Cleaning PDF files

[ngarber]

Greetings,
Is there a way to clean PDF's without converting back to JPEG or TIFF? Is there an optimal way to do this? Thanks for the help.
Neil

[daphnis]

If you're talking about "cleaning" meaning filtering for noise/artifact reduction, then you'll have to dump the images out of the PDF, filter, then re-compile.

[ngarber]

If you're talking about "cleaning" meaning filtering for noise/artifact reduction, then you'll have to dump the images out of the PDF, filter, then re-compile.

Yes, thanks, that's what I meant.

[Caprotti]

Another issue about cleaning.

I usually work with Quite Imposing software in order to cancel dust signs, watermarks and so on from a document/score. But a trace of what is deleted is still visible scrolling the pages and in my experience those traces almost disappear only when the Acrobat optimization tool is used.
However that tool, even used with the minimum options, generates a sort of halo or disturb when the score is read thru the pc screen (no trace when the score is printed).

Did anybody have the same experience?

[carmar1791]

Caprotti you are hiding only your signs (dirty watermarks etc)
When you scroll pages , memory of program is not fast enought to show in real time changes, so for a little moment you see the original file.
All watermarks you think to delete are completely visible.
Acrobat has a "memory".It doesn't make permanent changes , except in certain situations..
If you import your final pdf file in other programs on "unix" sistems,for example , you'll obtain your dirty original file.
To have permanent changes in acrobat, after drawing white squares or cleaning all by white brush, you have to export your file to a tiff file (using appropriate parameters about compression etc...) and then re-convert tif to pdf again.

Greetings

Ps
Optimization tool usually ruins the quality of images if you use it (expecially in massive way), so it's better to avoid it.
You can use other excabotages like converting files as I told you..

[daphnis]

Agree with Carmar above. The only real way to effectively clean images in preparation for a PDF is to do so before compiling them. All the other tools mentioned in Acrobat are "concealers" and should probably be avoided.

[Carolus]

One program I know of that can truly eliminate artifacts in PDF files is the very expensive commercial PDF manipulation program PitStop, which is typically used by commercial printers. Even with PitStop (approx. 600 USD), there are limitations on what can be done. Images like the Brahms Institut's scans of first editions where they embedded their logo as a watermark directly into the JPEGs or TIFFs using Photoshop or similar software cannot be removed even by PitStop.

[Caprotti]

There is still one method, less expensive, and probably not so time consuming as one can imagine : rescan the pdfs after having used the usual adobe image editors.

[daphnis]

What?

[WilliamBunting]

This is not about cleaning but about PDF manipulation in general.

One file I got of Sitt Reverie had other works in by accident.

How do I split up a PDF file?

My PDF editor program will join them up but not divide them.

Regards

WB

[moody]

If you are on windows
you can use pdfsam or pdfill (free tool)
Both free.
Greetings

[haydenmuhl]

Another option for splitting up PDFs is printing to a file. If you have access to something like CutePDF you can simply "print" the range of pages you want to excerpt, and voila, you have a new PDF.