Author:
Louise Ward
Date Of Creation:
3 February 2021
Update Date:
1 July 2024
Content
This article shows you how to edit PDF files using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC software or convert PDF files to Microsoft Word format. If you're looking to edit PDF files for free, use LibreOffice Draw, but it has fewer features than Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Use Sejda
Access the Sejda website using a web browser. Sejda is a free online PDF editing tool. You can edit 3 files per hour using Sejda. Files can be up to 200 pages long or 50MB in size. Files that you upload for editing are usually deleted automatically after 2 hours.
- If 2 hours is not enough for you to finish editing your document, you can use the free LibreOffice Draw program to edit PDF files. Or, you'll use some of the features on Sejda to edit PDF files and finish the rest in LibreOffice Draw.
Click Upload PDF file (Upload PDF files). It's the green button in the middle of the page.
Select the PDF file and click Upload (Upload). This is a PDF file upload that you can edit with Sejda's online tools.
Add text to file. To add text to your PDF file, you'll click an icon with text Text (Text) at the top of the page, then click where to add text and start typing.
Edit existing text. Unlike many other free PDF editing tools, Sejda allows you to edit existing text as well as new text added to a PDF file. To edit text, simply click on the text to edit and start typing. You can add or remove text. Use the icon above the text input box to change the text format. Here are some options for changing text formats you can use:
- Click B to bold text style.
- Click I to italicize text.
- Click the letter "T" next to the arrow and drag the slider to resize the text.
- Click Font (Font) to choose a new font in the selection box.
- Click Color (Color) to select the color of the text.
- Click the trash can icon to clear the text input box.
Add a link to the page. Links allow you to provide a URL to another site. Follow these steps to add path to PDF file:- Click Link (Path) is at the top of the screen.
- Click and drag over the area where you want to add the path.
- Copy and paste the URL address you want to link to in the "Link to external URL" field.
- Click Apply Changes (Apply change).
Add tabular elements to PDF files. Click Forms (Table) at the top of the page to see a selection list with elements that you can add to a PDF file. These are interactive and non-interactive tabular element options. Click on one of the tabular elements displayed in the menu and click where you want the table in the PDF file to be placed. The table elements in the menu include:
- Click the "X" icon to add an X to the PDF file.
- Click the tick icon to add a check mark to a PDF file.
- Click the dot to add bullets to the PDF file.
- Click in the box "ABCD" to add a single line text box to the PDF file.
- Click the small box "ABCD" to add a text box to import multiple lines of text into your PDF file.
- Click the circle icon with dots to make selection dots for PDF files.
- Click the checkbox icon to add the checkbox to the PDF file.
- Click the selection frame icon to add the selection box menu to the PDF file.
Add images to PDF files. Follow these steps to add an image to the PDF file:
- Click Image (Image) at the top of the page.
- Click New Image (New image).
- Select the image you want to add and click Open (Open) to upload.
- Click where to add an image.
Add signature to PDF. Follow these steps to add a signature to your PDF:
- Click Sign (Signed) at the top of the page.
- Click New Signature (New signature).
- Type your name in the text input field at the top of the page.
- Click the signature style.
- Choose Save (Save).
- Click where you want your signature to be placed.
Add a highlight, strikethrough, or underline text effect. You can do the following steps to add highlight, strikethrough or underline text effect to PDF:
- Click Annotate (Comment) at the top of the page.
- Click one of the colored circles next to "Highlight", "Strike out", or "Underline".
- Click and drag the mouse over the text you want to highlight, or add an underline or strikethrough.
Add shapes to PDF. To add a shape to the PDF, you'll click Shapes (Shape) at the top of the page and click Ellipse (Oval shape) or Rectangle (Rectangle). Next, click and drag over the position where you want to add the shape. The following are the editing options that typically show up on shapes:
- Click the line icon to choose a border size for the shape.
- Click the square icon to choose a border color for the shape.
- Click the circle icon to choose a color for the shape.
- Click the two overlapping squares icon to duplicate the shape.
