Top Free Pdf Editor Converter

  
Top Free Pdf Editor Converter Average ratng: 6,3/10 7827 reviews

Free, no watermarks or registration. Edit PDF files for free. Fill & sign PDFs. Change existing text and links. Change PDF text. Select the 'Text' tool in the top toolbar. Click any existing text to start editing. Make text bold or italic, change font size, font family. PDF to Word converter. Free online PDF editor Sejda offers an excellent range of tools, with an added layer of security: all files are deleted from its servers after five hours.

PRODUCT DISCLOSURE $

It's not easy to find a truly free PDF editor that lets you not only edit and add text but also change images, add your own graphics, sign your name, fill out forms, etc. Below, however, is a list of exactly what you're looking for.

Some of these are online PDF editors that work right in your web browser, so all you have to do is upload your PDF file to the website, make the changes you want, and then save it back to your computer. That's ​the quick way—but do bear in mind that, typically, an online editor isn't as fully featured as its desktop counterpart, plus the file is exposed to the internet (which might be of concern if it contains sensitive content).

Because not all of these free PDF editors support the same features, and some are restricted in what you can do, remember that you can process the same PDF in more than one tool. For example, use one to edit the PDF text (if that's supported), and then put the same PDF through a different editor to do something supported in that program (for example, to edit a form, update an image, or remove a page).

If you don't need to change the contents of the PDF but instead just need to change it to another file format (such as .docx for Microsoft Word or .epub for an eBook), see our list of free document converters for help. On the other hand, if you have a file you created yourself that you want to save as a PDF file, learn How to Print to PDF.

Microsoft Word: A Top Choice

If you already own Microsoft Word 2019, 2016, or 2013, then skip all the suggested programs below: you have a great PDF editor at your disposal right now. Just open the PDF as you would any Word document, give the program a few minutes to convert the PDF, and then edit away.

of 07

Sejda PDF Editor

What We Like

  • Lets you load PDFs from other websites

  • Supports adding hyperlinks

  • Includes a signature tool

  • Lets you insert blank pages into the PDF

  • Can remove pages from the PDF

  • Supports whiting out parts of the page

  • Can insert images and shapes into the PDF

Pdf Editor And Converter

What We Don't Like

  • Can be used on only three PDFs every hour

  • Limited to PDFs with fewer than 200 pages

  • Doesn't edit PDFs larger than 50 MB

Sejda PDF Editor is one of the very few PDF editors that actually lets you edit pre-existing text in the PDF without adding a watermark. Most editors only let you edit the text you add yourself, or they support text editing but then throw watermarks all over the place.

Plus, this tool can run entirely in your web browser, so it's easy to get going without having to download any programs. You can get the desktop version if you'd rather use it that way.

There are some differences between the online and desktop versions that you should know about. For example, the desktop edition supports more font types and doesn't let you add PDFs by URL or from online storage services as the online editor does (which supports Dropbox and Google Drive).

Another neat feature is the web integration tool that lets PDF publishers provide a link for their users that they can simply click to automatically open the file in this online PDF editor.

All uploaded files are automatically deleted from Sejda after two hours.

This online PDF editor works no matter which operating system you use. Sejda PDF Desktop runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

You can use both the online and desktop versions to convert a PDF to a Word doc or a Word doc to PDF. Open the Tools section in either program to find that option.

of 07

Inkscape

What We Like

  • Can edit PDF text

  • Supports manipulating graphics

  • Includes lots of image-editing tools

What We Don't Like

  • The number of graphics-editing tools can be overwhelming

Inkscape is an extremely popular free image viewer and editor, but it also includes PDF editing functions that most dedicated PDF editors support only in their paid editions.

Inkscape is a very capable image editing program. If you're not already familiar with programs like GIMP, Adobe Photoshop, and other image editors, however, it's probably a bit advanced for you.

In the context of PDF editing, though, you should consider Inkscape only if you want to delete or edit the images or text in the PDF. We suggest you use a different tool in this list to edit PDF forms or add shapes and then plug that PDF into Inkscape if you need to actually edit the preexisting text.

of 07

PDFescape Online PDF Editor

Best free pdf converter

What We Like

  • Works online through your web browser

  • Includes lots of tools

  • Lets you add your own text and images

  • Can delete and add PDF pages

What We Don't Like

  • Can't edit existing text

  • Doesn't edit large PDFs

  • Limits the PDFs size and page length

PDFescape has quite a lot of features. It's free as long as the PDF doesn't exceed 100 pages or 10 MB.

You can't truly change text or edit images using this editor, but you can add your own text, images, links, form fields, etc.

The text tool is very customizable so that you can pick your own size, font type, color, alignment, and apply effects such as bolding, underlining, and italics.

You also can draw on the PDF, add sticky notes, strikethrough text, put white space over anything you want to disappear, and insert lines, checkmarks, arrows, ovals, circles, rectangles, and comments.

PDFescape lets you delete individual pages from the PDF, rotate pages, crop out parts of a page, reorganize the order of the pages, and add more pages from other PDFs.

You can upload your own PDF file, paste the URL to an online PDF, and make your own PDF from scratch.

