then printed to PDF format, which essentially locks it as a viewable PDF. This is when issues occur if the original editable word document is lost leaving only the PDF file. If any changes and updates are required for this file then software needs to be purchased so that the user can edit PDF documents.

In order to edit PDF documents there are various applications available for purchase. Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office and Adobe Reader are all frequently used and installed on machines in the office place but none of these can edit PDF documents. Additional software is required for such a task due to the secure format that needs to be edited. To edit PDF documents, once the required software has been purchased and installed, the end user simply has to open the PDF using the new piece of software. What happens next is dependent on the software that is purchased. The more efficient editors are often considered to be the ones which allow the end user to edit PDF documents within the same application. In most cases, the end user would open the PDF editor, click ‘edit PDF’, locate the PDF document that needs to be edited, then this would be loaded and available to edit. Even though this process sounds a lot like any other document creator/editor, to edit PDF documents in this way is very quick and easy and not that common. For instance, some of the cheaper alternative software on the market has to convert the PDF file format to the Word file format before the user can edit PDF documents. The conversion process is not only time consuming, it can also alter required features of the original source file. Font formatting and picture / table locations within the document can all be unwillingly altered in the conversion process.

If the requirement is simply to edit PDF documents quickly and efficiently, it is well worth the money to purchase a piece of editing software which opens the PDF so that it is then instantly available for changes to be made before being re-saved back in the PDF format.