- Click the trash can icon to delete the shape.
Draw on PDF file. Here are the steps to help you draw on PDF files:
- Click Annotate (Note).
- Click one of the colored circles next to it Draw (Painting).
- Click and drag to draw freely on PDF.
Click Insert page here (Add page here) to add a new page. This is the button displayed at the top and bottom of each page. Click the button at the top of the page to add a new page before the current page. Click the button at the bottom of the page to add a new page after the current page.
Clear the error operation with the following steps:
- Click More (Add) at the top of the page.
- Click Undo (Undo).
- Click the check box next to the step you want to delete.
- Click Revert selected (Delete selected action).
Click Apply Changes (Apply change). It's a green button at the bottom of the page. Click this button when you are finished editing PDF. Thus, the website will begin to process your PDF file.
Click Download (Download) green at the top. This will download the edited text to your computer.
- Or, you can click one of the icons to save the text to Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, rename text or print text.
Method 2 of 4: Using LibreOffice Draw
Download and install LibreOffice. LibreOffice is a free alternative to Microsoft Office. The Draw program features PDF creation and editing. To download and install LibreOffice, you will go to https://www.libreoffice.org/ and click on Download Now (Download now). The next thing is to install the file and follow the instructions.
- You must download the entire package to your computer in order to use LibreOffice Draw.
Open LibreOffice Draw. This is a program with yellow icons with triangles and circles. Click the icon in the Windows Start menu or the Applications folder on your Mac.
- The program can be viewed in the LibreOffice folder in the Windows Start menu or in the Applications folder.
Open the PDF file in LibreOffice Draw. The PDF file will look different from the original version. Follow these steps to open a PDF file in LibreOffice Draw:
- Click File (File).
- Click Open (Open).
- Select the PDF file you want to open.
- Click Open.
Move and resize the object. When you place the mouse pointer on the object, the pointer changes to a 4-dimensional arrow. Click the object to select it. Use the following options to move and resize objects:
- Click and drag the object to move.
- Click and drag the squares at one corner of the object to resize it.
Add new text. To add new text to your content, you'll click on the letter "A" next to the lines at the top of the page. Click where you want to add the text and start typing. Click and drag to create a text input box at the specified size. Use the formatting options in the menu bar shown on the right to edit text formatting.
Edit text. To edit the existing text in the PDF, you'll click on the text and start typing. You can delete, add new, highlight text, or change text formatting using the options in the menu shown on the right. The options in the menu include:
- Use the selection list below "Character" to choose a font.
- Use the selection list next to the font menu to choose a font size.
- Click "B" to make bold text.
- Click "I" to make italic text.
- Click "U" to create an underline.
- Click "S" to create a dash.
- Click "A" to add shadow to the text.
- Click the icon with 4 lines below "Paragraph" to align left, right, center or evenly align text.
- Use the spaces below "Spacing" to adjust line spacing, spacing before - after each paragraph, and indentation.
- Click the dots icon next to the lines below "Lists" for bullet / bullet format.
- Click the number icon next to the lines below "Lists" for a numbering format.
Add image to text. You can add an image to the text by following steps:
- Click the hilly painting icon at the top of the page.
- Select the image you want to add.
- Click Open (Open).
- Click and drag the photo to move to the appropriate location.
- Click and drag the square dots around the image to resize the image.
Add shapes to the PDF file following these steps:
- Click the overlapping square icon at the top of the page.
- Click the shape in the left menu bar.
- Click and drag to draw the shape.
- Click the box next to "Color" in the right menu bar.
- Choose a color for the shape.
Rotate the object. Perform the following steps to rotate objects in text:
- Click the square icon with the circle arrow at the top of the page.
- Click the object you want to rotate.
- Click and drag the yellow dots at the corners of the object.
Save edits. You need to do the following steps to save edits:
- Click File (File).
- Click Save (Save).
Export PDF files. The following steps will help you export the text in PDF format:
- Click File.
- Click Export as (Export as ...)
- Click Export as PDF (Export as PDF file).
