How to edit a PDF
- Drop your PDF. Its pages are rendered so you can see what you're doing, and its fonts are recovered so new text can match them.
- Scroll, or press Ctrl+F, to find the bit you want. The whole document scrolls; search marks every match on the page it's on.
- Pick a tool and work on the page. Text, notes, shapes, arrows, highlights, underlines, freehand drawing, images and signatures.
- Rearrange pages in the side rail. Drag to reorder, or rotate, duplicate, delete and insert.
- Save. Ctrl+Z undoes anything; Delete removes whatever is selected.
What this editor does
Adds things to a page: a note, a date, a signature, a logo, a highlight across a clause, an arrow pointing at the number that matters. Changes text that is already there, by covering it in the page's own colour and typing over the top, in the document's own typeface where the file embedded one that can be reused. (Every PDF editor works by some version of this method; the reasons are in the format itself.) Rearranges the document too: reorder pages, rotate a sideways scan, duplicate a page, drop in a blank one, or pull pages in from another PDF.
Everything can be moved, resized, rotated, copied, stacked and undone. Dragged objects line up with each other and with the page, on edges and centres, with a guide through whatever they caught and Alt to ignore it. Several can be selected at once and aligned, anything can be repeated across every page, and the properties panel changes the selection, or sets the defaults for whatever you add next when nothing is selected.
Reading as well as editing
The document scrolls. All of it, page after page, the way it does in a reader. Finding the clause you meant to change is most of the work, and paging through a contract one sheet at a time is slow going. Zoom with Ctrl and the wheel and the page stays under the pointer; hold space to pan; pinch on a touch screen. There is a one-page-at-a-time view too, for when a single page is the whole job.
Ctrl+F finds across every page and marks the hits where they sit, and replace rewrites the line it found, which a reader's find bar cannot do. The Select text tool copies a passage to the clipboard, snapping to the document's own words rather than to your aim, and the highlighter, underline and strikeout snap to the same lines: one mark per line of type, from one drag, in the three shapes a review uses.
Forms, links and bookmarks
A PDF can be more than a picture of a page. This editor will add fillable fields (single-line and multi-line text, checkboxes, dropdowns and radio groups) so a form can be filled in on a computer rather than printed and written on. Field names matter: the name is how a filled-in value is identified, so the panel asks for one, and radio options share a name on purpose to become a single group.
Links make an area clickable, either to a web address or to another page in the same document. Bookmarks build the outline a reader shows in its side panel, with nesting, and they follow their pages if you reorder anything. Link addresses are restricted to the web, mail and telephone schemes: a PDF link is allowed to contain a script, and this will not write one.
Digital signatures
Separately from drawing a signature, the editor will attach a real certificate-backed one: the kind that records who signed and lets any reader see whether a single byte changed afterwards. Bring a certificate and an unencrypted PKCS#8 private key, save your edits, then sign, in that order, because a signature covers a finished file and editing afterwards breaks it.
Your private key is read in this tab and handed to the worker running on this page. It is not uploaded, because there is no server here to upload it to. Watch the network tab if you would rather check than trust.
Fonts
New text can be set in the three faces every PDF reader has built in, in any font the document itself embedded in a reusable form, or in any TrueType or OpenType file you load from your device. A loaded font is embedded in the saved PDF and subset to the characters you actually used, so the file stays small and the document looks the same everywhere. That is also how you write scripts the built-in faces cannot draw at all: Greek, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Korean.
Most PDFs subset the fonts they embed, keeping only the characters the document already contained and dropping the table that maps characters to shapes. Fonts in that state can be shown but not typed in; the editor lists which of the document's fonts are affected instead of leaving you to discover it. Loading the real font file fixes it exactly.
Covering versus removing
A filled box hides what's underneath from anyone reading the document, but by default the original content is still in the file for anyone who looks properly. That is a perfectly good way to fix a wrong date and a bad way to hide a name.
So covers can be made permanent. Use the Erase tool, or tick Remove what's underneath on any cover, and the pages carrying one are rebuilt from their own pixels when you save: the page object holding the original text is dropped and the hidden content leaves the file. Text on those pages stops being selectable, which is why only the pages you marked are rebuilt. For a whole document, redact PDF does the same thing with a workflow built around it.
Your work, and where it lives
Nothing is uploaded, and nothing is written to your disk unless you ask. If you want the session to survive a closed tab, tick Keep my work if this tab closes and the document and edits are stored in this browser, on this device. Turning it off deletes what was stored, and downloading the finished PDF clears it as well.
When a dedicated tool is quicker
An editor canvas is the wrong shape for bulk work. Organize pages for a big reshuffle, merge for combining documents, crop, sign for placing one signature across many pages, watermark and page numbers for stamping every page at once, and fill a form when the document has real form fields.
Common uses for the PDF editor
- Fix a typo: click a line of the document's own text and retype it.
- Annotate a draft: add notes, arrows and highlights before sending a document back.
- Fill a flat form: type into a form that has no real fields, because it was scanned.
- Add a logo, stamp or signature: drop it onto a page and position it exactly.
- Rearrange as you go: reorder or rotate pages, and pull in pages from another PDF.
Frequently asked questions
How do I edit a PDF for free?
Drop it above. Add text, notes, boxes, ovals, arrows, highlights, freehand drawing, images and signatures; drag, resize and rotate anything; reorder, rotate, duplicate and delete pages, or insert pages from another PDF. Then save. Everything happens in this tab, and there's no account or trial.
