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pdf editor for Mac: copy & paste

I have a pdf of a musical score of mine, originally typeset in Finale. That Finale file was accidentally deleted, but I have a pdf of it.


There is a ‘f’ marking missing at one point. Can any kind person please recommend a pdf editing app by which I can copy an ‘f’ from elsewhere in the score and paste it in the right font where it is missing? It is pasting that seems to be the problem, not the copying.


Thanks in anticipation.

Mac mini, macOS 10.14

Posted on Sep 30, 2020 11:47 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 30, 2020 3:34 PM

Did you try with just Preview? How to edit images and mark up PDFs with Preview on your Mac - Apple Support.


WD

7 replies

Sep 30, 2020 1:57 PM in response to Michael Graubart

No PDF Editor will be free, and depending upon your budget, any of PDFpen or PDF Expert in the Mac App Store will do for adding the missing 'f' text to an existing PDF — provided you have that associated font installed. Although they offer trials of their software, these PDF Editor vendors will watermark the PDF until purchased.

Oct 2, 2020 10:13 AM in response to Wilddrums

Well, I could not find a font that looked remotely similar to the dynamic markings (like pp, f, ff, etc.) in the Maestro font within Finale. And anyone one using Finale should note that installing Maestro from a font supplier in addition to the Maestro that comes with Finale will stop Finale working! But then, after much trial and even more error, I discovered this:


1. Save as, convert or export the picture as TIFF


2. Open in Preview


3. Choose ‘Rectangular selection’ and draw box round the relevant part


4. Press Command + C (or select ‘Copy’ from File menu)


5. Press Command + V (‘Paste’)


* The copied picture element will appear somewhere in the picture


6. Drag the pasted element to its desired new location.


7. Save


8. If desired, convert back to or export as PDF

Oct 26, 2020 12:55 PM in response to Michael Graubart

I have to add to the above answer to my problem that it creates another problem; namely that the final pdf score created by converting the edited TIFF score back to pdf turns out to be vastly larger in file-size than the original. (Can this indicate that every time an element in the score has been copied and pasted somewhere else in the TIFF score, a new page is created in the multi-page TIFF? This is purely a guess.)


This makes it very difficult if not impossible to send the final, corrected, score by email to prospective performers. The score has to be printed on paper and sent by post. If anyone has. a suggestion for solving this new problem, I should be veery grateful.

Oct 26, 2020 1:18 PM in response to Michael Graubart

PDF editing without proper - and costly - tools can be daunting. The convert to TIFF step can just exacerbate the situation. There are different PDF formats... Some more "standard" than others.


I worked a lot with PDFs using advanced features. I ended using professional tools in order to avoid all those issues.


I understand this is not an answer to your question. Just sharing.


WD

pdf editor for Mac: copy & paste

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