Best PDF editor

A PDF (Portable Document Format) is a file format developed by Adobe to present and share documents consistently across devices and platforms. It preserves text, images, fonts, and layout, making it ideal for sharing files without altering their appearance. PDFs are widely used for forms, eBooks, presentations, and official documents due to their security features, such as password protection and encryption.

When it comes to editing PDFs, many tools are available, but finding a reliable and free PDF editor can be challenging. Free PDF editors allow users to modify text, add annotations, insert images, fill out forms, and even merge or split documents without the need for expensive software. In this article, we explore the best free PDF editors to help you manage and edit your documents effortlessly.

Some free PDF editors function online within your web browser, allowing you to load, edit, and save PDFs without installing software on your PC. However, online editors often have limited functionality compared to desktop versions and expose your files to the internet, which requires extra security measures to protect your data.

The best free PDF editors 

Given the wide range of tools available for editing PDFs, you might need to use multiple editors to achieve complete functionality. Here are some of the best free PDF editors you can consider:

Microsoft Word: A Superior Option

While Microsoft Word isn’t free, versions from 2013 onwards come with a built-in PDF editor that can be extremely useful. You can open PDFs directly in Word to edit them and save them back as PDFs. Additionally, converting Word documents to PDFs is straightforward using the “Save as” option.

Sejda: One of the Best Free PDF Editors

Sejda offers both web and desktop versions, with the desktop version supporting more fonts and the online version integrating with cloud storage services like Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive. Files are automatically deleted from their servers after 2 hours.

Pros:

  • Upload PDFs from other websites
  • Add hyperlinks and signatures
  • Insert blank pages, images, and shapes
  • No watermarks on edited content

Cons:

  • Limited to editing 3 PDFs per hour
  • PDFs must be under 200 pages and 50 MB

Inkscape: One of the Best Free PDF Editors

Inkscape, primarily known as a vector image editor, also offers powerful PDF editing features. It’s best suited for users familiar with tools like Gimp or Adobe Photoshop and is ideal for editing images or text within PDFs.

Pros:

  • Robust graphics editing capabilities
  • Wide range of image editing tools

Cons:

  • Complex interfaces may require prior knowledge of image editors

To obtain this tool you can always access its official page.

PDFescape Online: One of the Best Free PDF Editors

PDFescape is a robust online PDF editor that allows you to add text, images, links, form fields, and more. It also offers a desktop version for Windows, but it is not free.

Pros:

  • Available online with a wide range of editing tools
  • Add custom text, images, and remove pages

Cons:

  • Cannot edit the original document text
  • Limited to 100 MB or 100 pages

PDF-XChange: One of the Best Free PDF Editors

PDF-XChange Editor is a feature-rich tool, though not all features are free. It highlights form fields for easy filling and allows text and page modifications. Files can be uploaded from various cloud storage services.

Pros:

  • Uses OCR to identify and edit text
  • Import various shapes and images
  • Add QR codes
  • Portable version available

Cons:

  • Some features require a paid license
  • Windows-only compatibility

There are both desktop and portable versions, both for Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10 that you can download from the following link. Download PDF-XChange Editor

LibreOffice Draw: One of the Best Free PDF Editors

LibreOffice Draw is part of the LibreOffice suite and offers comprehensive PDF editing capabilities. It runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, making it highly versatile.

Pros:

  • Full document text editing without watermarks
  • Wide variety of editing resources

Cons:

  • Must download the entire LibreOffice suite

PDFelement: One of the Best Free PDF Editors

PDFelement is a powerful PDF editor with many features, but the free version adds a watermark to edited documents.

Pros:

  • Directly edit PDF text
  • Add images, links, custom watermarks
  • Supports OCR and password protection
  • Combine multiple PDFs and edit embedded forms

Cons:

  • Free version adds a watermark to PDFs

While several free PDF editors are available, each has its strengths and limitations. Depending on your needs, you might need to use multiple tools to achieve complete editing functionality. These editors can help you handle a wide range of PDF editing tasks, from simple text edits to complex graphics and form modifications.

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Robeg
I am Robeg founder of this blog. My qualification. completed Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). With a strong background in computer applications love write articles on Microsoft Windows (11, 10, etc.) Cybersecurity, WordPress and more.