Most computer users are familiar with the file format known as PDF. Most often in such a file you can see books, various instructions, and official documentation. This file opens via special programs. The most famous is Acrobat Reader, but can also be opened through modern browsers. Some users may need to edit such files. For example, you need to delete some parts of the text, but you have already lost the original document from which you created the PDF. Or the task is to slightly correct someone else’s PDF document. And here problems arise... PDF files cannot be edited through the same programs that everyone is used to opening them and this requires special programs that support editing such files. In this article I will tell you about free ways x editing PDF documents.
This article will not talk about hacking password-protected and/or encrypted PDF documents that have restrictions on editing information!
When I was once faced with the task of editing a PDF document that contained instructions, I immediately ran into a problem. I thought I could do this using the PDF 24 Creator program, with which you can easily create a PDF file from almost any other text format and protect the document from copying and editing (all this is described in a separate article - here). But this program cannot edit PDF files, for example, you cannot use it to erase some text or write a new one.
Searching for a special free program to solve this problem ended in failure. I only managed to find online service s, for editing documents, the capabilities of which are very weak, as well as the office suite LibreOffice (analogous to the paid Microsoft Office), which is generally designed for working with text documents, presentations, tables and at the same time supports the ability to edit PDF.
Everyone also supports the ability to change PDF files. latest versions famous Microsoft programs Word (starting around 2013 release). But this program is paid and I myself use free analogues. The ability to edit PDF through Microsoft Office will be discussed.
So, let's first look at 2 free ways to edit a PDF document.
Editing a PDF document using the free office suite LibreOffice
LiberOffice, as I mentioned above - free analogue Microsoft package Office, which contains similar programs, i.e., a replacement for such well-known programs as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and others. It also supports PDF editing files. Of course, I don’t really want to install an entire office package for the sake of editing, for example, one PDF file, but another one that is free and at the same time good decision To do quality editing, perhaps not. If you need to perform simple editing in a PDF file, for example, erase some pieces of text, then it’s easier to use online editor om, which will be discussed.
If you need to replace some text, move some elements higher or lower, or add something else, then it is better to install LibreOffice for this, especially since you can quickly delete it later.
Download and install LibreOffice
You can always check for a more recent version and download it on the official website, in the “Download” section:
Installing the program is simple, you don’t need to configure anything in it, so I’ll look at it briefly.
You can find information on how to install programs in Windows, as well as what to pay attention to, in a separate article -.
In the last windows, click “Install” and “Finish”:
This completes the installation of LibreOffice.
How to open a PDF document for editing in LibreOffice and save again in the same format
In order to edit a PDF document using the LibreOffice office suite, no complex actions not required, it's very simple!
Launch LibreOffice and click Open File.
In the window that opens ( Windows Explorer) find on your computer the PDF file you want to edit, for example:
As a result, the PDF file you selected will be open for editing:
Now you can make any changes to the file just as you would with simple change text document. For example, you can easily change or delete any text, images, add links, and in general make any design for a document.
After you make changes to the document, you need to save it back in the same PDF format (unless, of course, you need some other one). If you simply click the “Save” button in the program, the saving will be done in standard formats LibreOffice programs.
In the settings window, you can leave everything as default and click “Export”, then select a folder on your computer to save the file.
If you need to protect an edited PDF document, for example, prohibit copying information or even set a password to open the document. All this can be done on the “Security” tab (1). There, click “Set passwords” (2).
In the window, you can specify 2 different passwords: to open a document and to restrict rights (for example, to prohibit editing or copying information). You can specify both or leave one. Enter the passwords for the desired protection and click OK (2).
In the example above, the password is set only for restrictions within the document, and when opening the file, the password will not be asked.
Options for setting restrictions will now become available and you can set the desired document protection parameters.
After exporting, you will see a new PDF file in the folder where you saved it, with all the changes you made.
Easily edit a PDF file using an online service
If you need to perform basic PDF editing, i.e., not change some text, links or images, but, for example, remove some pieces of text from the document, erase something, then a regular online editing service will help you PDF files. Such services are not rich in their editing capabilities.
I have seen only one more or less normal site where you can perform simple editing of a PDF file and this is: pdfescape.com. The rest either have very little functionality, there is no way to even erase something from a PDF, or they are too buggy or paid for.
