How to edit a PDF file? Everything you need to get started

• Posted on 19 October 2023
• 0

Editing PDF files can be a challenge for both a computer layman and an IT expert. We have often struggled with this in the past, but by now we mastered it. In this blog, we like to explain how and with which tools you can best edit PDF files. We also discuss some PDF editors that can help you edit PDF files, like Adobe Acrobat and Ashampoo PDF Pro 3.

What is a PDF file?

Adobe invented the PDF file format. The format is meant as a versatile digital file that allows for easy and reliable exchange and viewing of documents. The core strength of the PDF format and files is their ability to preserve the integrity of the original document and keep the same layout. Exchanging PDF files won’t change anything in the file, while other file formats may experience this issue. Remember exchanging word files between old Microsoft Office Word versions? This often would result in shifts in the document layouts. While this issue is less frequently experienced today because of the technical improvements made by the various software developers, there are still reasons to use PDF files.

Why would someone want to edit a PDF file?

There are various reasons why someone would want to edit a PDF file. Editing a PDF file can have several reasons, perhaps you want to:

• Correct errors in a PDF file
• Add or update text
• Add, modify, or even delete images in a document
• Add, modify, or even delete the layout or design elements of a PDF file
• Edit or update document properties
• Edit or update Metadata
• Add or update annotations, markups, or comments to a PDF file
• Add security features like password protection and/or encryption
• Add interactive features like buttons, multimedia or forms
• Merge or split PDF files
  
  

All of the reasons to edit a PDF file listed above can be solved by choosing a reliable PDF editor. Later in this article, we will dive a bit deeper into the options out there.

Can I edit a PDF file?

In general, the answer to this question will be: yes, you can. But beware: there are certain circumstances where you will need additional details to change a PDF file. Some PDFs are protected by the aforementioned security features, creators of PDF files can choose to provide extra layers of security to a PDF file by password protection and/or encryption. If this is the case, you will not be able to edit the PDF without the password created by the creator. We strongly recommend choosing a PDF editor that suits your needs.

What to look for in a PDF editor? 7 questions to ask yourself to see what you need

Although this is a very complex question to answer, we will try our very best to help you choose the right PDF editor by listing some questions you can ask yourself before you buy.

1. What’s your primary need: viewing or editing?

The first question you can ask yourself to determine whether where you even need a PDF editor or not, is to ask yourself what your primary need is. PDF software was initially meant for viewing purposes, these PDF viewers still exist and will be sufficient in some cases, in these PDF viewers you will be able to make comments, but not directly edit PDF files. PDF editors, the type of software this article is about, are meant for editing text and other elements of PDF files if the author allows it. PDF editors in general allow splitting and merging of PDF documents as well, with loads of other features to make your life easier.

2. Do you intend to use a word processor with your PDF editor?

Most people utilize a word processor to create their documents. If you're comfortable with your current software suite, introducing a dedicated PDF editor might seem unnecessary. However, having a PDF editor can allow you to make changes directly in the PDF file, saving you the time and effort of revisiting the original document for modifications. Especially if you don’t have access to the original files. It’s very important to note that we don’t recommend replacing your word processor with a PDF editor, though PDF editors have text and image editing capabilities, PDF editors were not designed to be large-scale word processors.

Now we have determined whether you need a PDF editor or not, it’s time to dive deeper into what features you need by answering the questions below.

3. Are you creating PDF Forms or documents, or both?

Making PDF files that include forms can be an outcome for various situations. By implementing PDF forms you are capable of making editable elements in a document, making them ideal for applications, contracts, HR records, and many more. If you want to capture information in documents like this, a PDF editor with form-creation capabilities is crucial.

4. Do you require annotation or redaction features?

Annotation and redaction features can be crucial for collaborative workflows or when sharing information that’s not meant for everybody. Most PDF editors include annotation, redaction, commenting, and highlighting features to make collaboration a breeze. Sounds good? Then look for PDF software that includes this.

5. Do you want to be able to merge or split PDF documents?

In professional environments, it can be highly useful to be able to combine or split PDF documents. Combine purchase orders with an invoice, or extract pages from a lengthy report. Manipulating PDF documents like this can improve your workflow efficiency. Most PDF editors include these features, but make sure to double-check before you buy!

6. Do you need to secure your PDFs?

Thinking about the security needs for the documents you would create or edit is crucial. Are you going to handle sensitive or personal information in your PDFs? Then pick any PDF editor with robust security features like password protection or encryption. Think about the consequences of what bad security capabilities could do to you and/or your business. Like the aforementioned PDF forms that is used a lot to make contracts and HR documents, and what a malicious party could do with this information.

