What are the best free PDF editing software options available for Windows computers? Pdf is probably one of the most common document formats used today. Whether you want to read or create Adobe pdf files, there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself using a PDF editor at some point.
Are you curious about best free pdf editing software? Or about best free pdf editor for free? At first glance, these two questions might seem like they’re asking the same things. But if we’re digging into them a bit more, there are some subtle differences between them that might surprise you. We’ll look at what those differences are in this article.
In this article we round up a list of the best free PDF editing software. We will compare a selection of programs that all offer variable functionality, from the very basic to more advanced editing options. This is not an exclusive list and there are many other great editors available.
We have gathered the best free Pdf editing software that are on the market today.With these tools you can manipulate any document, and make it look exactly how you want. There are many free PDF editing software that you can use. We collect best free PDF editing software for windows and mac OS.
What are the best free PDF editors?
Your best option if you need a free PDF editor is PDF Candy. It has many features you’d normally pay for, including excellent text scanning and a number of file-conversion features.
PDFescape runs a close second to PDF Candy, offering very good annotation and form-creation and editing tools for its free service. (There are also two paid tiers.)
Mac users need look no further than the PDF-editing tools that come with their MacBook or iMac. Preview is built into macOS and includes both image-editing and annotation tools. It should be your first stop if all you need to do is attach an electronic signature to a PDF.
PDF Candy
Best free PDF editor
SPECIFICATIONS
Developer: Icecream AppsCompatibility: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, SafariCategory: OCR, PDF editing, file conversionUpgrade from free version: NoneTODAY’S BEST DEALSVIEW AT PDF CANDY
REASONS TO BUY
+OCR feature+Extensive file-conversion and -creation features+Solid PDF-layout tools
REASONS TO AVOID
-Limited text-editing features
PDF Candy may be one of the more compelling free PDF editors, mostly because it offers an OCR option not available in other free PDF editors.
While you can’t edit the OCR’d text directly within PDF Candy’s web-based PDF editor, you can upload a PDF file and have PDF Candy extract text and create a text document, RTF file, or Word document in both .doc and .docx formats.
PDF Candy’s tool set is formidable. You can use 44 tools to create or convert PDF files. Additionally, you’ll find tools for rearranging pages within a document, adding watermarks, protecting PDF files with passcodes, editing metadata within a PDF file, splitting or adding pages to documents, and extracting images.
All these tasks are as simple as selecting the tool, uploading a document and allowing PDF Candy to work its magic.
When you finish one task on a document, you’ll get a list of other tools you can use for different tasks. Once your changes are complete, you can download the edited document or upload a new document to work on. PDF Candy keeps all of your documents in a queue so you can download them all at once after you’ve finished making changes to them.
While the actual text-editing tools in PDF Candy are as limited as on every other free PDF-editing app, everything else PDF Candy has to offer puts it head and shoulders above the other free options.
PDFescape
Ample annotation tools for free
SPECIFICATIONS
Developer: Red SoftwareCompatibility: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, SafariCategory: PDF annotationUpgrade from free version: $36 (premium), $72 (ultimate) per yearTODAY’S BEST DEALSVIEW AT PDFESCAPE
REASONS TO BUY
+Web-based annotation tools are easy to understand and use+Page limit has increased to 100 pages+Impressive feature set for a free app
REASONS TO AVOID
-Very limited fonts
PDFescape is an excellent option for online PDF editing. Simple to use and available to anyone with a web browser, PDFescape may be all you need to edit and annotate PDF files.
Previously, PDFescape had a limit of either a 10MB or 50-page PDF file. That 10MB file-size limit remains in place, but you can now edit files of up to 100 pages for free.Advertisement
PDFescape offers ample annotation tools. You can use the app to fill out forms, create form fields, insert text and web links, highlight text, add sticky notes, redact or strike out text, crop and rotate images, add or remove pages and even lock and encrypt PDF documents.
You’ll have to contend with severely limited font options, however. PDFescape offers five fonts, one of which is a generic “signature” font that looks nothing like your own signature. But otherwise, you’ll find a lot more tools in PDFescape than you will in the typical, bare-bones free PDF editor.
Apple Preview
A free option for Mac users
SPECIFICATIONS
Developer: AppleCompatibility: macOSCategory: : PDF annotation; image editingUpgrade from free version: NoneTODAY’S BEST DEALSVIEW AT APPLE
REASONS TO BUY
+Included with every Mac+Includes image-editing tools+Excellent annotation tools and options for adding signatures to documents
REASONS TO AVOID
-Not available for other platforms-Markup tools aren’t easy to find-No OCRAdvertisement
Apple’s Preview application is built into every version of macOS, including macOS BIg Sur. Not only is it capable of working with PDF files, but it also offers a number of other image-editing features. It is the multitool of the image-editing universe, capable of opening virtually any image file you may encounter.
The bulk of Preview’s markup capabilities aren’t obvious when you first open the app, although you’ll find a few basic tools for rotating pages and highlighting text on the basic toolbar.
Preview’s full set of markup tools appears when you click a small markup button that looks like a pencil tip located next to the search tool in the Preview toolbar.
Those markup tools include text-selection options; drawing tools you can use to add freehand drawings to a document; a text tool for adding additional text to a document; a tool that adds shapes and notes; and a signature tool that you can use to capture your signature using your Mac’s camera, a tablet or your trackpad.
Preview is a solid option for basic PDF editing, and if you own a Mac, accessing Preview’s powers is as simple as launching the app.
