How to Edit Text in PDF Effectively in 5 Ways? (Contain Free Tools)

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Bianca Huang
July 19, 2023 Preview 136 Preview 0
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PDF is a format commonly used for office, study and life. Once saved, the text and formatting will not change. Therefore, editing text in PDF has been a headache for many users until now. That’s why we made this guide.

In fact, a PDF editor with solid editing features is essential to edit or modify existing text in PDF. Let’s discover how to edit PDF text effectively on Mac, Windows or mobile devices like iPhone.

 

Why Can't I Edit Text on PDF?

Some netizens report on forums or search engines that they cannot edit the text in the PDF normally. We have summarized the following situations, and you can check to see if you belong to one of these:

  • Scanned documents or image-based PDFs consist of multiple layers, so you can’t modify the text directly with the editing tools. The best way is to use a PDF editor with OCR technology.
  • If a native PDF is not editable, it may have been set with read-only permission. You can usually check whether editing is allowed in the security column of the file properties, and remove the permission with password or professional crackers before editing.
  • PDF viewers usually support adding annotations but not changing the existing text in PDF. However, a PDF editor can solve this problem easily.

 

Choose the Best PDF Editor for Higher Efficiency

Unleash a new level of efficiency with the best PDF editor is a wise choice for users who need to work with a large number of PDF documents at work or study. Individuals and companies are inclined to use professional software to simplify workflow and create greater benefits in shorter time. 

Cisdem PDFMaster is a competitive PDF editor to edit text, annotate, draw, fill, sign, convert, create, compress, unlock and protect PDF. It has won a large number of user subscriptions with powerful functions, intuitive interface, stable performance, unbeatable price and high-quality after-sales service. What an almighty and robust PDF editor it is! 

How Does it Improve Efficiency?

50+ Features: It integrates tools that can solve almost all PDF problems, so that users no longer need to find different software to handle PDF files.

Strong Editing Tools: PDFMaster makes it easy to edit text, images and other elements in PDF. Also, underline/strikeout/highlight text, changing font, font size, text color, managing text boxes are easy tasks.

Batch Processing: The stable converter, creator, compressor, unlocker and protector in PDFMaster lets you process multiple tricky files at top speed.

Straightforward Guide: When the mouse moves over any tool, its specific function will be displayed clearly.

Edit Existing Text in PDF

  1. Free download and run Cisdem PDFMaster on Mac or Windows.
    Free Download macOS 11 or later Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7
     Earlier than macOS 11, click here
  2. Open File” in the main interface.     
  3. Click Edit PDF tab, the text on each page will be divided into several areas by dotted lines, which is convenient for you to edit and modify.
  4. Choose any area in the PDF that you want to edit.

Edit Text Properties in PDF

  • To change the font and font size, choose the text, and right click to set the font size and color. 

Notes: How to Edit Text in a PDF that is Not Editable? 

We mentioned that scanned document is not editable in the first part. Luckily, Cisdem PDFMaster is an almighty PDF editor with intelligent and powerful OCR technology. So, whether it’s scanned or native PDF, PDFMaster can process them in one go.

  1. In the Tool tab, choose the OCR tool.   
  2. In the OCR PDF dialogue, choose the page range, file languages and click the blue OCR button in the middle to OCR the scanned PDF.
  3. Then you can get an editable PDF, choose the Edit tool to change text freely.

 

How to Edit Existing Text in PDF with Adobe Acrobat?

PDF is made by Adobe, so most Adobe products can easily handle PDF documents. However, if you want to edit the text in a PDF, you still have to rely on Adobe’s ace PDF editor - Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. It let you quickly edit, convert, combine, organize, export, fill & sign, compress and share PDF, even store files to the Cloud.

Here’s how you can edit existing text in PDF using Adobe Acrobat:

  1. Open a PDF that you need to edit text in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
  2. Head to Tool > Edit PDF.edit text pdf adobe1
  3. Choose the Edit tool in the toolbar, then you can edit the existing text with Adobe. On the right pane, you can change the text style such as font, font size, align, bullets, text color and more.edit text pdf adobe
  4. Finally, save the edited PDF.

 

How to Edit Text in PDF for Free? 2 Ways

There are also many users who rarely process PDF files, requiring a free and quick way to revise and edit the text in PDF. Online PDF editor DeftPDF and Mac Preview are reliable and time-saving tools to easily edit text. But before editing, read on to know the pros and cons of these free PDF editors.

Pros and Cons of Free PDF Editors You Need to Know

Needless to say, their biggest advantage is that they are free. You must know that paid editors will charge tens to hundreds of dollars in subscription fees a year. Secondly, most online PDF editors can provide rich PDF tools to meet the needs of users. You can enjoy the same functions as professional PDF editors without downloading.

However, free tools certainly have their drawbacks. DeftPDF, which will be introduced next, only provides users with one free template per day, and a watermark will be attached to the form. Many functions limit the number of batch processing files, and even the file size cannot exceed 50 MB; the above restrictions can only be lifted by obtaining a premium membership. At the same time, Preview, as a built-in PDF viewer, provides basic editing tools but cannot edit the existing text in PDF.

After comprehensive consideration, if you are still interested in free PDF editors, then follow our detailed tutorial to edit text in PDF for free.

#1 Edit Text in PDF Online Free - DeftPDF

  1. Visit https://deftpdf.com/ and find the Edit tool from All Tools.
  2. Upload PDF file from Dropbox, Google Drive, Web address or your computer.edit text pdf deftpdf1
  3. Click on the Text icon and all the text in PDF will be editable. Choose the text to edit and change the text style.edit text pdf deftpdf2
  4. After editing, click on the Apply Changes button to save your PDF.

#2 Edit Text in PDF on Mac - Preview

  1. Right-click a PDF and open with Mac Preview.
  2. Click on the “Show Markup Toolbar” button on the top.
  3. Choose the Text tool, then edit text in the new text box.
  4. Plus, you can free draw, underline text, add callout/shapes/notes/signatures and more.edit text pdf preview

Extended: If You Want to Edit Text in PDF File on iPhone

In order to allow more users to process PDF files without being affected by time and space, many software companies created PDF editors on multi-platforms, including mobile devices. As a superior PDF editor for iOS, PDF Extra gives a set of simple-to-use tools such as editor, scanner, annotator, filler, and signature creator. 

Discover How to Edit Text in a PDF File on iPhone:

  1. Upload a PDF to PDF Extra.
  2. Click on the drop-down menu of toolbar and choose Edit.edit text pdf iphone1
  3. There are two elements you can edit: text and image, choose the former one. Select the text area that you want to edit, click on “Edit” to start modifying text in PDF.edit text pdf iphone2
  4. Tap on the Properties, you can change the text style: font, font size, text color, italicize or bold text, and rearrange the text boxes. edit text pdf iphone3

 

To Wrap Up

We believe that after reading this article, editing text in PDF is no longer a headache for you, you have a variety of options to try. Next, we will also discover more high-quality PDF editors to solve PDF-related problems such as editing, marking, and signing, so stay tuned.

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Bianca Huang

Bianca is a senior tech editor and strategist at Cisdem with Over 10 years of experience on PDF related solutions which covers all document editing, annotating, converting and managing etc.

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