How To Edit A PDF File Online (A Step-By-Step Guide)

In this tutorial, we will learn how to Edit A PDF File and we will review several applications that will help us edit a PDF document online:

To edit a PDF document is not a straightforward task, although, there are many applications that make it simple, learning something new when you need to urgently accomplish a task is quite frustrating.

Before editing PDF files, let’s work-out on some basics.

What Are PDF Files And Why All the Fuss?

PDF stands for portable document format’, they are shareable files that cannot be edited. You might be familiar with the extension .pdf which is present as a suffix in all the PDF files.

PDF files are primarily meant for viewing and not editing. Most of the important formalities like examination forms, tax forms, or any other document are primarily available in PDF format. This is done to protect the original formatting of the documents as a PDF file cannot be edited.

On the contrary, Word files that have the .doc or .docx extensions can be easily edited using valid applications, hence they are not preferred for important documentation.

How to Edit a PDF File

If PDF Files Are Not Meant to be Edited, Then What Are We Doing Here? Can you edit a PDF? (Is It Even Legal?) Let’s see!!

Human beings indeed make mistakes, right? Although the PDF files are not meant to be edited, still, one can make a mistake in the primary file and may now want to correct it.

Or

You might need to add details to your college assignment, but it’s already a PDF!

Or

Some PDF files contain a ‘form field’ which lets you enter personal information on it like name, address, etc.

Suggested reading =>> Online PDF to Word Converter

List of Available Software to Edit PDF Files

Here is a list of online applications that are used to edit a PDF document:

1. pdfFiller
2. LightPDF
3. Google Docs
4. WPS Office
5. Adobe Acrobat
6. Smallpdf
7. PDFLiner
8. PDFSimpli

#1) pdfFiller

pdfFiller is a great online platform to easily edit PDF files in no time with just a few clicks. With this platform, you will be able to add or remove text, add watermark, highlight or annotate elements on the file and do much more.

Here’s how you can easily use pdfFiller to edit your PDF files:

• Upload your PDF file. You can also opt to import a PDF file or open one that’s already stored in your pdfFiller account.

• You can now replace or change text anywhere on the opened PDF document. You can also see options to highlight or redact certain elements on the doc here.

• You can then proceed to rearrange, add, duplicate, or delete pages of your PDF file.

• Hit the save button available in the upper right corner of your screen once you’re finished with the editing.

#2) LightPDF

With LightPDF, you get a PDF editor/Converter that is exceptional with regards to both its usability and functionality. You get a ton of editing tools to play with.

Plus, the actual editing interface itself is comprehensive and immaculate. As such, anybody can use it to add or remove text and images, annotate PDF, highlight content, redact text, rotate a PDF file, and more.

Here’s how you can use LightPDF to edit a PDF File:

• Launch LightPDF on your computer or mobile.
• Upload the PDF file you wish to edit.

• Double-click on that PDF file to open the editing interface.
• Use the toolbar provided to you above in order to perform editing tasks like typing, adding images, highlighting content, changing the PDF file’s layout, etc.

• Once done, hit the ‘download’ button.

#3) Google Docs

Google docs is a word processing software. Like MS Word or Pages, it offers various utilities to create several documents and share them with your colleagues. It also offers free grammar and spell-checks.

To edit a PDF file on Google docs is fairly simple, you just need to follow the steps below:

• Go to the File menu and click ‘Open’ or press Ctrl+O.

• The ‘Open a file’ window appears, you can open a file from your drive or your device.

• The file now opens up for viewing in Google drive, select the ‘Open with Google Docs’ option from the top.

• After you’ve edited your document, go to the ‘File’ menu and select the ‘Download’ option to download the file to your device or you can share it with your peers.

Website: Google Docs

#4) WPS Office

WPS office suite is another word processing software like MS Word. It is an offline software that can run on your desktop. Most of the essential features are free and are at par with applications like MS Word or LibreOffice, yet, some of the features are paid for.

The feature in which we are interested is also paid (sadly). Although the WPS office suite allows editing of a PDF file that is long upto three pages, however, for a file longer than three pages; one needs to buy the premium version.

