How to Edit a PDF Online

The short answer

How to edit a PDF, step by step

1. 1

   Be clear about which kind of edit you need

   Adding something to a page is what this editor does: text, an image, a signature, a highlight, a shape, a drawing or a link. Rewriting a sentence that is already printed in the document is a different job and is not included in the first version.

2. 2

   Open the document in the editor

   Drop the PDF onto the Edit PDF page. The pages render on your device and a page rail appears alongside the canvas, so you can move through a long document without scrolling the whole thing.

3. 3

   Choose a tool and place your content

   Select a tool from the toolbar, then click the page where the content should go. Everything you add is positioned in the page's own coordinate space, so what you see on screen is where it lands in the exported file at any zoom level.

4. 4

   Adjust position, size and style

   Drag to move, use the handles to resize, and use the properties panel to change font size, colour, thickness or opacity. Undo and redo cover every change, and on a desktop the usual keyboard shortcuts work.

5. 5

   Export and check the exported file

   Select Download Edited PDF and open the result. Confirm that your additions sit where you expect on every page you touched, since that is the file the recipient will see rather than the editor canvas.

What this editor adds, and what it will not do

The editor places new objects on top of the existing page: text boxes, images, drawn strokes, shapes, highlights, signatures and clickable links. That covers the large majority of real edits, which are additions rather than rewrites.

It does not change text that is already in the document. Editing existing PDF text is not included in the first version, and saying so plainly is more useful than letting you find out after loading a file. If a sentence in the original has to change, go back to the source document and export a new PDF.

Signatures: what a drawn signature is and is not

You can draw a signature with a mouse or a finger, or upload a photograph of one, then position and resize it on the page. For most agreements between people and businesses this is exactly what is being asked for.

It produces a visible signature image, not a certificate-based digital signature. It is not cryptographically verifiable and it will not satisfy a process that specifically requires a digital certificate. If a counterparty asks for a qualified electronic signature, this is not that, and it is better to know before sending.

Working with scanned pages

A scanned page is an image of paper. There is no text inside it to work with, so no editor can rewrite words that only exist as pixels without first running optical character recognition, which is not included here.

What does work well on a scan is adding: type into the blank space on a printed form, place a signature, highlight a paragraph, circle a figure. That covers most of what people want from a scan, and it works exactly the same as it does on a digitally produced page.

Editing on a phone

The toolbar sits along the bottom of the screen within thumb reach, the selection handles are sized for fingers rather than a mouse pointer, and the download button stays visible in the top bar so the export is never more than one tap away.

Signing on a phone is genuinely better than signing on a desktop, because a finger draws a more natural signature than a mouse. For anything involving a lot of typed text, a desktop is still faster.

Common mistakes worth avoiding

• Expecting to rewrite the existing text of a document. This editor adds new content and does not change text already in the PDF.
• Using a drawn signature where a certificate-based digital signature was required. They are not the same thing.
• Adding text over a fillable form. If the document has real form fields, Fill PDF Form is faster and cleaner.
• Covering sensitive text with a filled shape and calling it redacted. The text underneath is still in the file.
• Skipping the check on the exported file. The canvas is a preview; the download is what the recipient opens.

Where your file goes

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

• How to Fill Out a PDF Form OnlineThe alternative is printing the form, writing on it, scanning it back and emailing a crooked grey photograph of it. Filling the fields directly is better in every way.
• How to Crop PDF PagesCropping tightens the visible page so the content fills the screen. It is the difference between squinting at a column of text surrounded by grey and reading it comfortably.
• How to Compress a PDF File SizeCompression is usually about clearing an upload limit. How much a file shrinks depends entirely on what is inside it, so this guide starts there.
• Sejda alternativeSejda is well known for editing the text already inside a PDF, which this project deliberately does not do. Here is an honest comparison so you can tell quickly which one your task needs.
• Adobe Acrobat alternativeAdobe Acrobat is the reference implementation for PDF and nothing here competes with it on capability. What this site offers is the everyday subset, free, without a sign-in and without an upload.