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How to edit PDFs: make change to a PDF

Portable Document Format (PDF) files are commonly used for sharing documents that should look the same when viewed on any device. However, sometimes you may need to edit a PDF file to update information, correct errors, add comments, or customize the document.

Fortunately, there are many PDF editor tools available to help you make changes to PDF files easily. This article explains different methods for editing PDFs using free and paid software options for desktop, mobile, and web.

Edit PDFs on Desktop with Software

The most full-featured PDF editors are desktop applications you install on your Windows, Mac, or Linux computer:

  • Adobe Acrobat Pro DC is considered the best premium PDF editing software, with extensive tools for editing text, images, links, forms, and more in PDFs. It also enables online collaboration[1].
  • Foxit PDF Editor provides efficient basic and advanced PDF editing tools at a lower cost than Acrobat[2].
  • PDFelement is an affordable PDF solution with intuitive editing capabilities and helpful productivity features[3].

Other free PDF editors for desktop include:

  • PDF Candy: Basic online/offline PDF editing with text, images, links. Good free option[4].
  • PDFescape: Edit PDF text, annotate with comments, e-sign documents[5].

Edit PDFs on Mobile Devices

To edit PDFs on your phone or tablet, useful mobile apps include:

  • Adobe Acrobat Reader: Full-featured mobile PDF editor and reader app with annotation tools and OCR capability to make scanned text editable[6].
  • Foxit PDF Editor: Allows viewing, annotating, and editing text in PDFs on Android devices[7].
  • PDFelement: Edit, annotate, convert PDFs on your iPhone/iPad. Has free and paid versions[8].

Use Online PDF Editors

For quick, lightweight PDF editing, check out these free online PDF editor tools:

  • Adobe Acrobat Web Editor: Edit PDF text, images, links online. Add comments and e-signatures[9].
  • Sejda PDF Editor: Browser-based PDF editing with task automation[10].
  • PDF Candy: Simple online PDF editing like adding text boxes, highlights, images[11].

Basic PDF Editing Techniques

Here are some common tasks when editing PDF files and how to do them:

  • Edit Text: Select text boxes or paragraphs and type over or modify text[12].
  • Add Text: Use text box tools to insert new text anywhere[13].
  • Edit Images: Crop, resize, replace, or extract images in the PDF[14].
  • Fill out Forms: Type into fillable form fields to complete PDF forms[15].
  • Add Comments: Annotate your PDF by adding sticky notes, highlights, drawings[16].
  • Sign Documents: Add e-signatures to sign forms or approve documents[17].

Conclusion

Whether you need to update text, fill out forms, insert images, add signatures, or make other revisions, PDF editor tools enable you to customize documents to suit your needs. The best options provide user-friendly interfaces, touch up images clearly, handle large documents efficiently, and enable online collaboration.

Hopefully this overview gave you ideas on how to effectively edit PDF files using desktop software, mobile apps, or free online tools. Let us know if you have any other questions!

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