Will Perkins Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Hi all, I'm looking for an easy way to mark up a PDF script on the fly during rehearsals before getting out of the rehearsal room. I'm LX, so only looking, in my case, to cover LX and spot cues during rehearsal runs. In my mind I want to be able to select some text from the PDF which with a button press would add a colour (changeable) marker at the side of the page for text (either LX Q or SPOT Q in my case). It's got to be easy and in some ways I want exactly what Word offers in the comments section, however I don't really want it to display that it was me who added the note, or what time I did it. I also, more importantly need to be able to do this on a PDF not a word document. I would also want to colour code different cues, something that word wouldn't allow (to my knowledge). I don't want to have to drag lines across the page, as it takes time and ultimately looks messy. So, is there anything out there that people use, or know of that fit the bill? Do you have an alternative way of working in rehearsals that is similar? Over to you BR... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImagineerTom Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Evernote has some great markup features, is cloud based and works cross platform so would do what you want but I've found evernote only really becomes amazing if everyone on the team is using it as actually getting data out of evernote in to other formats/platforms is a pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadhippy Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 foxit reader ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRW Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 foxit reader ? +1. I was about to add this as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Perkins Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 Thanks, I may have accidentally omitted to mention I'm a Mac user... will have a look at Foxit all the same as there seems to be a iOS version too which could be interesting although not exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks so far guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indyld Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Notability also has great features that works with PDF for marking up and good for iPad. Kinda best with some sort of stylus/screen pen but the result is very like scribbling and highlighting on a paper script. You can export the result as PDF or keep Notability file that includes audio note embedded. Certainly worth a look. usual Dropbox, Drive, iCloud schizzle straight from the interface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I'm wondering why you're working with pdfs? The way scripts get changed and amended means pdfs always are slower and trickier than word? I pay Adobe for a subscription, so pdfs are no real issue, software wise - but If I get a pdf of a script, I edit and markup in word - just because it's quicker. Have I missed something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkPAman Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Paul - you can't convert it to word though unless you pay the subscription I think, and if it's a scanned text then you can't anyway. I do pay & find I can add callouts, text boxes & highlighting with Acrobat Pro, at least as fast as I can in Word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Yep - I get that bit, but when a line gets cut or added, pdf based source material is horrible - having to put black lines through the scrapped text and squeeze in over-typed new lines is a real pain in the bum. If they send me pdf scripts, I ask for a word version. Of course, some scan in pages just to stop people copying and pasting the script, so perhaps in some cases, there's nothing you can do. I just don't find Acrobat pro very easy to edit - even when the text really is text! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Perkins Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 I'm talking PDFs mostly because thats what people have available, sometimes because that's simply all they've got and sometimes because they are supplied with them to limit use. As you can get a PDF from almost anything, it seems ideal to cover youself for them and consequently have all bases covered. After all, if I'm given a hardcopy I can leave the photocopier making me a PDF whilst the kettle boils. The issue about cutting lines doesn't bother me particually, in a way it's nice to know the lines have been cut and the added advantage is you can always re-instate them when the Director changes his or her mind two rehearsals later! I find Acrobat messy for this task. I really am looking for something that will add in text in a set place at the side, just like MS Word comments, the disadvantage there is I can't change colours and I'm bombarded with my name and time of comment! Plus it wouldn't work for PDFs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_s Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I just have acrobat reader (not pro, and I certainly don't pay for it) and there is an option to add comments: I experimented with using text boxes, shapes and lines to mark up a pdf version of a vocal score, and it seemed to be OK, not messy, no name or time of comment visible, and you could change the colours. It was a bit slow, and in the end, I actually made up the prompt copy in the traditional way with a pencil and a ruler. I'm quite old, and feel much more comfortable with a paper script / score that I can scribble on and don't need to plug into a nearby power socket in order to read it, but I was interested in the options for an electronic version for archive and distribution purposes. and with a bit of patience, my acrobat reader "comments" function would have been fine for that purpose. I guess I couldn't edit the actual text (actually musical score in this instance)though I could probably strike it out if needed. when I do have to work from digitally marked up pdf or word, (e.g. when I've taken over a show originated by someone else) I've found them quite easy to work from, it helps that you don't have to deal with different handwriting styles. but I always print them out and work from the paper version, then I can still do my additional scribbles with the pencil... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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