Erasing Data on Document

What do you mean by "data"? Do you mean resetting form fields? or deleteing text and graphics on the page?

To get the Acrobat version look on the "Help > About Adobe ..." menu item.Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window[/b][/url]

thomp, by data, I mean this: I scanned in a document. My scanner converts the data into a PDF file.
I had some hand written stuff on the document that I'd like to erase using some kind of tool. The hand written notes on the document, is the data to which I refer.

OK, I checked and I've got Adobe Reader 9, version 9.0.0

I used to have a Visonner scanner, the software of which would allow me to convert the file into a bitmap file. I could edit the document when it was in bitmap format, and that was great. Now, I have to use a Fujitsu ScanSnap, which only has a few options as far as what kind of format the document will be in.

Use the Redaction tool. You'll find info on how to use it in the Acrobat help file.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window[/b][/url]

OK Thomp...thanks! I'll try it.

Thomp, could not find anything useful under the help file. All I want to do is erase a few marks on the document.

Opps, I didn't look closely enough at your version. You can't modify the PDF in Reader, you have to have Professional or Standard.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window[/b][/url]

OK, thanks Thomp!

Thomp, I'd like to "type" on my pdf and only have Reader. If I load 8.0 Professional will I be able to edit, erase, comment and type onto my pdfs?

Any help is appreciated.

Why yes, if you have Acrobat Pro you can do just about anything to the PDF. For example, one of the things you can do with Acrobat 8 pro is Reader Enable a PDF for commenting. After enabling you'll be able to use the typewriter tool in Reader.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window[/b][/url]

Received with thanks!

I cannot remember what I did now - if it worked or not. I will have to go back and review what happpened.

The Typewriter tool was introduced in Acrobat 7, but it is not a new tool in Acrobat. It's a repackaging of the "Free Text" annotation. You won't see the words "free text" anywhere in Acrobat, this is the name used in Acrobat 5. Now it's the "text box" tool, but the annotation is still the same. So the "Typwriter" tool is really the "Text Box" tool where the border and background of the text box is set to transparent. So, if you want to add text to a form that doesn't have form fields, just use the "text box" tool.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.pdfscripting.com/public/34.cfm#JSIntro][b]The Console Window (Video tutorial)[/b][/url]
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window(article)[/b][/url]

Similar request to jfreschi's original post...I've got Acrobat 9 Standard and am looking for a way to clean up scanned documents (i.e., the black bars on the side of the page, little black dots, smudges or handwritten text on the original document). I've got my preset options for edge shadow removal set to aggressive and despeckle set to high. Other than that, I've not found any other tool to take care of what's left over. The software we were using previously had an eraser tool that would white out anything you touched, not just text or pencil objects added within the application. Any suggestions?

The only realistic way to clean up non-text noise in a scanned PDF is to take the PDF into something else (Illustrator, for example) and make the edits in there - Acrobat doesn't have an eraser tool for graphics. You can select and delete things at the object level, but often the noise is in the same object as something you want to keep.

You can also work the old way - scan direct into Photoshop, clean the document at pixel level, save it as a PDF then run optimization and OCR on it in Acrobat - which is the only way to deal with documents that have background patterns and colors which prevent OCR.

Thanks! That's what I was afraid of.

We are running tests of different software as a replacement for the one we are currently using. Of all the positive things I'm finding about Acrobat, I can't believe this is the one thing it's lacking!

In Adobe's defense, Acrobat is not and never was designed to be a document editor or DTP package - we assume the document is created and cleaned up someplace else and Acrobat handles the PDF side of things (tagging, accessibility, reflow, security, etc.). It's grown each year to add more features but they're still there to enable "stuff to be done to the PDF" rather than "stuff to be done to the document". Subtle but important difference.

I have Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro and was told to purchase this for its ability to type text, create signatures and edit documents including erasing items. How can I erase or cover typed text or manually written text from documents?

Modifying page content in a PDF is generally considered a bad thing. Content should be changed in the original document format and then re-converted to PDF. However, you can modify just about anything you'd like by using the "touchup" tools on the Advanced Editing Toolbar. You can find out more by looking in the Adobe Help document.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.pdfscripting.com/public/34.cfm#JSIntro][b]The Console Window (Video tutorial)[/b][/url]
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window(article)[/b][/url]