Click Free Online to go to the online editor.
Click “Upload PDF to PDFescape”:
Now click on “Select File” and select the PDF file from your computer.
In a few seconds the file will be downloaded for the service and you can edit it.
In the left part of the window at the top (1) there are tools for editing PDF. Below (2) the page to edit is selected from the entire document. The page opens on the right side of the window (3).
There aren't a lot of tools, but you can do something. Each of them can be tried out to understand what it serves and then deleted (click right click mouse and select “Delete Object”), if necessary. For example, the Text tool is used to write new text in PDF document, and the Whiteout tool is used to erase any information from the pages of a document. The tools have graphic icons next to them, so it won’t be difficult to guess what is responsible for what.
Changing the text to a new one will not work. This feature is not supported by any online PDF editor. All you can do for this is remove the old text using the Whiteout tool and write a new one on top using Help Text. However, you will have to adjust the font to the desired one, because it may be very different from what you have in the original.
All that remains is to select the folder where you will save the modified PDF and that’s it.
Edit PDF via Microsoft Office
The Microsoft Office program (namely Word from this package), as you know, is paid, but many people use it and therefore it will be easiest for them, if necessary, to edit a PDF file directly through Word.
Support for editing PDF files is not available in all Microsoft versions Office Word, and starting around version 2013.
The example below will be shown using Microsoft Office Word 2016.
Editing a PDF is easy through Word. Open Word and open through it required file PDF: File menu, then Open (1) and Browse (2).
The file will open as normal Word document, which can be edited as required, like a regular text document you are familiar with.
After the file is edited, you need to save it back to PDF. To do this, select the "File" menu, then open "Export".
That's the whole process.
Conclusion
As you can see, editing a PDF is not so difficult and you don’t need special tools for this. paid programs. In this article, I have already shown you 2 free working options for editing PDF documents and one using a paid office. I think one of these options will definitely suit you!
Have a nice day and good mood! ;)
Use these free PDF editors and online tools to make changes to your PDF files
It's not easy to find a truly free editor that allows you to not only edit and add text, but also change images, add your own graphics, sign your name, fill out forms, etc. However, below is a list of what you're looking for.
Some are online PDF editors that work right in your web browser, so all you have to do is upload your PDF to the website, make the necessary changes, and then save it to your computer. This is a quick method, but keep in mind that generally the online editor is not as full-featured as its desktop counterpart, plus the file is available online (which can be dangerous if it contains sensitive content).
Since not all of these free PDF editors support the same features, and some are limited in what you can do, remember that you may be processing the same PDF in more than one tool. For example, use one to edit PDF text (if supported) and then put that same PDF through another editor to do something supported in this program (for example, to edit a form, update an image, or delete a page).
Format conversion
If you don't need to change the contents of the PDF file, but just change it to a different file format (for example, .docx for Word or .epub for e-book), contact our for help. On the other hand, if you have a file that you created yourself and want to save as a PDF, see.
Microsoft Word is the best program available
If you already have Microsoft Word 2016 or 2013, skip all the programs offered below: you have a great PDF editor right now. Just open the PDF like you would any other Word document, give the program a few minutes to PDF conversion and then edit it.
What we like
- Allows you to download PDFs from other sites
- Supports adding hyperlinks
- Includes signing tool
- Allows you to insert blank pages into PDF
- You can remove pages from PDF
- Supports whitening parts of the page
- Can insert images and shapes into PDF
- Works on Windows, MacOS and Linux
What we don't like
- Can only be used on three PDFs every hour
- Limited to PDFs less than 200 pages
- Does not edit PDF files larger than 50 MB
Sejda PDF Editor is one of the few PDF editors that allows you to edit existing text in PDF without adding a watermark. Most editors allow you to edit the text you add yourself, or they support text editing but then throw watermarks all over the place.
Plus, this tool can run entirely within your web browser, so it's easy to launch without downloading any software. You can get the desktop version if you want.
There are some differences between the online and desktop versions that you should be aware of. For example, the desktop version supports more font types and doesn't allow you to add PDFs from a URL or from online storage services like the online editor (which supports Dropbox and Google Drive).
