Ask HN: How do I easily edit and sign PDFs in *nix?

6 points by forkrulassail 15y ago ↗ HN

HiI read quite a bit of material on the paperless office recently.Here is something that I came across that isn't as easy as I thought it would be.In order to edit and sign a PDF (supplied by a vendor) I'd have to 1) print it 2) scan it 3) send it as a PDF.I need a SIMPLE to use GPL tool that can take a PDF, allow me to edit in overlay mode (typed text) and append my signature.I slogged through an hour of PDFEdit and GIMP editing this morning to get something with 4 fields and a signature done, and frankly, I'd rather buy a printer.Any suggestions on this? I must be missing some application out there. Other suggestions welcome.

4 comments

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redmar 15y ago ↗

maybe this can help you out (it also integrates with openoffice): http://jsignpdf.sourceforge.net/en_US/pdf_signatures.html

lukebaker 15y ago ↗

One technique that I've used in the past is to print the PDF to file as SVG, edit in Inkscape, then print the SVG to file as PDF.

I think I used Evince to open the PDF and print to SVG.

peng 15y ago ↗

As far as electronic signing goes, I've had clients use RightSignature. It's not free, but it's much more painless than PDF signatures.

forkrulassail 15y ago ↗

Let me just clarify - not electronic signing.

A vendor sends a PDF they want you to 1) print out 2) fax back.

So, basically an app in which (in the InkScape sense) you can quickly scribble on, and save to PDF would be perfect.