PDF editing tools, such as Enfocus PitStop Pro, are very convenient for making intermediate or last-minute corrections in PDF documents. This saves you both time and money because you do not have to go back to the original application program to re-create the PDF document. Sometimes, it may even be more efficient to make the changes directly in your PDF document. Enfocus PitStop Pro, for example, allows you to make global color changes throughout your PDF document.
However, PDF editing also involves a risk: as soon as you edit and save a PDF document, you create a version of a document that is different from the original document you made using a word processor or a desktop publishing software. These inconsistencies are hard to manage, and may introduce problems in archiving or when the document is republished at a later date.
To help reduce document consistency problems, the Certified PDF workflow features a mechanism that:
Based on this information, an edit log —a human readable PDF report— can be generated.
If consistency between the PDF document and the source file(s) is very important, you can use the edit log to change the source file(s) accordingly. To assist in this process, a Certified PDF document can also keep a reference to the source file(s) from which the PDF document was created. You can use this reference to make sure that the source file has not been edited since the PDF document was created.