Questions tagged [pdf]
Documents in the Portable Document Format, created by Adobe Systems, and readable with Adobe Reader, Apple Preview, and other software programs
137
questions
33
votes
13
answers
50k
views
Make existing PDF searchable ( OCR ) via command line / script
I am looking for an offline scriptable tool that makes an existing PDF file searchable by running OCR on it, replacing the original non-searchable file with the searchable version, and can run ...
- 928
221
votes
8
answers
1.5m
views
How do I combine two or more images to get a single pdf file?
Say I have some image files (for instance, the result of scanning some sheets) and I want to combine them into a single pdf file, each image on a different page.
Is there a faster / more convenient ...
- 3,010
56
votes
5
answers
177k
views
How can I convert JPG into PDF easily?
Is there any way to batch convert .jpg files into single .pdf files?
- 751
21
votes
13
answers
51k
views
Change background colour for PDF when Viewing
When a PDF is opened, its actual background color is often white. On Windows, several PDF viewers have the ability to set the background color to another one, which doesn't modify the PDF file itself. ...
- 347
17
votes
9
answers
30k
views
What readers annotate PDFs better than the Preview app?
I usually spend around 3 or 4 hours a day working with and annotating PDFs. I've always used Preview, but there's a few things that bother me about it. Mainly the large icons used when you place notes,...
- 273
101
votes
10
answers
91k
views
How to decrease .pdf size without losing quality
Background
I want to decrease size of the .pdf filled with images.
In Preview in can be dome through Export and set Quartz Filter-> Reduce File Size before saving.
Problem
The file indeed ...
- 3,377
49
votes
9
answers
54k
views
What software is available (preferably free) to edit PDF files on Mac OS X?
What free software/app is there to edit pdf files on Mac OS X?
Specifically I am looking to edit an existing PDF file and re-save it in PDF format.
- 1,033
21
votes
4
answers
27k
views
What causes PDF file size to increase when saving in Preview?
It seems that making edits, annotations, or even just opening and saving a PDF file in Preview will cause a significant increase in file size. I've noticed that for some books I've scanned this also ...
- 297
14
votes
4
answers
8k
views
finer control of Preview anti-aliasing (font smoothing)?
I have just updated to Yosemite and something must have changed in the way Preview renders fonts.
I find that Preview display of text in PDF files is rather sloppy, I am pretty sure it used to be ...
- 389
11
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Can man pages be converted to html and/or pdf format?
The command man bash produces a lot of output. What I desire would be to either search the results or print the results to paper. So, is there a way to convert a man page to a html and/or pdf document....
- 39k
11
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Crop multiple pages in a pdf file
I can use Preview app to select a region and crop a page. Can I do the same cropping for a whole pages in pdf? Are there tools (commercial or free) available for it?
- 5,644
8
votes
3
answers
9k
views
How make Safari 7 open PDF files in Preview instead of opening them in-page?
Since Safari 7.0 which was introduced yesterday with OS X Mavericks the little terminal hack
defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitOmitPDFSupport -bool YES
doesn't work anymore (at least not for me)....
- 301
3
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Preview on Catalina fails to select or copy text in PDF
After entering the Title for this question, I see numerous links to (perhaps) similar questions regarding Preview's failure to select or copy text from a PDF document. And so this question may do ...
- 4,250
141
votes
7
answers
247k
views
Add images to existing PDF with Preview
Preview allows to add text and shapes to PDFs. But is it possible to add existing images (PNG / JPEG) to a PDF file as well?
I do know that Preview already has some of image embedding by allowing the ...
- 1,559
95
votes
8
answers
99k
views
Is there the dark mode (inverted colors) in the 'Preview' Application for PDF reading? [duplicate]
I am using the “Preview” application for reading a PDF file on a MacBook Pro. Is there any way in I can read it in dark mode?
You can do it in Adobe Acrobat Reader by changing background and text ...
- 1,051
83
votes
12
answers
487k
views
Blacking out a part of a PDF, or redaction of text
What methods are there to blackout a part of a PDF?
I don't want to simply use Preview's annotation tools and then save the document, since then someone could open up the PDF and remove the ...
- 23.8k
38
votes
8
answers
93k
views
How can I print a booklet from a pdf file?
I have a pdf document, and I want to print it as a booklet, i.e. two pages of the document on each side of a sheet of paper and so that (when printed) the entire thing can just be folded in the middle ...