Method 3 of 4: Use Adobe Acrobat Pro DC
Open PDF documents in Adobe Acrobat Pro. Click the white Adobe Acrobat app with a text icon A red stylized.
- You can view PDF files for free using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. Adobe Acrobat Pro DC costs you to edit PDF files. Visit acrobat.adobe.com for a premium subscription.
Open the PDF file. You can open the file by clicking Open (Open) on the Adobe Acrobat Pro welcome screen and select the file, or perform the following steps to open a PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Pro:- Click File in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
- Click Open.
- Select the PDF file you want to edit.
- Click Open.
Click Edit PDF (Edit PDF files). It's a pink box icon in the right menu bar. This will show you a list of all text input boxes and objects in the PDF file.
Edit text. To edit text in a PDF file, click on the text in the text box and start typing. You can delete or add new text, highlight it, or use the FORMAT menu shown on the right to change text formatting.
Add new text. To add new text to your PDF, click Add Text (Add text) in the menu bar at the top of the page. Next, click where you want to add the text and start typing. Click and drag to format the text input frame size to your liking.
Use the "FORMAT" tool to edit the text. The Format tool appears in the menu on the right side of the screen. Highlight the portion of text you want to edit and use the following tools to edit the text formatting:
- Click on the selection box below "FORMAT" to change the font
- Click the selection box below the font to change the font size
- Click the color box next to the text size box to change the text color.
- Click the uppercase "T" icon with a variety of styles to create bold, italic, underline, subscript, or superscript formatting for text.
- Click the selection box next to the three dashes and three dots icon to create a bulleted / bulleted list.
- Click the selection box next to the three numbered dashes icon to create a numbered list.
- Click the 4 dashes icon such as lines of text to left, center, right, or even align text.
- Click the selection box with a vertical arrow next to the three dashed lines to increase or decrease the line spacing.
- Click the selection box next to the arrow icon along with two groups of dashes to increase or decrease the space between paragraphs.
- Click the "Horizontal scaling" selection box to increase or decrease the width (percentage) of the selected characters.
- Click the selection box with the horizontal arrow below the letter "A" and letter "V" to increase or decrease the space between characters.
- Note, you cannot edit every element in a PDF file.
Add images to PDF files. The following steps will help you to add images to PDF files:
- Click Add Image (Add image) at the top of the page.
- Select the image you want to add.
- Click Open (Open).
- Click on the location where you want to add the picture or click and drag to specify the image size.
- Click and drag the blue dots in the corners of the frame around the image to resize the image.
Use the "OBJECTS" tool (Objects) to edit images and other objects. Select the object you want to edit and use the following tools to edit it:
- Click the icon of the two right-facing triangles to rotate the image horizontally up and down.
- Click the icon of the two upward triangles to flip the image from side to side in the vertical axis.
- Click the selection box next to the two-cell icon next to a line to align the objects on the page.
- Click the anticlockwise rotation arrow icon to rotate the object to the left.
- Click the arrow icon to rotate clockwise to rotate the object to the right.
- Click the icon of the overlapping photos to replace the photo with another one.
- Click the icon of the overlapping squares to change the layout of the object to other text and objects.
- Note, you cannot edit every element in a PDF file.
Click Fill & Sign (Fill and Sign) to add signature to PDF file. It's a pencil icon next to the purple icon in the right menu bar. Use the tools at the top of the page to enter a signature, add a tick, or click Sign (Sign) to create or add an existing signature.
Save PDF files in the following way:
- Click File (File).
- Click Save (Save).
Method 4 of 4: Use Microsoft Word 2013 or 2016
Open Microsoft Word. You'll click on the blue app that contains or is shaped like text W.
Open the PDF file in Word. The file to be used is converted into an editable Word document. Follow these steps to open a PDF file in Word:
- Click File (File) in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
Click Open (Open).
- Select the PDF file you want to convert to Word.
- Click Open.
- Choose OK.
Edit file like you would normal Word document.
- Similar to any other PDF conversion, the converted file will be different from the original document and require some manual editing.