When finished editing, you can download the PDF to your computer without ever having to make a user account. You need one only if you want to save your progress online without downloading the PDF.

The online version of PDFescape works in all operating systems. There's also an offline PDF editor called PDFescape Desktop, but it isn't free and runs on Windows 7 and newer versions of Windows.

of 07

PDF-XChange Editor

What We Like

What We Don't Like

  • Many features require a license

  • Works with Windows only

PDF-XChange Editor offers some great tools, but not all of them are free to use. If you use a non-free feature, the PDF will save with a watermark on every page.

If you stick to just the free features, however, you can still do some editing to the file and save it back to your computer.

You can load PDFs from your computer, a URL, SharePoint, Google Drive, and Dropbox. You can save the edited PDF back to your computer or to any of those cloud storage services.

The PDF-XChange Editor program has lots of features, so it might seem overwhelming at first. All of the options and tools are simple to understand, however, and they're categorized into their own sections for easier management.

One nice feature is the ability to highlight all the form fields so that you can easily spot where you need to fill in. This is really helpful if you're editing a PDF with lots of forms, such as an application.

Although the free version puts watermarks on your edited documents, this program does let you edit existing text, add your own text to the PDF, and add or delete pages from the document.

You can download this program in portable mode to use on a flash drive or as a regular installer.

Many of the features are free, but some are not. If you use a feature that's not covered by the free version (you're told which features are not free when you use them), the saved PDF file will have a watermark attached to the corner of every page.

Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7 users can install PDF-XChange Editor.

of 07

Smallpdf Online PDF Editor

What We Like

  • Is completely free

  • Lets you add more text to the PDF

  • Can put white space over areas you want to erase

  • Supports importing shapes

  • Can load and save PDFs from various sources

What We Don't Like

  • Doesn't let you edit existing text

  • Only two PDFs can be edited every hour

One of the quickest ways to add images, text, shapes, or your signature to a PDF is with Smallpdf.

This website allows you to upload a PDF, make changes to it, and then save it back to your computer all without needing to make a user account or pay for any anti-watermarking features.

You can open and/or save your PDF to your Dropbox or Google Drive account, too, in addition to your computer.

You can import three shapes into a PDF with Smallpdf: a square, circle, or arrow. You can change the object's main color and line color, as well as the thickness of its edge.

Text size can be tiny, small, normal, large, or huge, but only three font types are available. You can change the color of any text you add.

When finished editing the PDF, just hit the FINISH button and then decide where you want it saved; you can even generate a share link. You can also run the edited PDF through Smallpdf's PDF splitter tool if you want to extract the pages from the document.

If you edit two PDFs within an hour, you have to upgrade to Smallpdf Pro if you want to keep using the website. Or, you can wait an hour to edit another.

Smallpdf works with all operating systems that support a modern web browser.

of 07

FormSwift's Free PDF Editor

What We Like

  • Everything is free

  • Doesn't leave a watermark

  • Can erase or redact existing text and images with white or black space

  • Lets you insert your own images

  • Can add your own custom text to the PDF

  • Circles, checkmarks, and 'x' icons can be placed over any text

  • Supports highlighting anything on the page

  • Easy typing, drawing, and signing

What We Don't Like

  • Cannot edit existing text

  • No easy-to-access undo button (but you can delete what you've done)

  • Can upload PDFs only from your computer (not from other places such as Google Drive or Dropbox)

  • Must make a user account to save the PDF

FormSwift's Free PDF Editor is a very simple online PDF editor that you can start using without even making a user account.

It's as simple as uploading your PDF file to the website and using the menus at the top of the page to quickly perform some basic PDF editing functions before downloading it back to your computer.

When you're done editing the PDF, you can download the file as a PDF file, print it directly to your printer, or save the PDF as a Microsoft Word .docx document.

The .pdf-to-.docx conversion didn't work for every PDF that we tried, but in those that did convert successfully, the images were formatted nicely and the text was fully editable.

Another feature offered by FormSwift at formswift.com/snap lets you quickly edit or sign PDFs from your phone by taking a picture of a document. You can then share or download the PDF when you're done. It's not perfect: Most things done through a web app are spotty. It does work, however, with a little patience.

You can upload Word documents and images to FormSwift, too, if you need to edit those instead of a PDF.

All operating systems can use this PDF editor since it works online.

of 07

PDFelement

What We Like

  • Lets you edit the PDF's text directly

  • Supports adding images, links, and custom watermarks

  • The background of the PDF pages can be edited

  • Headers and footers can be included in the PDF

  • Supports combining several PDFs into one

  • PDF pages can be cropped

  • Supports OCR

  • Can insert, extract, delete, and rotate PDF pages

  • Editing embedded forms is easy

  • Can password-protect the PDF

What We Don't Like

  • Free version places a watermark on the PDF

PDFelement, just as the name sounds, is free but with a major limitation: It places a watermark on every page of the PDF. That being said, the watermark doesn't cover much of the page, and it's important to realize that it supports some truly great PDF editing features.

This program would be a truly free PDF editor if it weren't for the fact that the free edition will not save without first putting a watermark on every single page of the PDF.

