This guide will show you how to edit a PDF directly online without the need to convert it.
Documents typically cannot be directly edited. However, there are online tools that make PDFs editable. Some allow you to overlay text and images, while others let you modify the content of the PDF. The latter use a technology called OCR (Optical Character Recognition).
Let’s immediately look at two of these tools and how to use them.
Edit PDF Online with ILovePdf
The website allows you to easily edit PDFs directly online. The editing is completely free and without limits. You can add text, images, shapes, or freely draw over the content of the PDF file.
The first step is to upload the PDF file you want to edit. You can choose to select the file or simply drag the file into the page. Once uploaded, you will see a preview of the PDF content.
To start editing, you can choose the content you want to insert from the toolbar at the top. On the right sidebar, you can see all the elements you’ve inserted and select them to make modifications.
For example, if you want to modify a part of the text, you can “whiten” the text and then overwrite the text you desire. To do this, you need to overlay a shape from the toolbar by clicking on the geometric shapes, position it over the text you want to modify, adjust the size for text coverage, and choose the fill color of the shape to match the background. Then, you add the text by clicking on the ‘A‘ on the toolbar, choosing the font and size most similar to that of the document.
You can also insert an image anywhere in the PDF. It’s very simple to do so: on the toolbar, click on the image icon and choose the file you want to insert. Once you have uploaded the image, you can adjust its dimensions according to your needs. Once you have completed all the modifications, click on “Edit PDF,” which you can find at the bottom right, and you will be able to download the PDF document with the changes you made.
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Edit PDF online with Best-Pdf
This solution is certainly easier to use as it not only provides features for inserting text, images, and shapes on top of the original content but also allows you to directly edit the content of the PDF. The conversion service is paid and requires a subscription of €29.90 per month, but don’t worry about that. I’ll show you a trick to edit your PDFs online with Best-Pdf completely for free.
First, you need to select the PDF document you want to edit by clicking on “Select file,” and once selected, click on “Edit.” You will be shown the PDF document you have uploaded. In the top-left corner, you will see the toolbar. To insert text, click on the “T” icon, and if you want to insert shapes, click on the respective icon. Right next to it, you will find the button for inserting images.
BestPdf – Direct text editing on PDFs
The most interesting feature of this tool is the ability to directly edit the text in the original document. To do this, simply click on the toolbar button with a blank page and a pen. At this point, you can go directly to the text you want to edit and click on it. You will see that the text is framed, indicating that you can modify it.
Once you have completed all the modifications, if you have a subscription, simply click on “Download” and authenticate yourself. However, if you do not have a subscription but want to save the edited PDF, you need to follow these steps.
Final Step
First, you need to install software that allows you to print to PDF. If you have Windows 10, you don’t need this software as it is preinstalled by default in this version of Windows. However, if your system is different from Windows 10, you need to install doPDF, a free software that you can download from this link.
BestPdf – Free PDF Export
Have you installed the printing software? Great, now we can proceed. Going back to the PDF editing page, once you have completed the text modifications, you need to click on the hand button located on the toolbar in the top-left corner. At this point, right-click on the document preview and select “Print” from the menu. In the small window that appears, you can select the pages to save and optionally choose to print comments as well. I recommend unchecking the “Headers and footer” option to remove the header text. Finally, click “OK.”
In the print screen, you need to save the file as a PDF, so you have to use the default software in Windows 10 or the doPDF software. If you have Windows 10, select “Microsoft Print to PDF“; otherwise, select doPDF, choose the folder to save it in, and you’re done. You have edited the PDF file and saved it.
Edit PDF online with Simplepdf
With this tool, you can edit PDFs, such as fillable forms, by directly entering text into the fields online. In addition to text, you can also insert a signature by drawing it directly on the PDF or insert an image. You can also add a checkbox to indicate a selection. Its usage is very simple and intuitive, and it’s completely free without the need for registration. First, go to the official page of Simplepdf.eu and upload the PDF you want to edit online. Just click on the position where you want to insert the text and type it directly.
If you want to delete the text or any content you have just inserted, you can simply click on the trash can icon located next to the text box.
Great, now you know how to edit PDFs online without the need to download any software on your PC. All that’s left is for you to try them out and choose the one that you find best.