7. What extra features would make your life easier?

While the first 6 questions are more about the core features that you may or may not need, the last one is about making your PDF editing experience more tailored and easy. While we suggest you focus on the first 6 questions, we still recommend reading some features below to see if any spark your interest!

Automatic text recognition for image-based text (OCR)

Some PDF documents might be more difficult to edit than others. There is one type of PDF file that is the biggest pain of them all: Scanned PDFs. These PDFs are essentially just images of text, rather than text itself. Gladly, some PDF software now contains the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. With the help of OCR, you can convert these scanned PDFs (images) into editable and searchable text.

E-signatures

It can be useful to look for digital signature capabilities in your next PDF editor. This way you can sign contracts and other documents on the fly. Most PDF editors have this feature, but make sure to check before you buy!

Bates numbering

Not used as much as the aforementioned features, but definitely, a useful feature for a PDF editor is Bates numbering. With Bates numbering you can sequentially number pages with a reference number. This is most commonly used in legal documents and therefore a recommended feature for law firms.

Our PDF editor software recommendations

The right software can significantly enhance your document workflows and productivity, to help you out we have selected some PDF editors that may suit your needs. Read more about them below.

Adobe Acrobat 2020 (Standard/Pro)

Adobe, the inventor of the PDF format, has produced one of the most popular and widely adopted PDF editors on the market. Adobe Acrobat offers some of the most common tools and techniques to edit PDFs and boasts a range of additional features that will make the editing of your PDFs easier. With Adobe Acrobat you can:

• Edit text and images directly within the PDF
• Add, delete, or rearrange pages
• Merge multiple PDFs into one
• Split a single PDF into multiple files
• Add annotations, comments, or markups
• Add or edit interactive elements such as forms and multimedia
• Protect your PDFs with password encryption
• Add digital signatures to your PDFs
• Use OCR to change scanned PDFs into searchable and editable (Pro) text
• Compare files
• Apply actions or changes to multiple PDF files simultaneously
• Integrate with Adobe Creative Cloud Apps and other third party applications for seamless document workflows
  
  

Please note that this list is not all it has to offer, but just the most important features of Adobe Acrobat. This PDF editor is seen as the king of PDF editors and is always a good choice since it provides everything someone would want in a PDF editor. It’s important to also address the difference between Adobe Acrobat 2020 Standard and Adobe Acrobat 2020 Pro. The Pro versions boasts more advanced features in every aspect of the software, for example it boasts more advanced security options, like permission control. In the Pro version you can also edit scanned PDFs by OCR, since it has the 3 modes to do so, compared to the 2 options of the standard versions which only make the files searchable when you use OCR. An important feature of the Pro version is also the ability to redact sensitive information, where the standard version is unable to do so.

Ashampoo PDF Pro 3

Ashampoo PDF Pro 3, while not as complete as Adobe Acrobat, is still a very good option for everyday editing of PDFs. This PDF editor is noticeably cheaper than Adobe Acrobat, and therefore a very good budget option. The key features of Ashampoo PDF Pro 3 include:

• Edit text and images directly within the PDF
• Add, delete, or rearrange pages
• Merge multiple PDFs into one
• Split a single PDF into multiple files
• Add annotations, comments, or markups
• Add or edit interactive elements such as forms and multimedia
• Protect your PDFs with password encryption
• Add digital signatures to your PDFs
  
  

To get a complete overview of our PDF editor offer, please check out our PDF editor page.

How to edit a PDF file?

Now you, like chosen a PDF editor that suits your needs it’s time to start editing. We listed some of the most frequently asked questions related to PDF editing below:

How to edit the text in a PDF?

Editing text is the easiest of tasks in any PDF editor. Please make sure you have been granted access to the PDF file by the creator if necessary. The process can be slightly different in every PDF editor, but the general way of editing text in a PDF editor goes as follows:

1. Open the PDF file in your PDF editor
2. Choose the "Edit PDF" tool, located somewhere on your screen (right pane for Adobe Acrobat)
3. Click the text or image you wish to edit.
4. Add or edit text on the page, or add, move, or resize images on the page as needed.
   
   

Remember that the steps and features may vary depending on the software or app you're using.

How to add and remove images and multimedia in a PDF?

Add images or multimedia to your PDF file:

1. Open the PDF file in your PDF editor
2. Choose the "Edit PDF" tool, located somewhere on your screen (right pane for Adobe Acrobat)
3. Select the "Add Image" or "Add Multimedia" tool.
4. Click on the location in the PDF where you want to add the image or multimedia.
5. Select the file from your computer and insert it into the PDF.
   
   

Remove images and multimedia from your PDF file:

1. Open the PDF file in your PDF editor
2. Choose the "Edit PDF" tool, located somewhere on your screen (right pane for Adobe Acrobat)
3. Click on the image or multimedia element you want to remove.
4. Press the delete key on your keyboard to remove it.
5. Save the PDF.
   
