PDF software

The secretary uses PDF software for meeting-related materials. Various reports and forms are also prepared as PDF documents. This page makes recommendations about software to use when working with PDF documents.

Overview

It is easy to create a PDF document from MS Word or MS Excel. Simply "Save as" and choose "PDF" from the pull-down selection of document type.

For tasks like the following, special PDF-handling software is needed.

Combine several documents into a single PDF document
Add, delete or rearrange pages in a PDF document
Modify text in a PDF document
Create a fillable PDF document from a Word document

If you have such software already on your computer and know how to use it, by all means stay with that. Otherwise, the information to the right might be helpful.

Details

There is a product for Windows computers that has good functionality and is free (basic version) or very inexpensive (professional version). The product is from PDFill. There does not seem to be anything comparable for Macintosh computers.

The downside of PDFill products is that the website you use to obtain them is rather messy, and the user interface of the products themselves not as professional as most. The tips below should help deal with these shortcomings.

If your only need is to combine several PDF documents into a single document, you can skip installing the desktop product:

Go to the free online PDF Editor merge tool.
Use the "Choose File" buttons in the green boxes to navigate to the PDF files on your desktop that you want to merge. Be sure to add the IN ORDER.
Click on the green "Merge PDF Online" button.

If you need to do more, see the information on the right.

Install PDFill software

Choose the free version if you do not need to edit a PDF or create a fillable PDF. If you need the Professional version to handle your ASURA duties, ask the Business Manager how best to handle the purchase.

To install the desktop program on your computer, download the version you want by clicking on one of the links below.. Double-click on the downloaded file to install the program. Install all of the components.

PDFill PDF Basic Editor - for the first two tasks listed on the left (it is free)
PDFill PDF Editor Professional to add the ability to make minor text changes and to create a fillable PDF form from a Word document (not free, but very inexpensive).
If you installed the professional version, open the program and click on the button labeled "PBE" at the top. Click on the button PDFill PDF Editor Professional and click on OK. Follow directions for paying.

PDFill Editor how-to

Combine documents into a single document

If your documents are not all currently in PDF format, convert them to that format, using the "Save as" feature of the program they were created in.
Open PDFill PDF Editor.
From the menu along the top, choose Tools, then Free PDF Tools.
Click on the first button, "Merge PDF Files".
Use the "Add a PDF File" button to add the documents you want to combine.
If necessary, use the Move Up and Move Down buttons or the Sort button to arrange the documents so that they will be in the desired order.
Click on the "Save As" button, give your combined file a name, and click on Save.

Add, delete, or rearrange pages in a PDF document

Open Free PDF Tools using the directions above for combining documents.
Click on the button labeled "2. Split or Reorder Pages".
Fill in the page numbers in the window that opens to split , reorder, or delete pages.
Click on Save As, giver your edited document a name, and click on Save.

Modify text in a PDF document

You can realistically make only minor text changes in a PDF document. If you need to do more than fix a spelling error or change a few words, make those changes in the software that created the original document.

To make those minor changes:

Open the document in PDFill PDF Editor Professional using File - New Project to Open a New PDF.
From the Edit menu, choose "Select Original Texts - Select Original Texts". You will see blue outlines around the various text areas on the document.
Drag your cursor over all of the text in the blue box that contains the text you want to change. The selected text will be highlighted with a red border.
Right-click on the selected text and choose "Replace with New SingleLine Text". A striped text edit box will show over the selected text.
Within the text edit box, drag your cursor to select the text you want to operate on. You can type over, delete, or style what you selected (it will be highlighted in blue).
With your cursor still in the text edit box, click on the PDF button that is on the left or the one near the top just below the menu. The Save PDF Options box will open. You do not need to change any options. Just click on "Save PDF as" and save it with a name and in a place on your computer where you will be able to find it. It is probably best not to save on top of your original document at this point. If you have additional changes to make, keep the document open.
The revised file will open in your PDF reader. Review to make sure it is as expected.

You can make additional changes one at a time, following the above procedure. If your document is more than one page, you can move among the pages using the thumbnails that you see if you click on the thumbnail icon (4 little boxes) either on the left menu or the second row of icons at the top.

To create a fillable PDF

A fillable PDF is one that has boxes for data to be entered, i.e., it is a form that can be typed into. Begin with a document that is already a PDF.

Open PDFill PDF Editor Professional.
Open the document in PDFill PDF Editor Professional using File - "New Project to Open a New PDF".
From the menu at the top, choose Forms, then "Form Field Recognition by Clicking" then the type of box on your form that you want to make fillable. Most likely these will be "Text field inside a box", "Text field over a line", and "Checkbox inside a box". Work with one type at a time.
Click inside the boxes on your form that match the type you have selected. They will turn pink.
Repeat the previous two steps for each type of fillable field on your form.
Navigate to among the pages of the form by using the Thumbnail Toolbar, which can be opened using the icon on the left that looks like four pages. It is below the PDF icon.
Click on the PDF button that is available both on the top and on the left to save the fillable PDF.
Open the new document to make sure it works as intended.

Updated 11 Jan 2023 by Connie McNeill