PDF24 Creator
Best overall free PDF editorTODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Completely free+Fast and light+Lots of features for every need
REASONS TO AVOID
-Occasionally a bit clunky
PDF24 Creator may have a somewhat dated website but this is because this free PDF editor and converter has been around since 2006. It’s made by a small team based in Berlin and is the project of Geek Software.
In addition to being surprisingly feature-rich for a free PDF editor, PDF24 Creator is a very small program that can easily run on older systems. In terms of features, it allows you to create new PDFs, merge existing ones, compress a PDF, convert a PDF to other formats, extract specific pages to create a new document and optimize a PDF for the web. PDF24 Creator also lets you apply OCR to a PDF so that you can convert scanned images to text.
PDF24 Creator has a minimalistic user interface and it’s clear that the program is designed around speed first and foremost. All of the important features are easy to find and when you first open the software, you’re presented with a grid of editing options.
Smallpdf
Best free PDF editor for multiple languagesTODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Cloud-based+Powerful range of tools+Allows you to convert PDFs to other formats
REASONS TO AVOID
-Can only process two documents per day
Smallpdf was created in Switzerland back in 2013 with the aim of creating a single tool to compress and edit PDFs. One thing that sets this free PDF editor apart from the competition is that it’s available in 24 different languages and used in 195 countries around the world.
Smallpdf’s main focus is providing an excellent user experience that makes its online PDF editor very easy to use. On its website, you can upload a PDF and begin making annotations and taking notes. You can also add pictures, text and shapes to a PDF. Once you’ve made the necessary changes, Smallpdf allows you to compress a PDF or export it as a Word, Excel or PowerPoint file.
If you want even more functionality, you can upgrade to Smallpdf’s paid version. While the web version is slightly cheaper, you can pay a bit more to take advantage of the desktop version so you can work offline. The company also offers a 7-day free trial so you can test out its paid features for yourself before deciding if you want to upgrade.
Sejda
Best online PDF editorTODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+No account required+Simple and easy to use interface+Uploaded files are deleted after five hours
REASONS TO AVOID
-File size limitations-Still in beta
Just like PDF Candy and Smallpdf, Sejda is another free online PDF editor. What sets it apart from other similar offerings is its security features as all of the files uploaded to the service are wiped from its servers after just five hours. This means you can use it to work on sensitive documents without having to be worried about your data being leaked or stolen.Advertisement
Sejda also offers a desktop version with the biggest difference being that all of the processing is handled locally as opposed to in the cloud. Regardless of which free version you choose, Sejda limits you to working on a maximum of three tasks per day, one file at a time and files can’t be larger than 50MB or 200 pages.
In addition to being able to edit the text in a PDF, you can add new text as well as images including shapes and drawings. Sejda also lets you add annotations, create forms, whiteout sections of a document and more. For those that do decide to upgrade, Sejda is available as a weekly, monthly or annual subscription though there are discounts for larger teams with multiple users.
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PDF-XChange Editor
What We Like
- Uses OCR to identify the text in the PDF.
- Can import a variety of shapes and images.
- Supports adding QR codes to the PDF.
- Offers a portable version.
- Frequent updates.
What We Don’t Like
- Many features require a license.
- Works with Windows only.
PDF-XChange Editor offers some great tools, but not all of them are free to use. If you use a non-free feature, the PDF will save with a watermark on every page.
If you stick to just the free features, however, you can still do some editing to the file and save it back to your computer.
You can load PDFs from your computer, a URL, SharePoint, Google Drive, and Dropbox. You can save the edited PDF back to your computer or to any of those cloud storage services.
There are lots of features, so it might seem overwhelming at first. All the options and tools are simple to understand, however, and they’re categorized into their own sections for easier management.
One nice feature is the ability to highlight all the form fields so that you can easily spot where you need to fill in. This is really helpful if you’re editing a PDF with lots of forms, such as an application.
Many of the features are free (like editing the text), but some are not. If you use a feature that’s not covered by the free version (you’re told which features are not free when you use them), the saved PDF file will have a watermark attached to the corner of every page.
Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7 users can install PDF-XChange Editor. You can download it in portable mode to use on a flash drive or as a regular installer.
How to choose the best free PDF editor for you
Picking the best free PDF editor is a lot like picking a paid version of a document editor — identify exactly what you want to do with a PDF file and go for the program that offers the features that will let you get that done.
This can be as simple as deciding whether you need a PDF editor that handles document creation and design or whether you just want something that can leave comments and suggestions on a digital file.
Because this is free software, you should pay attention to any limitations imposed on the free tier. Are there restrictions on the size of the documents you can edit or are certain tools locked behind a paywall? If the answer to the latter question is yes, figure out whether it’s worth it just to pay up for that particular feature.
If you’re doing your PDF editing from a computer, check to see if you’ve got built-in software that can handle the job. Mac users, for example, might not realize how good Preview is at annotating documents and adding signatures to PDFs. You can save a lot of time searching for the best free PDF editor if it’s already there right under your nose.
Conclusion
PDF editing and creating software has been said to be the most widely used software. It is designed for editing and modifying PDF files, enabling you to create or edit a PDF file with a similar experience just like using a word processor to create a document.
If you need to edit a PDF file, the list of free text editors remains short—not because there are not a lot of them, but because the few popular elements like grammar checking and spell-checking tools have already been implemented in most of them. All you have to do is find the online software or desktop application that supports your OS.