Depending on what you'll use the PDF for, however, the features it supports might be enough for you to consider living with the watermarks.

Download For:

A dedicated free PDF reader will let you do so much more than just open documents. If you want to merge several PDFs, convert them to a different format, extract images, tweak text or split them into individual pages, there's a free PDF reader that will make it straightforward.

Once you've installed a new PDF reader, it will display a prompt asking if you'd like to make it your default PDF reader. We recommend leaving your settings as they are until you've had a chance to try the new reader and see if it's right for you.

If you're satisfied with its performance, you can make it your default PDF reader by right-clicking one and selecting 'Open with'. Browse to the EXE file for your new PDF reader, check 'Always use the selected program to open this kind of file', then click 'OK'.

1. Foxit Reader

A clear interface and every tool you could want in a PDF reader

PDF creation and editing
Integrates with Windows

Foxit Reader is a joy to use, and makes working with PDFs effortless. Its ribbon-style interface is intuitive, and there's practically no learning curve if you're familiar with recent versions of Microsoft Office.

The ubiquity of the PDF format makes it a popular target for malware and virus developers, so Foxit Reader offers a Safe Reading mode that provides control over things such as internal links and Javascript integration.

Downloadable add-ons are available to convert PDFs to other formats (and vice versa) and to combine multiple PDFs into a single file. File conversion is incredibly simple thanks to the inclusion of an entry in Windows' context menu.

This power and flexibility makes Foxit Reader the best PDF reader you can download today. Try it now and you won't look back.

2. Nitro PDF Reader

A great PDF reader for collaboration, with tracked changes

Annotation and formatting
Requires registration

Like Foxit Reader, Nitro PDF Reader bears more than a passing resemblance to Microsoft Office applications – and this is no bad thing. Right from the start this feels like a highly accomplished piece of software and there are plenty of document viewing options to choose from.

But this free PDF reader is about more than just viewing. As well as including an annotation and highlighting option, Nitro PDF Reader also lets you add sticky notes to the documents you open.

You can use Nitro PDF Reader to convert text documents to PDF format, and vice versa. You can also extract all of the images from a PDFs in one fell swoop, digitally sign electronic documents with an e-signature. This is without doubt one of the most polished free PDF readers out there.

3. PDF-XChange Editor

A classic free PDF editor, fully overhauled for Windows 10

Text editing
Comments and notes

The free edition of PDF-XChange Editor contains handy features such as tracked comments and the ability to insert or extract pages, but those marked 'Pro' in the menu are only available in the paid-for version.

This free PDF reader's killer feature is OCR (optical character recognition). You can scan printed documents, have the text converted into searchable format, and save the resulting document as a PDF.

While installing this free PDF readers, we recommend selecting the 'Custom' option rather than 'Complete', then deselecting the components you don't want to install. They are presented as an expandable tree, so make sure you click all the '+' icons to discover what's hidden there.

4. SlimPDF Reader

A frill-free PDF reader that barely makes a dent in your drive space

Super lightweight
No editing tools

SlimPDF Reader is by far the smallest free PDF reader in this roundup, occupying just 1.43MB of space, and makes a virtue of its frill-free approach.

SlimPDF Reader really is little more than a viewer, but that's no bad thing. Controls and navigations are simple and self-explanatory, and the program benefits from being lightning-fast.

So if you try to overwrite memory - you're overwriting just a copy of DLL that is loaded into your process. Then your DLL in it's DLLMain will overwrite function for this process (the hook code). Hook windows api functions. Each process has it's own address space.Each process loads it's DLLs separately and has separate memory. It also means that hook code will run in context of hooked process, so MessageBox or printf might not work as expected.Also I highly recommend to use second PC with remote debug or VM, because hooking system processes may cause instability.Edit: some more notes. This is done for stability and security reasons.To owerwrite memory and execute code in another process - you need to use, wiki has good overview of scenarios and methods.So you need to place your code into DLL, then load this DLL into target's process.

Search, print and rotate are the most advanced features you'll find, although you are invited to try a free trial of the PDF to Office converter.

If you're looking for a free PDF reader without the bloat, SlimPDF Reader could be the ideal choice. The only real drawback is the inability to view two pages side-by-side as a spread.

5. Icecream Ebook Reader

Icecream's great ebook reader is also a good choice for PDFs

Easy navigation
No editing tools

As the name suggests, Icecream Ebook Reader is designed primarily for viewing EPUB and MOBI documents, but it doubles as a simple free PDF reader.

As this is an ebook reader, you-re encouraged to organize all of your books into a library, sortable by type and fully searchable – but there's nothing to stop you from just opening individual PDFs.

Best Pdf Converter And Editor

The program has a slightly unusual look, but it is a joy to use. Navigation of PDFs is wonderfully simple, and there are a number of viewing modes to choose from, including an eye-friendly night mode. You can quickly add bookmarks and create notes, which are accessed through the fly-out Contents pane.

Top Free Pdf Editor Converter Online

If you have a Word document or ebook that you'd to convert to PDF format, or vice versa, you might like Icecream PDF Converter, from the same developer.

Top Free Pdf Editor Converter Free

  • Discover how to convert PDFs to Word documents with our guide