Can I search a PDF, or find and replace?
Both. Ctrl+F searches every page and marks the hits on the page as you step through them, with match-case and whole-word options. Replace goes further than a reader will: the line holding the match is covered in the page's own colour and redrawn with the new wording, in the document's own typeface where the file lets us reuse it. Replace all does the same for every hit at once, one cover per line however many matches it holds. The original characters stay in the file underneath, so this changes what a document says without changing what it contains. Tick "Remove what's underneath", or use the redaction tool, when that difference matters.
Can I select and copy text out of a PDF here?
Yes. The Select text tool works like selecting in a reader: drag across a passage and it snaps to the document's own lines and words rather than to your hand, and the text goes to the clipboard when you let go. A page with no text under it is a scan, and the editor says so instead of copying nothing. Run OCR on it first.
Can I change the text that's already in the PDF?
Yes. Pick the Edit text tool and click a line. It gets covered in the page's own colour, sampled from the rendered page so it matches, and replaced with an editable copy at the same size. If the document embedded the typeface in a form the editor can reuse, the replacement is set in that same font rather than a lookalike. Fix the typo and save.
Does the old text stay in the file underneath?
By default yes, which is fine for fixing a date and not enough when nobody should be able to read the old value. Tick "Remove what's underneath" on the cover, or use the Erase tool, and that page is rebuilt from its own pixels when you save, so the original content leaves the file. The cost is that text on that page stops being selectable. Every other page keeps its text, which is why only the pages you marked are rebuilt.
Can I use my own fonts?
Yes. "Add a font file…" under Font takes a .ttf or .otf from your device and embeds it in the saved PDF, subset to the characters you actually used so the file stays small. This is also how you write Greek, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Arabic or CJK, none of which the fonts built into every PDF reader can draw. The editor also offers whatever fonts it can recover from the document itself.
Why can't I always use the document's own font?
Because most exporters subset the fonts they embed: only the characters the document already used are saved into the file, and the table that maps characters to shapes is discarded with the rest. A font in that state can be displayed but not typed in. The editor says which of the document's fonts are affected, and loading the real font file from your device solves it exactly.
Can I make a PDF that people can fill in?
Yes. The palette has text fields, checkboxes, dropdowns and radio options; drag one out and give it a name in the panel. That name is how a filled-in value is identified, so each field needs its own. Radio options are the exception: they share a name deliberately, and become one group where only a single choice is possible. You can also mark a field required or read-only, and give a dropdown its list of choices.
Can I add clickable links, or bookmarks?
Both. Drag the Link tool over an area and give it a web address or a page to jump to. Bookmarks live in a pane beside the page: add one for the page you're on, rename it, and indent it to nest it under the entry above. They point at pages rather than page numbers, so reordering pages carries the bookmarks with them. Links are limited to web addresses, mailto: and tel:. A PDF link can carry a script, and nothing this editor writes will.
Can I digitally sign a PDF here?
Yes, with a certificate and an unencrypted PKCS#8 private key. This is the verifiable kind of signature: it records who signed and lets a reader see whether the file changed afterwards, which is different from drawing a signature on the page. You can do both. Save your edits first, then choose Sign digitally, because a signature covers a finished file and any later change breaks it. Your key is read in this tab and used by the worker on this page. There is no server here to send it to.
Will it reflow paragraphs like a word processor?
No. PDF has no concept of a paragraph, so there is nothing to reflow. Tools that appear to do it are guessing at structure that was discarded when the file was made, which is why they so often mangle the layout. If you want a document that reflows, convert it to Word.
Can I rearrange pages here too?
Yes. The rail down the side reorders by dragging, and each page has rotate, duplicate, delete, insert-blank-after and insert-from-another-PDF. Pages only rebuild when the running order actually changes, so a document you merely drew on keeps everything else it had.
What happens if I close the tab?
Nothing is kept unless you ask for it. Tick "Keep my work if this tab closes" and the document and your edits are stored in this browser, on this device, and offered back when you return. It's off until you turn it on, turning it off again deletes what was stored, and downloading the finished PDF clears it too. Nothing is ever uploaded either way.
What are the keyboard shortcuts?
Press ? for the full list. The short version: Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Shift+Z for undo and redo, Ctrl+C/X/V to copy, cut and paste, Ctrl+D to duplicate, Ctrl+A to select everything on the page, Ctrl+F to find, Delete to remove the selection, arrow keys to nudge (hold Shift to go further), Ctrl+S to save, Ctrl and the wheel to zoom around the pointer, space and drag to pan, Page Up and Page Down to change page, and Escape to unwind the selection, then the tool, then full window. Every tool also has a single-key shortcut, shown in its tooltip.
Can I put the same thing on every page?
Yes. Select what you've drawn (a header, a logo, a DRAFT stamp) and use Copy to: Every page, Odd or Even in the properties panel. The copies land in the same position on each page, and it's one undo step. For stamping a whole document with a watermark or page numbers, the dedicated tools are still quicker.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. Tap a tool, then tap or drag on the page. Dragging with a finger on empty paper scrolls the document, pinching zooms, and dragging an object moves it. Handles are larger on touch screens and the page rail scrolls independently.
Is my document uploaded?
No. The pages are rendered and the edits applied here in the browser. Open your network tab and watch: your file never goes anywhere.