PDF or Portable Document Format is one of the most widely used and well-known file formats used for reading, printing and exchanging documents that do not require editing. However, sometimes you need to create and edit PDF files. Unfortunately Linux doesn’t come with a standard PDF editor; however, you can do basic editing with LibreOffice products, which are widely used for Word and spreadsheet applications.

In this article, we will explain how you can use LibreOffice products to create a PDF file on Debian OS.

In this article we will find out:

• Create PDF file
• Convert document to PDF
• Edit PDF files

Create / Convert PDF Files Using LibreOffice Writer

Using the LibreOffice Writer application, you can export your documents to PDF format. It allows you to create a new PDF document or convert an existing document to PDF format. LibreOffice Writer is part of the LibreOffice suite and is mostly included by default in almost all Linux distributions. If it is not present on your system, you can easily install it from the Debian Software Manager.

LibreOffice Writer can be opened either through the search bar of the application launcher or directly from the list of applications.

To create a new PDF file, create a new text document as you do in any text editor. Enter text, graphics, or whatever you want to add to the new PDF file. After you are finished editing and formatting the text, click the Export to PDF icon in the toolbar as shown in the following screenshot:

Or go to file > Export to PDF using the top menu bar.

The second method offers you more options for creating a PDF file. Configure the required parameters, otherwise leave the default value and click export button.

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Editing PDFs with LibreOffice Draw

With the LibreOffice Draw utility, you can perform basic editing and formatting of PDF files. LibreOffice draw is also part of the LibreOffice package, which is installed by default on most Linux distributions. If it is not present on your system, you can install it from the Debian Software Manager.

To start LibreOffice drawing, press the superkey and search for it by entering the keyword as follows:

From LibreOffice Draw go to File> Open and view the PDF you want to edit:

Click the text or image to edit the document. If you click text, text editing tools will appear, and image editing tools will appear if you click any image.

When finished editing, click the PDF icon as shown in the following screenshot.

Select a location and name the PDF document. Then press the button Save and your edited file will be saved in PDF format.

You don’t need to save the file if you get the following message when you close the file. click Do not save button to save the file as PDF.

LibreOffice Writer and LibreOffice Draw provide a fast and easy way to create and edit PDF files. These are the most suitable options for creating and editing PDF files easily. However, for advanced editing, you need Adobe products.

How to create and edit PDFs in Debian 10