Another one useful feature is which allows PDF publishers to provide their users with a link that they can simply click to automatically open the file in that online PDF editor.
All downloaded files are automatically deleted from Seid after five hours.
You can use both the online and desktop versions to convert PDF to Word document or Word document to PDF. Open section Tools in any program to find this option.
2.Inkscape
What we like
- You can edit PDF text
- Supports graphics manipulation
- Includes many image editing tools
- Works with Windows, MacOS and Linux
What we don't like
- The number of graphics editing tools can be overwhelming
Inkscape is an extremely popular free image viewer and editor, but it also includes PDF editing features that most dedicated PDF editors only support in their paid versions.
Inkscape is a very capable image editing program. However, if you are not yet familiar with programs such as and others graphic editors maybe it's a little advanced for you.
In the context of PDF editing, however, you should only consider Inkscape if you want to remove or edit images or text in a PDF. We suggest you use another tool in this list to edit PDF forms or add shapes and then paste this PDF in Inkscape if you really need to edit existing text.
What we like
- Works online through your web browser
- Includes many tools
- Allows you to add your own text and images
- You can delete and add PDF pages
- Works on any OS
What we don't like
- Can't edit existing text
- Does not edit large PDF files
PDFescape has quite a lot of features. It's completely free as long as the PDF doesn't exceed 100 pages or 10 MB.
You can't really change text or edit images with this editor, but you can add your own text, images, links, form fields, etc.
You can also draw in the PDF, add notes, strikethrough text, put spaces over anything you want, and insert lines, checkmarks, arrows, ovals, circles, rectangles, and comments.
PDFescape allows you to remove individual pages from a PDF, rotate pages, crop parts of a page, reorganize the order of pages, and add other pages from other PDFs.
You can upload your own PDF, paste the URL into the interactive PDF, and create your own PDF from scratch.
Once you're done editing, you can download the PDF to your computer without having to create account user. You only need it if you want to save your progress online without downloading the PDF.
PDFescape also has a standalone PDF editor called PDFescape Editor, but it is not free.
What we like
- Uses OCR (optical character recognition) to identify text in PDF
- Can import various shapes and images
- Supports adding QR codes to PDF
- Offers a portable version
What we don't like
- Many features require a license
- Works only with Windows
PDF-XChange Editor offers several great tools, but not all of them are free to use. If you use the non-free feature, the PDF will be saved with a watermark on each page.
However, if you stick to only the free features, you can still make some changes to the file and save it on your computer.
You can upload PDFs from your computer, URL, SharePoint, Google Drive and Dropbox. You can save the edited PDF back to your computer or to any of these cloud services storage
PDF-XChange Editor has a lot of features, so it may seem overwhelming at first. However, all options and tools are easy to understand and are divided into separate sections for easier management.
A nice feature is the ability to highlight all of the form fields so you can easily identify where you need to fill out. This is really useful if you are editing a PDF with a lot of forms, such as an attachment.
While the free version places watermarks on edited documents, this program allows you to edit existing text, add your own text to a PDF, and add or remove pages from a document.
You can download this program in portable mode for use on a flash drive or as a regular installer.
Many features are free, but some are not. If you are using a feature that is not included in free version(you are told which features are not free when you use them), the saved PDF file will have a watermark attached to the corner of each page.
5. Smallpdf Online PDF editor
What we like
- Absolutely free
- Allows you to add more text to PDF
- You can place empty space above the areas you want to erase
- Supports importing shapes
- Can load and save PDF files from various sources
- Works with any OS
What we don't like
- Does not allow editing of existing text
- Only two PDFs can be edited every hour
Smallpdf is one of the most quick ways Add images, text, shapes, or your signature to a PDF.
With Smallpdf you can import three shapes into PDF: a square, a circle, or an arrow. You can change the object's base color and line color, as well as its edge thickness.
The text size can be tiny, small, regular, large or huge, but only three font types are available. You can change the color of any text you add.
When you are done editing the PDF, just click the button APPLY and then decide where you want to save it. You can also run the edited PDF file using if you want to extract pages from the document.
If you edit two PDFs within an hour, you'll need to upgrade to Smallpdf Pro if you want to continue using the site. Or you can wait an hour to change another one.
