Annotate and rearrange PDF’s with Xournal++

[Member PPC]

Hi- yesterday, watching a Linux you-tuber I realized that he was right: Linux lacks a default all in-one tool to view PDF’s and also rearrange/delete pages annotate them or allow an image (for example, of an hand written signature) to be superimposed on them.
It seems that MacOS comes, out of the box, with a tool that does that- the you-tuber was frustrated that he could not find a tool that allowed him to easily do that…

Recently, here in the forum, there was some talk about Xournal (available in the repo).
Xournal++ is a gem – it’s meant to be a “GTK note taking app” but it’s much more than that: it doubles as a PDF viewer and “annotator”.

* Installing Xournal++:
Please note that “Xournal” is available in the repo, but “Xournal++” is available here: https://github.com/xournalpp/xournalpp/releases (in .deb and .appimage format)
Download and install the .deb file.

* Using Xournal++ to view a pdf file:
If using zzzfm as File Manager, right click any pdf and select to open it with Xournal++ (you can use the button on the lower right to enter the Full-screen mode

* Reordering/deleting/adding pages from a pdf file:
If you don’t see, on the left part of the window, the sidebar with previews of the pages, toggle it on by pressing F12 or by toggling in on in the “View” menu
The selected page had red borders in the preview.
– On the lower part of the preview sidebar, you can select to move that page up or down or delete it.
– To add a new page use the “Journal” menu entry and select where you want the new page to be. Note: you should select what the new page will be first (use Journal > Configure Page Template and Journal > Paper background)
– Unfortunately, I found no way to add a new pdf file to the current pdf file (“fuse” 2 pdf files together), in Xournal++

* Annotating / inserting a hand written signature:
– Select the “Pen” or “highlighter” icons from the top toolbar and do what you want to the pdf.

* Inserting a picture (ex: a scan of your signature):
– Simply drag and drop your file from a File Manager to where you want it to be in the current page. You can resize the picture and also move or delete it.

When you are done “editing” your pdf, to keep the changes, don’t forget to: File > Export as pdf.

Note: I do not recommend using Xournal++ to fill pdf forms. Do that on a modern web browser instead…

This is such a good tool that I recommend it should really be in Package Installer, described also as “Annotate and rearrange PDF’s” – it can be very handy for some people, like students that study from pdf files, etc… It’s not a pdf editor, like MasterPdf or LibreOffice Draw- but what it does, it does great, and is not an heavy app.

Edit: Extra tip…
* Joining two .pdf files into one:
You can do that, if you have “pdfunite” in your system. If it’s installed then: antiX Menu > Terminal
Type pdfunite in the Terminal and then a space. From your file manager (ex: zzzfm) drag and drop the first file, then the second one. then, on the terminal, enter the name you want to give to the new file and press enter. [Edit2:] The new pdf file will be created in your user’s Home folder by default (because that’s where the Terminal usually opens in).

P.

• This topic was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by PPC.
• This topic was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by PPC.
• This topic was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by PPC.

[Moderator Brian Masinick]

Helpful

Up

0

::

Thanks for this PPC! I just commented in another thread that there are always things I still don’t know and you just shared another item that’s new to me;
“even old dogs can learn new tricks”, so can old retired engineers and business people!

--
Brian Masinick

[Member olsztyn]

Helpful

Up

0

::

PPC wrote:

Xournal++ is a gem – it’s meant to be a “GTK note taking app” but it’s much more than that: it doubles as a PDF viewer and “annotator”.

Thank you @PPC…
Question:
How do your save an annotated PDF in this App?
I made a quick test:
– Opened an existing pdf
– Added some Text (Typewriter) in empty space
– Saved.
It appears to me it saves in some ‘XOPP’ format native to this app, but I did not see a possibility of saving such annotated pdf in pdf format. Likelihood is I missed such capability as admittedly I have not read a manual yet to figure this out…

Update:
OK. I see now. After change the document needs to be exported to pdf in order to save changes in pdf format it seems. Save alone would just save this in XOPP format…
Thanks much again. This app looks very useful… Good find. I will be playing with this to learn further…

• This reply was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by olsztyn.

Live antiX Boot Options (Previously posted by Xecure):
https://antixlinuxfan.miraheze.org/wiki/Table_of_antiX_Boot_Parameters

[Member PPC]

Helpful

Up

0

::

Dear @olsztyn- probably I should have wrote this also in bold, to save you some time (that’s why reading carefully stuff in manuals- something that no sane person likes to do, me included- sometimes ends up saving us time):

PPC wrote:

When you are done “editing” your pdf, to keep the changes, don’t forget to: File > Export as pdf.

For me, to be “perfect”, as a PDF annotator (something it is not meant to be), this Xournal++ lacks only 2 features: allowing the user to select more than 1 page to reorder and also serving a as GUI to merge 2 pdf files together (that, as I showed, can be done, easily, from the terminal, without any technical know-how)… It would be great also if it displayed fields, so users could fill them (but that is beyond the scope of the app)

By the way – I did not mention that there is a version of this app available for Android – but it’s not as easy to use, and a little less feature rich.

P.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by PPC.
• This reply was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by PPC.

[Moderator Brian Masinick]

Helpful

Up

0

::

Thanks again PPC for clarifying a few things that most of us may never notice or realize.

Whether we need this now or not, hopefully the ideas, comments and suggestions here will prove to be helpful – as they often are when helpful people like you share their wisdom and experience. Again, thanks!

--
Brian Masinick

[Member stevesr0]

Helpful

Up

0

::

Thanks, PPC.

I would have marked your OP as helpful, but apparently OPs don’t get a helpful thingamajig.

stevesr0

[Author]

Posts