Create a PDF from a blank page

Adobe® Acrobat® 8 Professional introduces the PDF Editor feature. With it, you can create a PDF from a blank page rather than beginning with a file, a clipboard image, or scanning.

This process can be useful for creating relatively small PDFs of up to about a dozen pages. For longer, more complex, or heavily formatted new documents, it’s usually better to create the source document in an authoring application that offers more layout and formatting options, such as Adobe InDesign or various business software products.

Note: The PDF Editor can make changes in text only with PDFs created from blank pages. To add a blank page to a PDF created by another method, create a blank document in another application and convert that file to PDF and import it into the existing PDF.

Create and add text to a new, blank PDF

Choose File > Create PDF > From Blank Page.
Begin typing the text you want to add to the blank page.
Add any formatting to the text by selecting it and selecting options on the New Document toolbar.
As needed, select other tools and options that you want to apply to the PDF.
Choose File > Save, and select a name and location for the PDF file.
Note: When the page is filled with text, the PDF Editor automatically adds a new blank page to the document.

Edit text in a PDF created from a blank page

Choose File > Open, and locate and select a PDF created with PDF Editor (that is, one created from a blank page).
Choose Document > Resume Editing.
Add text and formatting as needed.

Prevent changes in PDF Editor

You can freeze the text you have added to PDFs created from a blank page. This prevents anyone from adding or changing the text. There is no Undo for this process.

Choose Document > Prevent Further Edits.
In the message that appears, click Prevent Further Edits to confirm your choice. Or, click Keep Text Editable if you want to continue adding or editing text with the PDF Editor.
In the Save As dialog box, select a new name and location for the file, or leave the original name and location selected to replace the original file with the uneditable version.

Preferences for the PDF Editor

You can access the PDF Editor preferences options by choosing Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Acrobat > Preferences (Mac OS) and then selecting New Document in the list under Categories.

Font: Specifies the font family that will be used by default for typing on a new, blank page.
Size: Specifies the font size of the default font.
Default Margins: Specifies the measurements of the insets from the edges of the page: Left, Right, Top, and Bottom.
Size (under Default Page): Specifies the standard paper size, such as Letter, Tabloid, A4, and so on.
Orientation: Specifies whether the longer side of the page runs horizontally (Landscape) or vertically (Portrait).