What we like
- Everything is free and no user account is needed
- Does not leave a watermark
- Can erase or edit existing text and images with white or black space
- Allows you to insert your own images
- You can add your own text to PDF
- Circles, checkmarks and x's can be placed above any text
- Supports highlighting something on the page
- Easy to type, draw and sign
- Works on any OS
What we don't like
- Cannot edit existing text
- No easy undo button (but you can delete what you've done)
- You can only upload PDFs from your computer (not from other places like Google Drive or Dropbox)
Free PDF editor from FormSwift is very simple online PDF editor, which you can use without even creating a user account.
Once you're done editing the PDF, you can download the file as a PDF, print it directly to your printer, or save the PDF as Microsoft document Word.docx.
The .pdf-to-.docx conversion didn't work for every PDF we tried, but the ones that converted successfully had images formatted beautifully and the text was fully editable.
PDFelement Pro, as the name sounds, is free, but with a major limitation: it places a watermark on every PDF page. That said, the watermark doesn't cover much of the page, and it's important to understand that it supports some really great PDF editing features.
This program would be truly free PDF editor, if it weren't for the fact that the free edition won't save without first placing a watermark on every page of the PDF.
However, depending on what you'll be using the PDF for, the features it supports may be enough to make you consider living with watermarks.
Content
Before we start talking about PDF editing software, it is worth briefly talking about why such applications are needed. Despite the fact that all the products discussed in the guide are full-fledged editors and allow you to create documents even from scratch, this feature is practically not in demand. The PDF format is used not for creating documentation, but for distributing it and transferring it to other machines. The main advantage of PDF is that you can view documents on any computer without losing formatting and other subtleties. PDF is operating system independent.
PDF documents are most often created using a virtual printer. This is why most applications do not have tools for importing documents from other formats. This is simply not required, because developers often offer not only an editor, but also virtual printer. As a result, it is easier to create a blank through printing, and then perform the necessary correction and optimization from special applications, which will be discussed in this guide.
PDF is the most popular format for storing documents, which allows you to work with files containing both text and pictures without losing formatting settings. Today there are a large number of PDF editor programs on the Internet, but today we will highlight four of the most effective ones.
If you suddenly need to edit a PDF file, for example, copy text from it, change the content or make other adjustments, then in this task without a specially designed software not enough.
LibreOffice
In my opinion, this tool is the ideal choice for viewing and complex PDF editing. LibreOffice is a complete office suite that works with many file formats, allowing you to create and edit text documents, spreadsheets and graphics files.
This program will provide full-fledged work with PDF, allowing you to make all the necessary adjustments. The advantage of this package is that it is distributed completely free of charge, but the disadvantage (depending on which way you look at it) is that a separate component for working with PDF will not work - only the entire office package, which is a wonderful alternative to Microsoft Office.
Adobe Acrobat DC
Speaking about tools for editing PDF, it would be ridiculous if the article did not mention perhaps the most popular tool for working with this file format - Adobe Acrobat.
The Pro version of this tool is paid, but at the same time it will provide full document editing, allowing you to make any required adjustments to the file. If you are in doubt whether it is worth buying such a program, first use the demo version, which will allow you to use all the capabilities of this combine absolutely free for 30 days.
PDF Editor
As the name of this program already suggests, it is a PDF editing tool. This program allows you to work on text: edit it, change size and fonts, highlight it with color, etc. To work with images in this program There is a built-in simple picture editor that will allow you to correct the picture inserted into the PDF.
The program will also allow you to remove protection, work on pages, change the layout, divide, merge and much more. This editor is one of the first full-fledged tools that allows you to make changes to PDF files, which is why it is the most functional today. The program is paid, but if you regularly need to make adjustments to PDF files, then we can definitely recommend it for use.
Foxit Advanced PDF Editor
The ultimate PDF editing program that will be a great helper for creating new documents and editing existing ones. Using this tool, you can edit text, change style, font, color, spacing, etc.
In addition to text editing, the program provides a sufficient number of tools for detailed editing of images placed in a document, for example, there is a healing brush or the favorite magic wand.
