can photoshop .pdf files be edited in other software?

Does anyone know whether files saved as photoshop .pdf have text which is editable in other programmes?

I have no pdf editing sofware to try it on, only programmes that convert to pdf. Thanks all!

Megg - Are you still using WD6 as in your profile?

I tried this in WD7 Premium and it was semi successful. Not sure if it works with WD6.

Goto File > Open and select PDF (.pdf). If you have a PDF option. Open the file and select Optimize for Editing.

Thanks! I'll try that one out. does anyone know if a photoshop pdf can be edited in something like acrobat though?

No not really! PS is a raster programme but it has some vector tools. Paths & text in theory could be edited in Acro Pro but any PDF drawing programme would be a better choice for all the you could do in Acro would be to select & edit text and delete paths if the file had not been flattened in PS. Most art packages would be able to edit a .psd file.

In fct, pdf can be manupilate, such as annotating, conpressing, conversion by some program, you can find some free online pdf editing program, I've tried several time, they are good.

I was always under the impression that PDF files were intended to be final-version files and, as such, were not intended to be edited as though they were intermediate or source files. They don't contain all the information in the original source or design file (like layers and so on). Text is held as an image and not an embedded font, isn't it?

I know that you can get stuff that will edit the text, but it can mess up layouts.

Quote:

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Text is held as an image and not an embedded font, isn't it?

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embedding fonts is quite normal in PDF

Yes, I know that fonts can be distributed that way.

Why would you want to normally embed a font in finished artwork, though? Is all the structure from the parent application - layers, pallettes, masks etc. - embedded also?

Is it not true that PDF is not intended as an intermediate or source file type?

it helps with printing I understand, gives sharper results if the text is vector not that I'm an expert

and of course if the whole file is vector then its all scalable without resolution problems, again that's a bonus with certain print jobs

it's a format I use for transferring vectors between programs a lot because it works very well - and as it's now an open standard [since 2008] who's to say what it is intended for, other than any thing it can do ;)

But going back to the OP, isn't it relevant to make that distinction?

If a PDF flattens the original design, then people need to realise that that means they can't just edit text in the normal way in a PDF because it isn't technically an editable file. It's the same sort of situation that you get with exported JPGs and PNGs. They're flattened, and perhaps people who don't realise or understand that might be under the impression that they can edit them in ways that are impractical.

PDF's can have layers - I don't know if photoshop supports that I sort of assumed it did - lots of other programs do ...

Photoshop PDFs can retain layers.

Attachment 93753

Opening a PS PDF file with layers in Xara Designer Pro X (for example) doesn't give you one 'flattened' image. All PS layers become separate object layers in Xara.

EDIT: Steve posted while I was screenshooting and posting :D

thanks :D - I was sure it did but memory can play tricks..

And do these layers correspond to the layers in the original design file for whatever application was used to create them, and do those layers match exactly with those between applications?

Because of what PDF is intended for, I would assume that in order to preserve these layers - which would increase the file size of the final PDF - the author would have to make very conscious and specific decisions when creating them. An author who was simply producing print copy would be unlikely to preserve them on purpose. And some flattening would surely be inevitable as a PDF is not a .xar file.

The OP would therefore need to know if that was the case, I would suggest (i.e. yes, it's possible, but was it actually done?)

I think you're looking for reasons to debate against this. What may have been true originally, is not so today.
PDF files are routinely used to send files back and forth to collaborators. I believe layer retention is switched on by default.
In fact, I think it was CS3 when Adobe adopted the PDF file structure as it's default file type for Illustrator.
If you drop an .ai file into notepad you will see this evidence in the header.

Attachment 93755

As an experiment, any .AI file since the format change can be simply renamed .PDF and will display in any PDF reader

I was thinking exactly the same about your reasons for debating the opposite! :)

It matters little that layers can be preserved. What matters is are they?

A PDF file is not the ideal source for editable material and I suspect that fact is far more relevant to the OP's question than the nuances of what they could be used for... sometimes, maybe, perhaps, etc. As I said, a PDF is not a .xar anymore than a PS file is. The main purpose of PDFs is to show the final output.

The OP might be able to edit the file, but it's far more likely that they can't. They suggested they were having problems, and as gwpriester pointed out, trying it was "semi-successful". That's all I was tryng to get across :)

I know that I can open PDFs I've saved myself from Xara, but editing them has very unpredictable results on layout. I have no idea what the result would be on those saved from other applications.

As you wish...
I have no argument, only experience and evidence.

Best regards.

can I just add that PDF has been around since 1991, and it is true that at that time it was a flat [ie not layered] document intended to be cross-platform and cross-application, hence the name Portable Document Format - that was a long time ago

it was specifically intended to enable users to share documents that were created in one application with other users who did not have that application - but nowhere do I ever remember anyone saying that they were not meant to be edited - I think the fact that early on there were few practical ways of editing them meant that for a while it was a fair assumption that they would not be used for such purpose - things have moved on, a lot

[however as far as the OP goes, although PS can export layered PDFs because of the way it handles text I am not convinced it would necessarily be editable in this case - Peter [albacore] said "no not really" and he should know.. ]