Do you need to edit or fill in a PDF? You can add signatures, combine pages, rotate pages, reduce file size, convert PDFs, and more with these best PDF editors for Mac.
PDF or Portable Document Format comes in handy when you want to share the document to a different computer without disrupting the formatting and page layout. For the same reason, the PDF file format is widely used in academic and business scenarios when the users want the document formatting to look perfect on the receiving end when the files are shared over the network.
However, as they were initially designed as forms to be printed out and filled in by pen, they can feel somewhat anachronistic in the modern digital age. Still, it is not as hard to complete forms or annotate documents in this format, and you don’t even need expensive software to do it.
It is possible to edit the PDF files without converting them into Document format. Plenty of software and apps empower you to edit a PDF to your liking. Using these tools, you can perform all editorial-related tasks like adding, modifying, and deleting the text, images, and links, filling out the forms, and what’s not!
Some of the best PDF editors for Mac do certain things better than others, so your choice will depend on your particular needs. For example, there is a PDF editor that’s simple to use and flexible enough to let you fill in a form without stress. There is also another that can use OCR (optical character recognition) to read the text on a page you have scanned and allow you to edit it, as well as a PDF tool that will let you import a PDF into Word (or Pages) and edit it there.
Best PDF Editors For Mac
macOS PDF Preview
macOS comes with some PDF editing capabilities of its own in Preview. It has some limitations, but it offers enough tools for you if you just need to fill in some responses to questions on a PDF.
You can use Preview to add text (in text boxes), and you can change the size, color, and font you use. You can also perform actions like strike-through and underline text. These options are also available from the highlighter palette.
Under Annotate in the menu are options for adding a speech bubble. You can also add comments in the form of sticky notes.
Adding a signature is simple, with three options for doing so: using a trackpad, iPhone, or iPad, or by signing your name on a piece of paper and holding it up to the camera. You can save multiple signatures and add them to the document easily.
It is easy to shuffle pages and add or delete pages from a Preview PDF. If you can’t already see the thumbnail view on the left, click on the drop-down box above the A icon and choose Thumbnails.
One of the newest features of Preview is an OCR – optical character recognition. If you are running macOS Monterey or later and you open anything in Preview – be it a PDF or a photo – you will be able to select most forms of text and cut and paste it into a text document.
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Adobe Acrobat Reader is free for some basic use, but some of the features require moving to the standard or Pro tiers that comes with a monthly, annual, or prepaid annual subscription. However, there are a lot of features that are available for free. You’ll find these in the Comment and Fill & Sign sections.
To add text to the PDF, choose Fill & Sign. Here you will also find the options to add a tick or a cross, a circle, or a line. Comment options include the ability to add a speech bubble, highlight, underline, and strike-through words. In fact, you can strike through and add a related comment. All your comments will appear in the sidebar on the right.
There are also tools here to draw and erase what you draw. A stamping tool with options like Approved, Revised, Confidential, Sign Here, and the option to import your own PDF file.
When adding a signature, you have options to Type, Draw (using a mouse or trackpad), or Image. If you opt for the latter, you could import a scan or photograph of your signature.
PDF Studio
PDF Studio by Qoppa Software is a fully-fledged PDF utility that is competing neck-to-neck with Adobe Acrobat at a fraction of the price and download size. It has multi-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux, & Unix) availability and is jam-packed with features to do everything PDF.
Some of the features include:
- Create, annotate, edit
- Digitally sign
- Optical character recognition (OCR)
- Fill & save PDF forms
- PDF split & merge
- Convert PDF to and from MS file formats
- Convert to HTML, Images, & SVG
- PDF text extraction
- Insert hyperlinks
- PDF optimizer
- Batch PDF modification
- Measurement tools
- Content redaction
- PDF comparison overlay, etc.
PDF Studio has two variants: Standard and Pro, each working on two devices per subscription and there is a free trial if you would like to test the features. Besides these native applications, Qoppa Software maintains freepdfonline, where you can use a few PDF-related tools for free with a daily quota.
PDF Expert
PDF Expert is a reliable PDF editing solution for Mac users wanting to read, edit or add annotations to PDF files. Using this utility tool, you can also fill up forms downloaded in PDF format and sign them using electronic signatures.
The software also supports dark mode and allows authorized users to add comments in PDF, facilitating collaboration amongst team members in the workplace. Using PDF Expert, you can easily password-protect sensitive PDF files from unauthorized access and transfer them to any Apple device.
You can use PDF Expert to:
- Merge multiple PDF documents into one.
- Select some pages from a PDF and create a new PDF file.
- Edit or replace images and links in the PDF.
- Convert the PDF file into other file formats like
- Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, and more.
- Change the font, font size, and text transparency in the PDF files.
- Hide sensitive information present in the PDF files.
