You have received some PDFs via email, you would need to edit them to add notes and highlights to them, but you don’t know how to do it because you have recently switched to Mac and are not yet very familiar with Apple computers? Believe me, you have absolutely nothing to worry about! You can count on a wide range of applications that allow you to freely alter the content of PDF documents, often in a free and extremely simple way.
Whether you need to add a simple highlight, a writing or need to alter the text of a PDF document, you are spoiled for choice: on macOS there are editing tools suitable for all tastes and needs. If you want, I can tell you some of the best and explain, therefore, how to edit PDF files with Mac using them.
Do you like the idea? Well, then take five minutes of free time, take a look at the list of resources that I am about to provide you, choose the one that seems most suitable for your needs and take advantage of it by following the instructions that you find below. Regardless of your computer skills and your familiarity with the “bitten apple” operating system, I assure you that you will be able to get the desired result and edit your PDFs in no time at all. Happy reading and good work, or good fun, depending on your point of view!
Index
- How to edit PDF files on Mac for free
- Preview
- LibreOffice
- Microsoft Word
- Other solutions to edit PDF files on Mac for free
- How to edit PDF files with Mac online
- PDFescape
- Other solutions to edit PDF files with Mac online
How to edit PDF files on Mac for free
Would you like to find out which are the best software tools to use to edit PDF files on Mac for free ? Then continue reading: below, in fact, you will find those reported that in my opinion represent some of the best in the category.
Preview
If you are looking for solutions to edit PDF files on Mac , know that you don’t have to look too far. In fact, one of the best applications that allow you to alter the content of documents of the aforementioned type for free is Preview . It is pre-installed in all versions of macOS and with it the Apple operating system opens PDFs by default.
To edit a PDF with Preview, open the file you want to act on, right-clicking on its icon , selecting the Open with item from the context menu and the Preview one .
Once the document is displayed, click on the pencil icon in the circle at the top right, so as to bring up the toolbar with all the tools to edit the document inside: the Aa icon allows you to select the text already present in the document, the serrated square allows you to select portions of the document, the icon [T] allows you to insert customized texts, the signature icon allows you to insert a handwritten signature (drawn “by hand” or scanned through the webcam of the Mac) and so on.
If you want to insert highlights, you have to click on the pencil icon located at the top of the preview window and by pressing on the adjacent arrow symbol you can expand the menu for choosing the color.
To merge or split documents, instead, activate the thumbnail view by accessing the View menu at the top left and choosing the Thumbnails option therein, then reorder, delete or add the page thumbnails in the left sidebar.
By default, the changes you make are automatically saved directly to the original file. However, if you prefer to save a different copy of the document, select the File menu at the top left and then choose the Export as PDF from the latter item, then choose the name to assign to the document and the location in which to save it.
LibreOffice
If you need to edit PDF files with Mac while also altering the text already present in your files, you can consider relying on the use of LibreOffice , an excellent suite for free and open source productivity, considered by many to be the best alternative. free to Microsoft Office . It is able to edit PDF documents freely, as if it were Word files. It also allows you to insert additional text, highlights, images and much more.
To download LibreOffice on your Mac, connect to the program’s website and proceed with the download and installation following the instructions I gave you in my specific guide on what to do .
Next, start LibreOffice by selecting its icon from the Launchpad , from the Applications folder or by searching for it in Spotlight , click on the button to open file located on the left and select the PDF to edit. Alternatively, if you prefer, you can select the PDF with the mouse and drag it directly into the LibreOffice window.
After completing the above steps, Draw , the application of the suite for creating printable documents, will be launched. You can then edit the PDF on your Mac using the icons located on the left and top sidebar: those with geometric shapes and arrows allow you to insert indications and circled elements in the document, the one with the letter “T” allows you to add custom text fields and so on.
Instead, to edit the PDF text (where possible), simply double-click on an existing portion. The same goes for adding images, which you can do by clicking on the photo icon located at the top right.
Once you have made all the changes you are interested in, you can save your modified PDF by clicking on the File menu located at the top left and then choosing the Save item from it. To create an edited document different from the original, however, you must choose the item to proceed with the export to PDF, then taking care to adjust the preferences relating to the output document (e.g. the level of compression or reduction of the resolution of the images) and clicking on the button to confirm everything.