   

Remember that the steps and features may vary depending on the software or app you're using.

How to annotate and mark up a PDF?

Annotating and marking up a PDF involves adding comments, highlights, text, shapes, and other visual elements to provide feedback or make notes on the document's content. Here's how to do it using PDF editing software:

1. Open the PDF in your PDF editor.
2. Go to the "Comment" or "Tools" tab.
3. Select the annotation tool you want to use (e.g., highlight, underline, text comment, sticky note, shapes).
4. Click on the part of the document where you want to add the annotation.
5. Type your comment or draw your mark.
6. Save your changes when you're done.
   
   

Remember that the steps and features may vary depending on the software or app you're using.

How to secure and protect a PDF?

Securing important data-sensitive PDF files can be a very important task. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the PDF file in your PDF editor.
2. Go to "File", from there on go to "Protect Using Password", then click on "Encrypt with Password."
3. Enter the desired password.
4. Various PDF editors will also ask what type of encryption to choose, pick one for your file (We recommend 128-bit or 256-bit encryption).
5. Click "OK."
6. Re-enter the password to confirm and save the changes.
   
   

Remember that the steps and features may vary depending on the software or app you're using.

How to add or remove pages from a PDF file?

Adding pages in your PDF editor:

1. Open your PDF in your PDF editor.
2. Go to "Tools" and click on "Organize Pages."
3. Click "Insert" to add a new page or a page from another PDF.
4. Select the location in the PDF where you want to insert the page.
5. Click "OK" and save the PDF.
   
   

Removing pages in your PDF editor:

1. Open your PDF in your PDF editor.
2. Go to "Tools" and click on "Organize Pages."
3. Select the page you want to remove.
4. Click "Delete" or use the "Backspace" key on your keyboard.
5. Save the PDF without the removed page.
   
   

Remember that the steps and features may vary depending on the software or app you're using.

How to edit scanned PDFs? (OCR)

Scanned PDFs are a bit more challenging to edit because they are essentially images of text, rather than text itself. However, with the help of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, you can convert the scanned images into editable and searchable text.

1. Open the scanned PDF in a PDF editor with OCR capabilities.
2. Choose the "OCR" option in the toolbar.
3. The editor will convert the scanned images into editable text.
4. You can now edit the text as you would in a regular PDF.
   
   

Remember that the steps and features may vary depending on the software or app you're using.

How to edit a PDF file on a Mac?

If you use a Mac device you most likely know that some software is hard to get your hands on. This is also the case for PDF editors. Gladly, Apple introduced Preview for Mac devices. Preview is a great PDF viewer, that you can use to open, view and annotate PDF files. Great if you only need to comment and add new text to a PDF file. Need more PDF editing capabilities? Then Adobe Acrobat Pro is the way to go for you. We’ve mentioned the features and capabilities of this amazing PDF editor above.

How to convert other file formats to PDF?

Depending on what your original file format is the process of this can be slightly different, but for most file formats or origin software the process would look something like this:

1. Open the file that you want to convert to PDF.
2. Go to the ‘File’ menu, most often situated in the top-left corner.
3. Choose “Save as” or “Export”. From there on select PDF as the output format.
4. Tweak your settings like page size, quality, and orientation. (If possible)
5. Save the PDF.
   
   

How to export or save edited PDF files?

Exporting or saving edited PDF files is a breeze, and basically works exactly the same as saving any other document. Save your PDF file with the following steps:

1. Open the edited PDF file in your editor.
2. Review the changes you made.
3. Go to “File” in the menu, most often situated in the top-left corner.
4. Select “Save” or “Save as”.
5. Choose a location on your computer to save your edited PDF document.
6. Provide a name to your edited PDF.
7. Click “Save”.
   
   

Your PDF file is now successfully saved!

How to collaborate on a PDF document with others?

Real-time collaboration on a PDF document is only possible to some extent. It’s only possible to share a PDF document with someone so they can Review the PDF file and add comments. This is done through the following steps:

1. Open the PDF file in your PDF editor.
2. Go to “File”, click “Share”, and choose “Review”
3. Now you can select the recipient and invite people to review the PDF.
   
   

The same result can also be achieved by uploading a PDF file to Google Drive or Dropbox, this way multiple users can comment on your PDF file.

Buy a robust PDF editor

Choosing a PDF editor is the first and most important step in PDF editing. A solid PDF editor like Adobe Acrobat Standard or Adobe Acrobat Pro will save you so much time in the long run, and therefore is our recommended choice. Digi License is your trusted partner for all your software needs, consider buying your licenses at Digi License to save time and money! Hopefully this article set you on your way to choose a solid PDF editor, and successfully edit all your future PDF files. Questions? Don’t hesitate to contact us!