Nitro PDF
Nitro PDF Pro hits all the right notes that make it one of the best PDF editors for Mac, enough to take on the formidable Adobe Acrobat. It is packed with features that are sure to please power users — all the requisite content editing tools. It also has review and markup features, form fill and signing support, and robust security options for sensitive documents, such as permissions, password protection, and data redaction.
Also, it supports over 300 file formats, and adding hyperlinks, images, and files to a PDF is trouble-free.
Indeed, ease of use is one of Nitro PDF Pro’s great strengths. A Microsoft Office-style ribbon interface groups tasks in a familiar and intuitive interface, which makes for seamless integration with your workflow.
And yes, it is priced on the higher side for a PDF editor, but with all it has going for it, Nitro PDF Pro more than earns its keep. If you’re looking for an Acrobat replacement, you won’t find many better.
LibreOffice
LibreOffice is a free office suite with some handy features if you are wanting to edit and update PDFs. And because it is an office suite, you benefit from all the Office-like features and familiar menus.
You can open a PDF in LibreOffice and edit text and add text and images. And while you cannot add a signature, this would be simple enough if you already had the signature as an image file. You can also create a PDF from a document you create in LibreOffice, just as you can from Pages or Word. Create the document and then choose File > Export as PDF.
While it is not a dedicated PDF editor or creator you can do many of the things you are likely to want to do to a basic PDF, so it is a good option that comes with various benefits occount of it being a decent alternative to Microsoft Office.
Foxit PDF Editor
Foxit is a perfect choice tool as a PDF editor for personal and professional use and allows team members from different locations to collaborate on important projects. The interface is user-friendly, and the ribbon-shaped toolbox inspired by MS Office helps locate any tool without much effort.
This PDF tool supports more than 40 languages allowing you to edit PDFs in your native language.
You can use this PDF Editor to look for mistakes in the document and fill the forms online after scanning the documents using the in-built OCR reader and uploading them. Foxit PDF editor also supports integration with Google Docs, OneDrive, and Box, allowing you to save, backup, and share PDFs.
Foxit PDF Editor also has a companion app for iPhone and Android phones through which you can also access the edited PDFs from your smartphones. Its powerful file protection feature assures the security of PDF files, so you do not have to worry about unauthorized access.
UPDF
UPDF for Mac is an all-in-one PDF editor which can help you read, edit, convert, annotate, compress, OCR, and share PDFs on Mac directly. Compared with other PDF editors on MAC here, UPDF is much easier to use and can work on all devices with one account which is not supported by other tools here.
And with UPDFCloud, you can access your documents on any device with one click. Moreover, it provides many interesting stickers which can make your PDF editing and annotating more fun.
With UPDF, you can:
- Edit text in PDF, add text, image, and link to PDF.
- Convert scanned PDF or image to editable files.
- Convert PDF files to any format like word, excel, HTML, PowerPoint, etc.
- Add annotations to PDF files. It supports sticky notes, highlights, text comments, drawings, shapes, stickers, and more.
- Organize PDF pages. You can insert new pages, replace pages, split pages, and rotate pages if you need.
- Add watermarks, background, header, and footer to PDF files.
- Protect your PDF files with a password.
- Compress PDF size to make sharing files easier.
- Batch convert, combine, and insert.
- Share files with links, QR codes, and email.
PDFelement
Wondershare’s PDFelement app is a comprehensive package with an interface that is simple and intuitive. It brings a streamlined interface and additional capabilities that make it a fine choice for those who want pro-level features at an affordable price, although there is, as with so many of these options, a free trial version.
With the latter, you can edit images and text, create PDFs and print them. If you register for the demo, then you will get access to almost the full range of features available on the paid version. One caveat here is that you will only be able to remove the PDF Element Pro watermark on the paid version, and you are limited to PDFs with a maximum of three pages.
With the full software, you can create new PDFs from scratch, convert Word, Excel, or Powerpoint files, as well as quickly produce forms that can be used online, replete with dropdown menus.
Editing an existing PDF is straightforward, with tools for adding text or comments, annotating images, and documents, plus the standard option of inserting a signature created on the trackpad. There are also OCR capabilities that make it easy to scan documents and have them converted into usable PDFs in minutes, making it one of the best PDF editors for Mac.
pdfFiller
pdfFiller by airSlate is a full-fledged PDF management solution to create, edit, manage, and collaborate on PDF documents using your Mac. Unlike PDF Expert, pdfFiller is a web app, so you can access it directly via a web browser and remotely collaborate with other users over the network and go paperless.
You can also download the software on your Mac if you prefer to use the software offline.
pdfFiller offers a wide range of functionalities:
- Supports multiple file formats to convert or compress PDF into Word, PPT, or JPG.
- Merge multiple PDFs or create a new one using a subset of pages.
- eSign the PDF using digital signatures.
- Set security protocols on PDFs to prevent information leakage when sharing it online.
- Access to an inbuilt library of 25 million editable forms.
- Add Banking-grade security and encryption techniques to PDF documents.
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