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word , the famous word processing software from Redmond, includes a function that allows you to edit files in PDF format as if they were common files in DOC / DOCX format. The formatting of the original files is not always kept at 100%, this must be said, but in general, good results are obtained. Note, however, that this is only possible using a version of Office equal to or later than 2013 . Another thing to keep in mind is that Word is not free: it is part of the Office package and the most recent version is usable through the subscription to Microsoft 365 which is paid (it has prices from 10 euros / month), but you can try at no cost for 30 days and with no renewal obligation, that’s why I chose to report it to you.
So, to be able to edit a PDF file in Word with Mac , first download and install the program as I explained to you in my guide on what to do .
Subsequently, start the program by selecting its icon from the Launchpad , from the Applications folder or by searching for it in Spotlight , then click on the File menu at the top left, choose the Open item from the latter, select the PDF on which to intervene and accept the importing the document.
Once the process is complete, you can edit the file like any other text document, i.e. by inserting text, formatting it, etc. using the tools and commands provided in the toolbar at the top and in the various tabs.
When you have finished editing, save the final result as a PDF by clicking on the File menu at the top left, then on the Export item and on the Create PDF / XPS document option . If you prefer to save the file as a DOC or DOCX document, after clicking on the File menu choose the Save As option .
Other solutions to edit PDF files on Mac for free
None of the resources to edit PDF files with Mac that I have already reported has convinced you in a particular way and, therefore, would you like me to show you other useful solutions ? No sooner said than done! You can find them in the list below.
- PDFelement– this is a software that allows you to view documents in PDF format and to intervene on them by going to modify, create and convert them. It is very easy to use and it is free, but it imprints a watermark on the output documents and provides other limitations that can possibly be circumvented by switching to the paid version (with prices starting from 69 euros / year).
- PDFsam Basic– free and open source software that allows you to edit PDF documents by dividing and merging them, extracting pages and rotating pages and mixing contents. Eventually it is also available in some paid variants (with prices starting from 69 euros / year) with extra functions.
- PDF Toolkit +– it is one of the best applications in the industry that allows you to merge and split PDF documents, compress them, extract text, images and much more. Unfortunately it is not free, but I have chosen to report it to you anyway considering its practically negligible price (costs 1.99 euros).
How to edit PDF files with Mac online
“Conventional” software aside, there are also various tools that work directly via the browser , without having to download and install anything, which can be used to edit PDF files with Mac online . If this interests you, below you will find the ones that I think are the most reliable.
PDFescape
An excellent tool working online to edit PDF files with Mac is undoubtedly PDFescape , which allows you to retouch the aforementioned type of documents using various functions and tools, completely free of charge. It supports files with a maximum size of 10MB and a maximum number of 100 pages.
To be able to use PDFescape, connected to the relevant home page and click on the Choose file button to select the PDF you want to act on from your computer, then click on the Upload button . Alternatively, you can upload the PDF by dragging it directly into the browser window, in the Drop PDF Here area .
Once uploaded, use the toolbar on the left to edit the PDF. You can select one of the three available tabs: the Insert tab allows you to use the functions for inserting text, images and other elements in the PDF; the Annotate one allows you to add annotations and highlights using the buttons visible on the screen; that Page allows you to use functions to modify the pages of the document, such as those to rotate them, delete them and so on.
When you are finished with the editing operations, go ahead and download the edited file by clicking on the icon with the green background and arrows on the left side of the screen.
Other solutions to edit PDF files with Mac online
If you are looking for other solutions through which you can edit PDF files with Mac from the browser window, I recommend that you rely on the ones I have included in the following list.
- iLovePDF– is a renowned Web service, which works for free and without registration, which provides users with various tools for editing PDFs. Thanks to it, therefore, you can merge and split PDFs, you can convert them to Word and other formats, etc. Keep in mind that it allows you to process only one file at a time and imposes an upload limit of 200 MB, but by subscribing to one of the paid plans (with costs starting from 6 euros / month) you can get around these limits.
- PDF Buddy– is another web solution for editing PDFs from Mac and beyond. It allows you to intervene on the type of documents in question in various ways, even by inserting new texts and acting on existing ones. Basically it’s free and registration is not mandatory, but by creating an account and / or subscribing to one of the paid plans (with prices starting at $ 7.99 / month) you can keep your files online and enjoy other benefits.
- PDF Candy– another online service that allows you to use numerous tools for converting, dividing, merging, editing, etc. the PDFs. Basically it is free and can be used without registration, but it also offers paid plans (at a basic cost of 6 euros / month) to take advantage of some extra functions.