How do you edit a .pdf file?

Not all of writing is glamorous creative work.  Occasionally, a knowledge of the mundane or slightly computer technical is important.  One thing I have to do constantly for writing contests that require hard copy submissions/entry forms is edit .pdf files or make them editable (also, good to know if you ever have to prepare contracts for a production).

Sex:      Yes, please!      

Now, I guess you can always fill all those forms out by hand (ugh) or use Photoshop or Adobe Professional/whatever it’s called if you have it, but if you don’t, you’ll need a good free online .pdf editor.

My favorite one (i.e. the best one, duh) is PDFescape.  I like that you can go to the site and immediately use its services as an unregistered guest (so if you don’t want to sign up for anything you don’t have to) but I think I did sign up at one point because I wanted to store a form longer or something and I didn’t get any emails from the site or extra spam, so that’s good enough for me.

I’m sure some people feel iffy about uploading their forms to a site, but most of the things I have to upload are generic forms (like the blank ones already online that I download from a contest).  And, as far as editing on the site, I don’t have to edit directly on the site, in fact what I usually do is add the empty fields so the file is editable, and then download it back to my desktop to fill it out (although if I did want to edit a form I uploaded while still on the site, I’ve never seen a way I personally would have access to someone else’s files, but I understand the site might keep that stuff and people want their privacy).

While I know the site doesn’t have all the fancy bells and whistles some Adobe program has, it has what I need, saves me time when filling out contest submissions, and is really easy to use.  Not bad.