Hi guys. Just noticed this on my way out. See my thread there about which prog to use to convert .pdf to .doc
Seems .pdf is meant to be unviolable, secure, 'encrypted'(so to speak) communication and those that use it as such are often offended by the very existence of those seeking to 'decrypt' the documents, regardless of why they are doing it, they remain suspect, under a cloud.
Given that scenario people who want to manipulate other peoples (this is significant, your own document you can apparently manipulate whenever you like, but others, no) documents should be looking to hackers, crackers, decrypters, code specialists (both kinds of code, computer language and encryption) and such for help, for that's, apparently, the kind of problem it is.
Now just where these people are, on the web, I don't know. Your common or garden variety 'hacker' or 'cracker' who lives in those filthy sites that infect your machine with everything from adware through spyware and trojans to virus's even if you blunder into them by accident wouldn't be much help.
They'd be a hindrance. Approaching their sites is a dangerous thing. Avoid them at all costs.
But there are one or two similar sites, if only you can find them, peopled by men and women of some ability, who can reconstruct (reverse engineer) code and can find pertinent pieces of code and can write alternative pieces and put them in and so on....
Such a person, such people are probably what you need.
The better adobe gets at its security, don't tamper, measures the more you will need such people.
If you don't need them now you soon will. But given that watermarking was always marketed as a security measure I'd say you need them now.
Stop thinking of .pdf as a mere document format. It is not. It is a securely encrypted format at whatever level of security.
If we could all get clear on this (I was only, really, finally made clear on it today by a response to my thread) we wouldn't waste time:
(a) Asking those who don't know/won't tell how to edit .pdf docs.
(b) Answering queries with an impertinent 'It is not meant to be done'.
And perhaps adobe .pdf forums and discussion groups would reorganise themselves into a new format - one side: encrypters, the other side: decrypters.
I'm with them both. When I want security I'm with the encrypters. When I need to manipulate I'm with the decrypters
I realise the decrypters of the world are
(a) constantly trying to decrypt my secure transmissions to my bank, for instance
(b) constantly trying to decrypt foreign agencies communications that seek to do me and my nation harm.
Which is half good and half bad.
And the encrypters are:
(a) constantly trying to encrypt and hide information I should have about their nefarious conduct
(b) constantly trying to protect my private communications in my own interest.
Which is half good and half bad.
I can't stop either half.
I just want to be aware of it, see it as it is and manipulate myself accordingly.
