Editing PDFs with OpenOffice.org
Repackaged
© mipan, Fotolia
OpenOffice has always been able to export PDF documents. Version 3.0 is the first to introduce an extension that lets you import and edit PDFs.
Adobe originally designed the Portable Document Format (PDF) as a display-only format for platform-independent document viewing, but several tools for editing PDF documents have appeared over the years. OpenOffice.org version 3.0 (OOo) brings the power of PDF editing to the free OpenOffice suite.
Before you raise your hopes too high, let me start by saying that, despite the best efforts of editing tools, PDF remains a format primarily dedicated to rendering documents and has limited editing capability. If you are thinking of using an OpenOffice extension to edit the document in its original format, including templates, paragraphs, images, and tables, you will be disappointed. This limitation is not a failing of OpenOffice; it is inherent in the PDF format itself. If you need to send documents in an editable format, the Open Document Format (ODF, i.e., OpenOffice's native file format) is a better choice.
Despite this, the PDF Import function is a useful feature that lets users open PDF document content for editing, with some limitations. The extension adds a function for loading PDF files as easily as any other format to the free office suite.
[...]
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
LibreOffice Tested as Possible Office 365 Alternative
Another major organization has decided to test the possibility of migrating from Microsoft's Office 365 to LibreOffice.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.