Make simple changes to any PDF file in Linux. Move pages around, edit the bookmarks, add pages from another PDF or remove pages altogether. It's a snap with PDF Mod [No Longer Available], a simple Linux program that does one thing and does it well.

If there's something PDF files aren't really supposed to be, it's editable. The format, originally created as a way to transfer data from a computer to a printer, is essentially a digital piece of paper. Sure, there are tools that kind of do the job, but most of them end up converting the PDF to some other file before letting you re-export them. We highlighed tools for editing PDFs before, and they basically do this or something like it.

PDF Mod isn't a tool like that - it allows you to edit your PDF files directly. This is possible because of its limited functionality. You can't make changes to pages, but you can move pages around or remove them altogether. Basically, it lets you re-shuffle pieces of paper the way you can in real life.

It's always best to avoid editing PDF files, assuming you have access to the source files. If something was made in Libre Office, for example, it's a lot easier to edit the Libre Office document then it is to edit the PDF. If you just need to quickly re-arrange or remove some pages in a PDF, though, this is your go-to Linux tool.

Using PDF Mod

Open a PDF with PDF Mod and you'll instantly see all of your pages.

Do you need to see more? You can quickly zoom in and out using the slide at the bottom of the window. Re-arranging pages is easy - just click and drag. You'll also find buttons in the menu for removing pages, and another for extracting images from a given page.

Do you want to add pages from another PDF? There's a button for that too. This is a quick and easy way to combine two PDFs into a single file. You can also rotate pages.

Do you want to change the author's name, and other details? Just click the "Properties" button.

You can also quickly edit the bookmarks in your PDF. Remove, add or change the references, it doesn't matter.

Like I said, you can't make changes to the text, or move images around on a given page. PDFs aren't really meant to be edited that way, just like a piece of paper. You can re-arrange things, though, and that's what this program is for.

Installation

Do you want to install this program on your Linux computer? Check out your distro's package manager, because it's probably there.

Can't find PDF mod in your package manager? Check out the PDF Mod website, where you'll find a few packages and some source code you can compile yourself.

Conclusion

This simple tool is great if you ever need to make quick changes to, or to merge, a couple of PDF files. It's got a simple interface and runs quickly. Like I said, it does one thing and does it well.

Have you made use of this? Let me know for what in the comments below. Or you can tell me about how PDFs are totally easy to edit.