PDF import extension-How to use?

Discussions about using 3rd party extension with OpenOffice.org
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Villeroy
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Re: PDF import extension-How to use?

Post by Villeroy »

jonhwilliams wrote: Open with > Choose default program... >
You certainly do NOT want to open PDF with OpenOffice by default. By default you want to open PDF with a PDF viewer.
With or without the extension, OpenOffice is NOT an editor for PDF. What the extension does is a dirty hack to translate whatever file content originating from whatever program into a vector graphic (a Draw document). In some cases this may help to correct minor errors (e.g. typos) when the original document is not availlable anymore. In other cases it will simply destroy the document or make the program freeze.
PDF is not meant to be an editable document format. PDF is a print-out without paper.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
Ubuntu 18.04 with LibreOffice 6.0, latest OpenOffice and LibreOffice
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RoryOF
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Re: PDF import extension-How to use?

Post by RoryOF »

I agree with Villeroy. The PDF extension for OO only allows minor cosmetic changes be made to a PDF; it does not allow major reformatting or extraction of content from a multipage PDF document. For viewing of a PDF a dedicated PDF viewer is best. For extraction or restructuring look for another application than Open/Libre-Office.
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CannedMan
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Re: PDF import extension-How to use?

Post by CannedMan »

Apparently, this works flawlessly (I tried your instructions, and the PDF looked as expected in Draw). I suggest one of the moderators update the question and add [Workaround] to the subject.
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John_Ha
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Re: PDF import extension-How to use?

Post by John_Ha »

For those searching, see Guidance needed to open PDF's in OpenOffice.org for a discussion.
LO 6.4.4.2, Windows 10 Home 64 bit

See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.

Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
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Villeroy
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Re: PDF import extension-How to use?

Post by Villeroy »

Found an error in your drawing PDF? Open the original file in your drawing program, fix the error and create a new PDF.
Found an error in your letter PDF? Open the original file in the text processor program, fix the error and create a new PDF.
Found an error in your spreadsheet PDF? Open the original file in the spreadsheet program, fix the error and create a new PDF.
Found an error in your Computer Aided Design (CAD) PDF? Open the original file in the CAD program, fix the error and create a new PDF.
Found an error in your desktop publishing PDF? Open the original file in the desktop publisher, fix the error and create a new PDF.
Found an error in your database report? Open the database for writing, fix the error and create a new PDF report.

If you do not have no access to the original file, to the generating program or to the database holding the data, then you may have some luck with the PDF extension but you must not expect that this dirty hack can represent all thinkable PDF data from all thinkable applications equally well.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
Ubuntu 18.04 with LibreOffice 6.0, latest OpenOffice and LibreOffice
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