- 2,040
35
votes
4
answers
28k
views
Mac OS X: How to merge pdf files in a directory according to their file names
I want to merge several hundred pdf files in a directory automatically according to their file names.
E.g.
The files
1000.1.pdf
1000.2.pdf
1000.3.pdf
1000.x.pdf should be merged into 1000.pdf
and
...
- 1,480
35
votes
12
answers
292k
views
Split a single page PDF into multiple pages
Is there an easy way (in Preview or whatever) to scale up and split a PDF file with a single page into multiple pages? What I would like is to split say an A3 paper document into two A4 pages, to ...
- 2,040
31
votes
7
answers
157k
views
How to fix run-time error 53 every time I open a file in MS Word, Excel, or PowerPoint on Big Sur?
Since I installed Big Sur, I have run into this problem every time I open a document using Word or a worksheet using Excel or a slide show in PowerPoint:
Run-time error '53':
File not found: Library/...
- 1,247
28
votes
5
answers
27k
views
How to disable Acrobat Reader in Safari?
In Safari, the default PDF-Viewer in Safari is "Preview".
Unfortunately, since I installed the Acrobat Reader, this default changed to the Acrobat Reader, which is extremely annoying.
How can I ...
- 1,277
18
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Can I disable Safari's pinch-to-zoom tab switcher? [duplicate]
When looking at a PDF document I often want to zoom-out to scroll quickly to its contents and get an overview.
However, when I zoom-out past a certain threshold (it seems to differ per PDF) Safari ...
- 5,731
16
votes
4
answers
39k
views
How do I count words in a PDF file on OS X?
I'd like to count words on a PDF file on OS X. The inspector doesn't contain the word count.
- 1,341
13
votes
1
answer
9k
views
PDFs looking different in Yosemite Preview.app [duplicate]
I've just installed Yosemite on my iMac and noticed that my PDF files viewed with the Preview.app don't look the same as in Mavericks. If I view the PDF files directly in Safari, all looks like it ...
- 299
13
votes
2
answers
6k
views
What PDF Viewer can be used to present slides on High Sierra?
I give a lot of talks using PDF slides built with LaTeX beamer. I was very happy with Skim, because it offers you to synchronize two Skim windows, s.t. you don't have to mirror the screen, but instead ...
- 678
12
votes
12
answers
5k
views
Is there an iPhone App for reading PDF files?
After having used Eucalyptus and Stanza apps on my iPhone, I really can't read printed books while traveling any more.
What similar app can I use to transfer, store and read my own pdf files on my ...
- 271
11
votes
6
answers
17k
views
How to convert a pdf file into a text file?
Is there an easy way to extract plain text from a pdf file?
On *nix systems I used to have a command ps2ascii that would do the job, but it seems that this command is not installed by default on my ...
- 2,040
10
votes
6
answers
74k
views
How to not compress inserted pictures in Powerpoint 2011 for Mac?
I am trying to make a presentation for a conference, and am facing a problem that I cannot solve. I have a powerpoint presentation initially created with Powerpoint 2010 for Windows. I am facing ...
- 263
9
votes
3
answers
24k
views
How to clean uninstall Adobe Acrobat Reader DC?
Having to fill a government document I was suggested to install the
last version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC on my Mac (10.10.4).
I downloaded version 2015.009.20069 from Adobe server.
This software ...
- 12k
8
votes
9
answers
3k
views
iPad PDF Reader with annotation support?
I have to read lots of PDF books on my iPad but I also need to make notes (annotations), notes that I want to be able to transfer to the Mac later.
What solutions do I have for this?
Please do not ...
- 29.5k
8
votes
4
answers
7k
views
Difference between Export PDF and Print to PDF in Safari
What is the difference between to File > Export as PDF and File > Print > Save As PDF?
- 2,295
8
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Looking for Software to Scan or Convert to Searchable and Signable PDF
I have the occasional need to scan and/or convert scanned images into PDF format. OS X Mountain Lion does this natively, but as far as I can tell it's just an image wrapped in a PDF, so text selection,...
- 81
6
votes
4
answers
12k
views
Why can't I paste an image into a PDF Doc in Preview? (need to insert wet signature)
If Preview allows entering textboxes and drawing shapes and lines and even coloring them, why is it impossible to paste an image onto the PDF document? Isn't it exactly the same concept? Why does one ...
