can photoshop .pdf files be edited in other software?

[Megg81]

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!

[gwpriester]

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.

[Megg81]

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

[Albacore]

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.

[Zechariah]

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.

[DOAADI]

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.

[handrawn]

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

embedding fonts is quite normal in PDF

[DOAADI]

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?

[handrawn]

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

[DOAADI]

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.