I have a large .pdf file of building plans drawn by an architect using specialized software. I need to be able to slice out individual pages, rotate them 90 deg. to portrait view, and insert them in a word file as exhibits. I am able to extract the individual page using print page to .pdf, but I am unable to do other tasks such as resizing, rotating, etc.

I am in a Windows 10 environment. Is there freeware that isn't a trojan or an ad factory, or a web service that I can reliably use to do these tasks?

Acrobat pro?

Photoshop. I do the heavy lifting there and output to the necessary file format.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Acrobat pro?

This is what I use.

Acrobat pro is the standard, but it definitely is not freeware. I have used some others also, mainly Wondershare PDF Element. It's decent and capable if you don't want to spend the coin for Acrobat. I've used CutePDF in the past, and that might be a good freeware alternative.

Not a Windows guy. But on a Mac, I've converted them to JPEGs. The basic Pages application allows one to drag'n'drop a PDF, rotate, drag to resize, etc.

Were Windows platforms ever intuitive for desktop publishing? On a sub-$1,000 Apple laptop with only the stock operating system, you'd be sailing through this task.

This might work:

Slice as desired using previously stated print as pdf.

Open pdf.

Select all.

Copy.

Paste into word.

Resize within word.

I will have to confirm tomorrow while at computer.


edited to add...
Open existing file.

Open snipping tool.

Paste snip into word. Should be able to rotate and even draw in snipping tool. This is a win10 solution at zero cost.

Snipping Tool should work for what you need. Once you have converted it to a JPEG by snipping you should easily be able to manipulate like you are likely use to doing.

Depends. The advantage of keeping it all PDF is you preserve the PDF attributes, like vector graphics and actual text. You lose that once you snip.

I use Acrobat Pro, which is useless to the OP. Noot sure if Wondershare, CutePDF or others will do this.

Open in Photoshop, one page at a time. Change to portrait orientation, save as a JPEG, insert into Word doc.
That's how I'd do it.
You could use an online JPEG converter to do it, most likely.

For typical black/white plans I would not use JPEG. Some of the finer lines and text may get fuzzy. I would use BMP for the best sharpness. The only downside is that the files can be a bit large. If you don't need high res, then JPEG is fine.

Just buy Nuance Power PDF Standard.
It is very powerful and way cheaper than Adobe Acrobat.
It is priced right and if you look around there are deals and coupons all the time.
Well worth it.

If you can fit the meaningful bits all into one screen, maybe take screenshots (Prtsc or control-Prtsc) and paste the copied image into your document, and work with whatever tool your editor has for images. I know MS Office has some rudimentary picture-manipulation built in (crop, rotate, resize, etc.)

Personally, I would find a computer graphics business and have them do it, using CAD software.

Or maybe This free software might do it. I don’t use CAD software. I do use Acrobat Pro a lot but don’t know how to use it to do what the OP requests.

Honestly, I'd go ahead and get a previous version of Acrobat Pro. I wouldn't go beyond version 9 though.

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If you can fit the meaningful bits all into one screen, maybe take screenshots (Prtsc or control-Prtsc) and paste the copied image into your document, and work with whatever tool your editor has for images.

This is the cheapest way and relatively simple. Doesn't require any other programs, and you can simply save it as an image file of your choosing. You can even use Paint to rotate it.

Thanks all, I did the screen shot=>3D Paint=>insert as picture thing. It worked "ok" for the purpose. Would like higher resolution, but really not necessary for this purpose.

Thanks very much for the ideas and assistance.

A