Tag Archives: pdf

Annotate or write on top of a pdf file

Sometimes I need to annotate a pdf file, either to take notes or to fill it out as a form since I have ugly handwriting; for the latter, I’m referring to the case where the pdf file does not have form fields you can type in with Adobe Reader. This post describes some programs for read more »

extracting pages in a pdf file

[This](http://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/442414-manipulating-pdfs-with-the-pdf-toolkit) post shows how one can use the `pdftk` command [The PDF Toolkit](http://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-the-pdf-toolkit/) to extract pages from a pdf file:

Embed all fonts in a pdf file

I recently had to embed all fonts in a pdf file for electronic submission of my dissertation. Embedding of fonts is usually required for publishing academic articles as well. I generate my pdf files mainly with LaTeX using the `pdflatex` command. [This](http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2005/08/29/getting-pdflatex-to-embed-all-fonts/) post shows how one can embed fonts generated by the `tex` file; this read more »

emacs keybindings in xpdf and xdvi

I’ve been using xpdf and xdvi for reading documents I’ve downloaded or my LaTeX-generated documents on the laptop more and more these days due to their speed. The one thing I require (desire) in all programs I use on a day to day basis, especially when I have to navigate the file, is to have read more »

Foxit Phantom, an Adobe Acrobat alternative, for Linux via WINE

There are plenty of open source tools on Linux that can assist with pdf files. However, sometimes you just have to do something that requires Adobe Acrobat (e.g., editing pdf files). You can’t install Adobe Acrobat directly on Linux; I currently [use](http://blog.nguyenvq.com/2010/12/01/virtualization-with-virtualbox-running-windows-inside-linux/) Adobe Acrobat via a Windows virtual machine via VirtualBox. [This](http://lifehacker.com/#!5777213/five-best-pdf-tools) post lists some read more »

Convert raster image to vector image

I wanted to convert some raster images (bmp, png, etc.) to vector images (svg, pdf, eps) so that they can be rescaled easily. I found [Vector Magic](http://vectormagic.com/), which used to be free from Stanford University but now cost a grip; however, they do allow some free conversions. [This](http://superuser.com/questions/88415/is-there-an-open-source-alternative-to-vector-magic) post let me know that [Potrace](http://potrace.sourceforge.net/) is read more »

Convert eps to pdf with the correct page size or boundaries

`ps2pdf` by itself always converted the `ps` file to `pdf` onto a different sized paper. I finally discovered how to get the right paper size via [this](http://opendevice.blogspot.com/2007/05/eps-to-pdf-how-to-avoid-clipping.html) post. Here is my `eps2pdf.sh` script:

wget to mass download files

Sometimes I want to download all files on a page. The flashgot plugin works, but it involves clicking which can be a pain if you have a lot of pages to download. Recently I’ve been wanting to download pdf’s off a page. Found out that I can do so with wget on the command line: read more »