- 199
5
votes
2
answers
8k
views
Creating an icon for a homebrew installed software (evince) - Mac OS X
I installed Evince, the famous PDF reader that comes pre-installed with several major GNU/Linux distributions, on Mac OS X using
brew install evince
now, to open it, I have to type every single ...
- 53
5
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Merge pdfs sequentially
I would like to merge 4 pdfs, pdf1.pdf, pdf2.pdf, pdf3.pdf pdf4.pdf together so that the pdfs are spliced, i.e. the first page will be the first page of pdf1, the second the first of pdf2, the third ...
5
votes
5
answers
19k
views
Why does combining a PDF cause its size to be significantly larger?
I have 3 files about 40 KB each. When I combine them using Preview and save them as a single PDF file, instead of having a size close to 120 KB, the size is closer to 500 KB.
Why does this happen, ...
- 23.8k
4
votes
4
answers
5k
views
How to "find and replace" in a PDF on OS X?
I need to "find and replace" text in a PDF file on OS X Yosemite.
It would be better if there was a "replace all" feature. How can I do this on OS X?
- 672
4
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Preview: PDF Highlighting & Search Stop Working until Restart
A problem has recently become much more prevalent for me when using Preview to search PDFs for text (using Command + F or the search box in the upper right). At first, everything generally seems to ...
- 185
4
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Force Preview to Live Text a PDF?
I have scanned a document and turned it into a PDF. When I open that PDF in Preview, I would have expected all of the text in the doc to be selectable via Live Text, but it's not.
However, if I take a ...
- 2,800
3
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Convert XPS to PDF
I have been given an XPS file which seems to be readily opened only on Windows based machines. I was under the impression that I could use Acrobat Pro to convert the file to PDF, but it doesn't seem ...
- 443
3
votes
5
answers
480
views
What tools allow for creation and editing of a PDF document on OS X?
I would like to create a PDF document with images, text and table of contents.
I have also other PDF documents that I would like to merge in this new PDF.
Do you know some tools/software for creating ...
- 478
3
votes
1
answer
881
views
PowerPoint's save as PDF in AppleScript results in print job
I have a small AppleScript to save a PowerPoint pptx file as PDF from command line. I use the script every 6 months, and last autumn it still worked. But today I run into problems. I updated to 10.14 ...
- 199
3
votes
2
answers
641
views
Can I handout versions of multiple PowerPoint decks converted to PDF files?
Using PowerPoint 16.15 on Mac OS X High Sierra 10.13.15...
I have a folder of PPT files. I would like to save them as PDF files, the layout being Handouts (6 per page) and the output being black and ...
- 31
2
votes
1
answer
2k
views
What causes incorrect PDFkit or blurry PDF display in macOS Sierra and how to fix or remedy that situation?
Problem: Some applications like Preview or Skim do not display anything in certain PDFs, primarily in text PDFs, while images work fine. Skim even displays tables of contents but both start ...
- 8,229
140
votes
10
answers
104k
views
How can I combine multiple PDFs using the command line?
Is there a quick one-liner to combine multiple pdfs into one?
I know it can be done using Preview.app
- 1,650
28
votes
3
answers
22k
views
How to get location of a pdf file opened in preview
I have opened a pdf file in preview, without knowing where this file is located. How can I find out?
- 617
23
votes
6
answers
120k
views
PDF document with notes has yellow squares, can't remove them
I have a PDF document with a lot of notes. There is a yellow square in every note, and if I remove the note using the inspector, the yellow squares doesn't go away:
I need to print this document and ...
- 792
18
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Reopen PDF in Preview on the same page when modified externally
In Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks when a PDF document opened in Preview is modified by an external application, Preview automatically reopens the new version with the same page displayed as before.
After ...
- 281
17
votes
2
answers
8k
views
OCR on PDFs in OS X with free, open source tools
After reading these blog posts:
Linux, OCR and PDF - Problem solved
Creating a searchable PDF with opensource tools ghostscript, hocr2pdf and tesseract-ocr
Using Tesseract OCR with PDF scans
and ...
- 365
16
votes
7
answers
73k
views
Import multiple-pages from a PDF as separate slides in Keynote
I have a PDF with slides in it from someone else and I want to import all the separate pages of the PDF as separate slides in Keynote. The best answer I can find is this one on apple support, but it ...
- 811