5 Extremely Useful Methods to Edit PDF Documents on Linux

Whenever someone sets out to get some practical knowledge of Linux, one of the questions that almost invariably comes to the fore is regarding the best PDF editor and converter available for the operating system. Not many of us are familiar with the reality that Linux is an effective and efficient operating system that can also be employed in an office-related environment. You can edit, modify or alter PDF documents in a variety of ways in Linux, thanks mostly to the ever-evolving technology landscape. There are plenty of commercial-grade solutions available in the market that can help you accomplish this purpose with relative ease but they are quite expensive. Let us introduce you to some of the other cheaper but effective options available out there so that you are able to edit your PDFs as and when required without any difficulty.

The first solution to modify PDFs on Linux is a paid one and it's called PDF Studio which comes with a number of terrific features. It allows the users to create PDF documents from text files, image files and even Word documents. It also comes with the option to scan documents as PDF files. The basic editing features such as annotation, highlighting text and filling out PDF forms are also available. However, the editing of text is allowed only in its premium version which sadly is its downside. The Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature which is a pretty cool one is also available in the paid version of the software. Other comprehensive features in the application include batch processing of multiple PDF documents, provision of digital signatures and optimization of documents sizes.

The second item on our list is called Master PDF which also contains all the editing and conversion features required for handling PDFs. The one area where it leaves behind PDF Studio is its affordability. It is a lot cheaper in terms of bucks but when it comes to quality it does not lag behind in any sense. Its distinctive features include the 128-bit encryption of the PDF document, digital signatures and conversion of XPS files into PDFs. You can also get its evaluation version to try it out and see if it suits you or not.

Our third method on the list is to convert a PDF document through the Calibre eBook manager into an RTF document and edit it using LibreOffice. Obviously, it allows basic editing of text and images and is not able to serve the purpose well when you try to carry out much more advanced stuff such digital signatures.

Scribus is yet another option available for editing PDF in Linux. Mind you, it is not a conventional PDF editing software. Rather is primarily a desktop publishing application that helps in the creation of brochures, newsletters or books. It is pretty good for layout work and can be handy in saving documents as PDF files. It has a couple of downsides though! It cannot open a few PDF documents and there's not much of technical support available in the online community. So, when it comes to troubleshooting and other technical issues, you might have a hard time unearthing the hidden secrets.

Although, Linux does provide a few solutions to handling and managing PDFs, but more often than not they come with their own peculiarities and you have to resort to various workarounds in order to get your task accomplished.