Last Updated on July 10, 2024 by KC7NYR
Topic for Jan. 11, 2018
What is a PDF?
P
ortableD
ocumentF
ormat, from Adobe Systems- Intended for exchanging documents independent of application programs.
- Contains:
- Text
- Images
- Possibly bookmarks, JavaScript, video elements
- The PDF combines three technologies: (source: Wikipedia)
- A subset of the
PostScript
page description programming language, for generating the layout and graphics. Apple LaserWriter - A font-embedding/replacement system to allow fonts to travel with the documents.
- A structured storage system to bundle these elements and any associated content into a single file, with data compression where appropriate.
- A subset of the
- PDF is a
binary format
, not text. Can be read and displayed always, but searching and editing depend on its origins astext
orimage
.- Need OCR to get text from an image.
- The PDF specification is an ISO standard, free for anyone to use, so many tools have been developed to work with PDF documents.
PDFs in Amateur Radio
- Manuals e.g. Icom
- Schematics. Saw a lot of GIFs in the past, few now
- Specs & sales literature
- Books, magazine articles: QST articles, ARRL Handbook
- “Linux not supported” — what to do
PDF Readers
- Adobe Reader
- JavaScript vulnerability
- Evince, etc. Search for
PDF Linux
- LibreOffice
- Calibre
- Command-line tools
pdfgrep
utility to search (Web article) [NOTE: installed onsaturn
& tested]
Creation Tools
- Because they are
independent of any application program
, PDFs are ideal for exchanging information. Avoid all the hassle of proprietary formats. - LibreOffice and other applications can save their files in PDF format (e.g., Musescore)
- Conversion from other formats
- xx
2pdf
utilities: ps2pdf
– Convert PostScript to PDFchm2pdf
– A Python script, converts MS CHM help filesgscan2pdf
– GUI produces PDFs or DjVus from scanned imagespython
–trml2pdf
– Converter of Report Markup Language (RML)webkit2pdf
– export web pages to PDF files or printer (GUI)pandoc
– handles multiple formats, including docx, ePub, https://pandoc.orgrst2pdf
– ReportLab-based reStructuredText to PDF re- Explain
markup
language
- MediaWiki, HTML
- Explain
- markdowntopdf Web site convert markdown files to PDF online
- ImageMagick can convert image files to PDF from command line
- Inkscape graphics program saves as PDF and PS
- xx
Editing Tools for PDF Files
- Editing can be difficult or impossible, depending on the nature of the PDF
- PDF toolkit howto: https://www.linux.com/learn/manipulating-pdfs-pdf-toolkit
Conclusion
This subject is far too large to cover here. To find more information, run a Web search for linux pdf
+ what you want to do: edit, create, etc.
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