To edit PDF documents on the WPS office suite, just follow the simple steps given below.

• Click on the File menu on the right-hand side of the screen and select ‘Open’.

• From the ‘Open File’ window, select the location and the file you want to edit.

• The file now opens up in a different window. From the toolbar, select the ‘PDF to Office’ and from the dropdown menu select ‘PDF to Word.

Note: You need to have a premium version to edit a file of more than three pages.

Pricing: $10/ trimonthly or $30/year.

#5) Adobe Acrobat Online

Probably the most famous application for creating, editing, and sharing PDF files is Adobe Acrobat that remains the foremost contender in the field of .pdf extension.

The online platform of Adobe Acrobat allows you to make comments on your file, edit it, compress it, etc. There are a free trial and a premium subscription option. Signing in is mandatory for using the platform.

To edit PDFs on Adobe Acrobat, just go on with the below steps:

• Sign-in or Sign-up to open your personal account on Adobe’s online platform.

• The ‘Home’ window appears with lots of features to tune your file. From the top toolbar, select the ‘Edit’ menu, now, from the dropdown list, select whatever feature you want to use for your document.

• After selecting the feature, upload your file from your device and the file opens up on your screen.

• From the tools provided, edit your document according to your standard. Now, to download a copy, go to the ‘Share’ dropdown menu on the left side of the screen and select the ‘Download a copy’ option. You may also share it on different platforms.

Note: Adobe’s online platform offers a free trial and a premium version.

Pricing: $15/month

Website: Adobe Acrobat Online

#6) Smallpdf

Smallpdf is similar to other online PDF editors. The advantage of using Smallpdf is that it does not require a ‘Sign in/up’. It offers you almost every feature that is available with the premium version, but its free version also allows comfortable editing.

To edit a PDF file on Smallpdf, follow the below steps:

• Open/Drag and drop your file on the ‘Edit Page’.

• Use the Tools given on the right-hand side of the screen to edit your PDF and use the ‘Download’ dropdown menu given on the left-hand side to save your edited file.

Note: Smallpdf offers a free trial and a premium version.

Pricing: $9/month

Website: Smallpdf

#7) PDFLiner

PDFLiner presents users with perhaps the simplest way to edit a PDF file. Its editing interface is clean and easy to navigate. You get tons of editing options to play with. For instance, you add text, images, signatures, and comments to a PDF file with just a single click. The online software is also ideal for splitting a PDF file and password-protecting it.

How to Use PDFLiner to Edit a PDF File:

• Open the PDFLiner Website
• Upload a PDF File that you wish to edit.

• On the redirected editing interface, choose an editing action from the above-given toolbar.

• After editing, simply hit the ‘Done’ button to download the file or share it online.

#8) PDFSimpli

With PDFSimpli, you get an online PDF editor that is both easy and free to use. All you need to do is upload your PDF document to the platform and then use the toolbar presented to you to perform editing tasks.

Here’s how you use the software to edit PDF files:

• Open the PDFSimpli website.
• Upload the PDF file onto the platform.

• You will be redirected to an online editor with a comprehensive toolbar.
• Use it to add text, images, watermarks, fields, etc. to the document. You can also use the editor to highlight, redact, and erase content from a file.

• Hit ‘Download’ to save the edited document in a format of your desire.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have tried to give the easiest and simplest means of editing a PDF file. The process can be as complicated as you want it to be. However, the means we have shared can be generally applied for a quick change in your pdf file.

Keep in mind that applications like Google docs allow first-hand editing and not editing the document over the page. This means that Google docs will also change the document’s formatting and you need to adjust the formatting after you have edited the file.

All the other platforms allow editing over the document (i.e. image over image) so you need not worry about the formatting going haywire. Anyways, editing a PDF file is a fairly easy task and now with this tutorial, you can do it without wasting your time in experimenting with the process.

Research Process

Time Taken To Research And Write This Tutorial: 2-3 Days
Total Tools Researched Online: 19
Top Tools Shortlisted For Review: 4