The program will be able to work on the document itself: add sheets or remove unnecessary ones, combine several documents into one, add numbering, divide documents and much more. In my opinion, unlike the tool discussed above, this one has a much more user-friendly interface that you don’t have to spend hours understanding to start editing documents. A program like this is worth paying for.
If you know of much more effective tools for editing PDF documents on computers running Windows OS, tell us about them in the comments.
And again, hello! It's me again, and we're talking about the PDF format again. More precisely, about how and with what program you can edit PDF files. By the word “edit”, I do not mean full-fledged editing of PDF files, as in Word, with full formatting of text, pictures and the like, but, so to speak, a lightweight option, when you need to replace one word with another or insert notes, again – add or delete a page. In general, make an easy adjustment.
In my practice, there was a case when it was necessary to urgently change the inscriptions on the drawing and correct some dimension lines. Of course, there was an idea to use Photoshop or Corel, but for me this is not an option. After all, it is necessary, then to commit various actions with layers, colors, and so on - a rather complicated procedure, and it requires a lot of unnecessary movements.
Therefore, as the unforgettable leader of the proletariat used to say, I went the other way, namely towards the Internet, where I found a wonderful program - fast, convenient and shareware. Yes, the program is not free, but... how often do you have to edit PDF documents. I think not often, well, about five times a month, maximum, unless of course you are in the printing business.
That’s why we won’t bother about whether this or that is paid or free. software product. The question of which programs are better to use - paid or free - is controversial, of course, this can be discussed and discussed for a long time, so I will write a separate post on this topic, and you subscribe to news from the blog so as not to miss anything interesting...
If you really have to edit, just edit, and not review, that is, make various marks, comments or comments, then it makes sense to use something paid, for example, Acrobat Pro, this is where you can go wild in terms of PDF editing, but the options not cheap, although if you scour torrents, you can find a broken version, but... I didn’t tell you that.
I got distracted, let's get back to editing PDF files. A program for editing PDF documents – FoxitPDFEditor. As I wrote above, there are several other programs for editing, but I like this one. For example, I will take two files - one with a drawing, the other with text.
Small note: In this way, you can only edit PDF files created from source programs using or, that is, if drawings, then AutoCAD or Compass, and if texts and tables, then Word, Excel and other similar text or spreadsheet editors.
Editing PDF files with drawings
So, there is a drawing and you need to put inscriptions on it and adjust some dimensions and callouts. Go! Here's a drawing:
Let's make inscriptions instead of callouts and replace some dimensions. Open the required file in FoxitPDFEditor and start editing... Let's take a look!
If we briefly describe the whole process, we get the following:
- Launch PDFEditor
- Open the desired file with the drawing (once again, please note that the PDF file must be created from the original source)
- We edit the drawing as if in AutoCAD. Select the necessary lines, move them, add dimensions, etc.
Well, something like this... If you don’t understand, ask, don’t be shy.
Editing PDF files with text and pictures
There is a file created from primary source programs, I have this part of the article, which you can read in full.
We will change the size of the text and pictures, delete the unnecessary page and add the necessary one, and some other little things. Let's see!
The editing principle is similar to editing in a vector editor (Korel, Illustrator). All pictures and text in the edited file become objects that can be selected, changed or deleted. Moreover, not only text and pictures, but even pages can be deleted or added, which is shown in the video.
Please note that the videos must be watched sequentially, because there are some nuances in the first video that are not mentioned in the second. For example, how to correctly add text blocks and some other points.
The article turned out to be long, but, I hope, informative. Let's summarize and draw conclusions.
conclusions
Due to the fact that the PDF format is not intended for editing, there are nevertheless situations when it is necessary to make some changes to PDF documents.
For this purpose, special editing programs have been developed. PDF format, but out of all the variety, only one was considered in this article, but, in my opinion, the most convenient. With some skill, you can edit files in this program no worse than in Word.
It only remains to mention that FoxitPDFEditor is now called Foxit Phantom PDF. The option is paid, about one hundred green American rubles will have to be paid by those who want to use the new version of the above program. For those who don't care a new version or not new - Google to the rescue...
Thank you for your attention! And if something is not clear, do not hesitate to write...
P.S. For dessert I offer you a very dramatic cat. Relax and smile!
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