What does "editable .pdf files" mean to you?

[raghu_hale@adobeforums.com]

Aandi Inston, you have said that PDF files are editable.
so can you please clarify my question. I have a PDF file, I need to find some particular text in that file and replace that text with some other text and save the pdf back. Is it possible to do this? Please let me know how to proceed.

[Aandi_Inston@adobeforums.com]

Sometimes this is possible. Try the Text Touch-up Tool. Sometimes it
is what is required.

Aandi Inston

[K_Risler@adobeforums.com]

If you do need to ensure that a PDF has not been altered, do as one poster has already suggested and keep an exact copy of the original on file. But to verify that the file is byte for byte the same as the original one has to do more than just eyeball the displayed file date/time and size values in Windows Explorer.

To verify that a PDF is byte for byte identical to the original one keeps on file, one can use a Microsoft utility called Windiff. Windiff can compare two files or all the files in two folders, and determine where if files of the same in each of the two folders. It can list the areas that are the same, the areas that differ, or both.

Windiff will not display the PDF when so doing, however; I believe it references only "line numbers." In Windows 2000 the utility is included with the Windows 2000 Support Tools free download from the MS web site. Windiff is also supplied with some MS developer apps, and likely with some similar tool set for Windows XP.

Windiff is a favorite utility for verifying that data on a CD-R matches the original data still on a hard disc, by the way. It can be a good tool to verify that a file set of PDFs or other DTP files that one is about to ship on CD-R is accurately stored on a CD-R.
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