Software to edit a plan currently in PDF format.

[epsilonGreedy]

I need to digitally rub out a building feature on a building technical drawing, white space is acceptable where the item has been removed. I hope there is a free program that would allow me to do this, the input and output docs will be PDFs?

 

Background: I wish to submit an NMA to my local planning office and want to avoid another plan edit cycle & bill from my architectural technician. The current PDF on my PC shows a profile of the updated building feature I wish to submit for approval but also another design concept that is unfinished.

 

After talking things through with the planning office they said they could not approve the main change while ignoring another unrelated design update also featured on the same building profile plan. The cheapest way around this situation is to rub out the concept feature so that the submitted plan only features what I am seeking approval for. 

[Moonshine]

PDF-Xchange viewer, it allows you to comment on the PDF (a white box) then print it off to PDF again to make it permanent.

 

or just send it to me via PM and i can do it.

 

 

 

[Stewpot]

I'd use Gimp for that. I'm pretty sure it available cross-platform.

[PeterW]

Adobe Acrobat XR viewer can do this - just put a white box on the document 

[Temp]

I've used a free program called PDFill to edit PDF forms. You can to add white space and/or new text boxes with white backgrounds to type over existing text. Save as an editable project file or a new PDF. I've not really used its drawing capabilities. Might be better progs around but works for me..

 

http://www.pdfill.com/

 

 

[ToughButterCup]

If the document is locked, you'll need a password irrespective of the software used...

And if that is the case, and all you want to do is erase, then creative use of a photocopier is  one way.

Used to do that all the time - it's quite fun when you get into it.

[Dreadnaught]

If you happen to be on a Mac and assuming the feature stands alone and does not overlap something else that you wish to retain as visisble then you can do it in the built-in Preview App using its annotation tools. Block-out the required feature with one or more white boxes. Print the document as a fresh PDF. Done.

[LA3222]

Or just open it in word to convert it to a word document, edit it, then save it again to a pdf format?

[Jeremy Harris]

If the pdf is protected, then a lot of the time it's easy enough to break that protection and allow the pdf to be edited. 

 

Not sure of the legal position, but in the past I've used one or two password crack tools on pdfs with a fair degree of success (I get the feeling that some forms of pdf protection just aren't very secure).  Once unlocked, then something like Nitro Pro allows easy editing of any pdf file, although it's not free.

[epsilonGreedy]

10 minutes ago, LA3222 said:

Or just open it in word to convert it to a word document, edit it, then save it again to a pdf format?

 

 

I like the lateral Microsoft oriented thinking, however I just tried that after reading your post and Word complains the document size exceeds what Word can handle. The PDE is very small at 75kb so I assume Word is struggling with a document that targets an A0 page size.

[dpmiller]

Irfanview can work with a locked pdf using it's paint tools.

[SteamyTea]

2 minutes ago, dpmiller said:

Irfanview can work with a locked pdf using it's paint tools.

Yes

Press F12 to bring them up on the screen.

But you do only get one undo, which is a pain.

[Mulberry View]

Edit it in Photoshop. Treat it as an image. I can do it if you want?

[epsilonGreedy]

Thanks everyone and Moonshine, I now have an updated version of my plan following @Moonshine's offer to do the edit for me on his computer.

 

One thing I overlooked was whether the original architectural technician would be ok with me editing his work which will ultimately be uploaded into the public domain by the planning office. He actually had no problem with the edit and in fact we went on to discuss an assortment on technical building details that are not clear in my head, in the end we decided on a face to face meeting where we will discuss construction options from my sketches for a very reasonable hourly rate.