PDF Editor
Edit a PDF in your browser: add text, images, a signature, highlights, drawings and shapes, and rotate or delete pages.
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How to use PDF Editor
Key features of PDF Editor
With the Text tool, click a word already on the page and type over it. On save the original is covered with a white box and your version is drawn on the same baseline in Helvetica, Times or Courier, so it may not match an unusual original font.
Rotate or delete a page with the buttons above it, and add a blank page after it with Insert page here. Saving copies only the pages you kept, in order and with their rotation, so the download matches what you see.
Pages are rendered with pdf.js and the edited file is written with pdf-lib, both running in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server; typing a signature loads handwriting fonts from Google Fonts, and that request names the fonts only.
About PDF Editor
PDF Editor shows every page of your file with pdf.js and lets you place edits on it: text boxes with a choice of Helvetica, Times or Courier, bold, italic, size and colour; changes to text already on the page; images from your computer; a signature drawn in a pop-up pad, typed in a handwriting font, or uploaded as a photo with the white paper made transparent; whiteout boxes; highlight boxes; freehand pen strokes; rectangle and ellipse outlines; a crop box for any page, which hides the edges without deleting them; and Undo. Each edit is stored in the page's own coordinates, so it stays in place when you zoom or rotate. Saving rebuilds the document from the original bytes with pdf-lib, copying the pages you kept and drawing your edits onto them.
Use it to fix a typo on a form, cover an old address and type the new one, add a logo and a signature to a letter, or drop the last page of a report. Some limits to know: retyped text is drawn in a standard font rather than the document's own; a highlight or shape is a box you size by dragging, not a text selection; and a text box left with its placeholder is not written to the file.
When to use PDF Editor
A supplier's quote has the wrong purchase order number on it. Select the Text tool, click the number, type the right one and click Apply changes. The old digits are covered with a white box and the new ones are drawn on the same baseline. Keep a copy of the original, because the download is a new file with the change baked in.
A lease has a blank for the tenant's name and no fillable fields. Click the empty space with the Text tool and type; the format bar above the box sets the size (9 to 48 pt), the font, bold, italic and colour. If the document has real form fields, Fill PDF writes into them instead.
A scanned contract comes back with page 4 upside down and page 2 in twice. Rotate page 4 with the arrows above it, delete the duplicate and save. When pages are the only thing to fix, Reorder Pages and Delete Pages do it without the full editor, and Sign PDF covers a signature on its own.
Tips and troubleshooting
- "Error loading PDF: No password given" straight after choosing a file means the PDF needs a password to open, and "Error loading PDF: This PDF is encrypted, even if it opens without a password" means it carries an owner password, which the editor cannot save through. Take the protection off with Unlock PDF, then open the result here. Files over 150 MB are refused.
- A new text box starts with the words "Type text here". Leave that placeholder in place, or clear the box, and nothing is written for it.
- The three fonts cover Western European letters only (the WinAnsi set). Letters such as Å, Ä, Å or Ä, Cyrillic, Chinese or emoji show on screen, but Apply changes stops with "Failed to save edited PDF: WinAnsi cannot encode" and nothing downloads.
- Clicking a word edits the run of text pdf.js found there, often a whole line, and the white box covers exactly that run. A longer replacement can overlap the next word; shorten it or add a Whiteout box.
- Image accepts PNG and JPEG and drops the picture near the top of the page in view, no wider than 260 px, ready to drag and resize. A file that is not a valid PNG or JPEG is skipped at save time without a message.
- Zoom runs from 50% to 300% in steps of 20%, and every page is rendered when the file opens. Insert page here adds a blank page the same size as the one above it, a document must keep at least one page, Undo covers the last 100 actions, and Exit Editor discards everything unsaved.
- The editor is built for a mouse or trackpad: dragging, the pen and the signature pad listen for mouse movement, which a finger on a touch screen does not send. Saving builds a new document from copied pages, so bookmarks and the title and author fields are not carried over; set them again with PDF Metadata.
- The editor adds text and shapes but does not number pages or strip a watermark. Add Page Numbers stamps a number on every page, and Remove Watermark deletes a text watermark when it is real text.
- Whiteout and the white box behind edited text only cover the original words: they stay in the file, and anyone can select or copy them. To take text out for good, use Redact PDF; how to redact a PDF properly explains the difference.
How PDF Editor works in your browser
When you open a file, its bytes are read into memory and kept untouched. pdf.js renders each page to a canvas at 1.5 times its on-screen size and lays a clickable copy of the page's text runs over it, which is how the Text tool finds the word you clicked. Every edit is stored in the page's own coordinates (PDF points from the bottom-left corner of the unrotated page), so zooming or rotating a page does not move it. There is no server behind the page: the file, the renders and the edits stay in your browser's memory until you close the tab.
Apply changes builds the output from scratch with pdf-lib. The original bytes are parsed again, a new document is created, and the pages you kept are copied into it in order, with any blank pages you inserted. Page by page it draws the white boxes and replacement text for edited words, then your text boxes, whiteouts, highlights (yellow at 45% opacity), 2 pt rectangle and ellipse outlines, images and round-capped pen strokes, and sets the page rotation. Typed text uses the standard Helvetica, Times and Courier fonts that every reader has, so no font is embedded. The finished file waits in the box that opens, and Download PDF saves it under the name in the top bar.
Frequently asked questions
Can I change text that is already in the PDF?
Select the Text tool, click the word and type. When you save, the original glyphs are covered with a white box and your text is drawn on the same baseline in Helvetica, Times or Courier, so the font may differ from the original.
Do page rotations and deletions reach the saved file?
They do. Saving rebuilds the document from the original bytes, copying only the pages you kept, in order and with their rotation, and then draws your edits on top.
Where does the edited file go?
Apply changes builds the file and opens a box with Download PDF, Preview and Continue editing. Download PDF saves it to your browser's download folder, named after the filename shown in the top bar (click that name to rename it), and Preview shows it before you save.
Does it work on a phone or tablet?
The page opens and shows the document, but the editor listens for mouse events: dragging a box, drawing with the pen and signing in the pad need a mouse or trackpad. For freehand marks on a touch screen use Draw on PDF, which accepts a finger or a stylus.
Will the file get bigger after editing?
Typed text adds almost nothing, because the fonts are standard ones that readers supply. Each image or signature is embedded, so it adds roughly its own size. Retyped words also leave the original text in place under a white box, so nothing is taken out of the file.
Is text I cover with Whiteout or retype really gone?
No. The original stays in the page underneath a white box, and a reader that extracts or searches text will still find it. To remove text from the file itself, use Redact PDF, which deletes the text instructions as well as drawing the box.
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