Menu
Most secure PDF editor iSkysoft PDF Editor. ISkysoft evens the playing field by providing a streamlined, feature-laden PDF editor for Mac users as well as Windows devotees. The standard version. PDF Expert for Mac is Apple's Editor's Choice for good reason. It makes editing PDFs as easy as it should be, with a smooth interface that allows you to open and read large files in a jiffy.
If you’ve ever been given a pdf file that you want to edit, or a pdf form that you need to complete and return electronically, you’ll realise that it’s not obvious how to edit a pdf file in OS X. You can make simple changes to a pdf file using the free built-in Preview App that comes free with OS X. Here’s how.
If you double-click on any pdf file in OS X it will open in an application called Preview. Preview has a hidden “Annotations Toolbar’ that will allow you to edit the pdf file. You can’t change what’s already in the pdf document. But you can do minor changed like adding your own text and graphics, so this method will allow you to complete a form or make minor additions.
For full pdf editing capabilities (for example adding paragraphs of text, moving pictures around on a page etc) you need to get some fully blown pdf editing software like Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Acrobat Professional. But these cost hundreds of dollars. The good news is that ‘Preview’, the built-in OS X pdf reader app, has some basic pdf editing abilities built-in.
Here’s how to use the Annotations Toolbar.
Go up to the View menu and select the menu item called ‘Show Annotations Toolbar. This will give you a toolbar along the bottom of your preview window to help you edit the pdf file.
Note: In Yosemite and El Capitan the ‘Annotations Toolbar’ has been Renamed to ‘Markup Toolbar’ so that it looks like this:
After you select the ‘View: Show Annotations Toolbar’ menu you will see a toolbar across the bottom of the preview window that looks like this:
These buttons will allow you to edit the pdf file. The left three buttons make an arrow, a circle or a rectangle. The fourth button along allows you to add text to the pdf.
If you click on the text box button – the 4th button across, you can then go up to your document and add in a text box like this:
If you click on the text button you can add a text box to the pdf document like this.This is a very easy way to fill in pdf files that are forms.
If you highlight the newly added text you can change the font by pressing Apple-T and the font window will appear.
You can’t delete what’s already in a document, but you can draw a rectangle over it to hide it and type something new over the top.
You can cover over existing text using a rectangle with a white border like this.You’ll notice you can’t change the rectangle color from being black, but you can put a very fat white border around it so it looks like a white rectangle!
Please note, this is more of a hack than a proper way to edit. The original information that you have edited will still be there. It is just covered over. If someone deletes the box they will see the original document.
This is what led the the recent scandal in Australian Politics when all the private phone numbers of Australian politicians were accidentally leaked. The deleted the phone numbers from public documents by changing the colour from black to white. But they didn’t realise someone could still get the numbers out of the documents.
If you want to totally change the images and text on an existing pdf file you will need an application like Adobe Illustrator that can actually edit the content of pdf files. But if you only want to make small changes, the built-in preview app will do the job!
If you’d like to sign a PDF document with your handwritten signature I have a separate article on how to do that.
Related posts:
How to combine multiple pdf files with OS X Mavericks 10.9How to merge and edit PDF documents in macOS SierraHow to merge 2 pdf files in OS X 10.14 MojaveHow to sign a PDF document in OS X.HELP! Anyone found a good iPad PDF ebook reader?« Older CommentsYarinsays:August 1, 2017 at 3:21 amThis solution may help you
https://discussions.apple.com/message/17954754#17954754
ReplyNyasia Randellsays:September 7, 2017 at 3:39 am Preview is great app to make minor changes in the PDF file. And, it is free too. If you need more advanced features to to create, edit, convert and sign your PDFs, then you may consider tools like Nitro, Skim, PDFpen, etc. The one recommended here is pretty good too https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/193228
ReplyMersssays:September 15, 2017 at 9:51 pm PDFelement for Mac is a simple PDF Editor for Mac, acting as best alternative to PDF Expert.
ReplyWaynesays:September 18, 2017 at 5:15 pm Thanks Merss but it would be a better endorsement if you didn’t work for the company!
ReplyAbhaysays:December 10, 2017 at 5:58 pm nice article !! but i found that microsoft world itself can edit pdfs and all changes can be made in it !!
ReplyWaynesays:December 18, 2017 at 2:09 am True – but this is a free solution.
ReplyJudisays:December 18, 2017 at 5:59 am
Wayne, what is the free solution for editing a pdf doc?
mike tuellsays:December 10, 2018 at 5:49 pm My Mac X, El Capitan is 10.11.4 doesn’t have the same menu as your posting begins with. No, “PDF Display”, no “Automatically resize”, no “sidebar”. I’m looking for help after opening a few times a PDF document (w/ 77 pages), and once I’d hidden the sidebar, I can not longer get it to show again. I go to “View”, scroll down to “Show Toolbar”, and a menu bar appears top-of-page; I then click on the “view menu”, and “Hide Sidebar” is at the top of the list and is checked. I have tried clicking on it and the sidebar never reappears. I only could try to close and reopen that PDF document, AND a copy of it, but cannot access the sidebar management options at all.
Replymike tuellsays:December 10, 2018 at 5:59 pm My Q seemed not to have loaded, so I’m trying to post my question again.
My El Capitan 10.11.4 has a different Preview menudropping down from “View”. But I am able to click on “show [or hide] toolbar”. Then I see, up top, a toolbar with “view menu”. The list that drops down begins with the problem. I lists “Hide Sidebar”as checked, but try as I may, I cannot UN-check it and see the sidebar as I had in viewing the PDF document just minutes before.
ReplyWaynesays:December 10, 2018 at 6:46 pm My El Capitan 10.11.4 has a different Preview menudropping down from “View”. But I am able to click on “show [or hide] toolbar”. Then I see, up top, a toolbar with “view menu”. The list that drops down begins with the problem. I lists “Hide Sidebar”as checked, but try as I may, I cannot UN-check it and see the sidebar as I had in viewing the PDF document just minutes before.
Apple have re-named it. It is now called ‘Markup Toolbar’ not ‘Annotations Toolbar’. So you need to click ‘Show Markup Toolbar.’ Does that work?
ReplyJohn ROLTsays:March 5, 2019 at 5:49 am HI all .. I’m trying to edit a large .pdf document, with 257 scanned B&W pages of music. The original comes in at 14MB – quite reasonable considering. My reduced copy is working out at 2MB per page! and lower res as well; I’m guessing that it’s creating the new document with full colour or something so each page is a much bigger piece of data. Seems to be the same whether I copy the original and cut it down, or create an empty .pdf and add pages from the original using drag and drop. Anyone else found this problem or suggest a solution? I’m happy to try another app as long as it won’t suffer the same issue!
Thanks .. John
Reply« Older CommentsThanks .. John
Leave a Reply
Oct 15,2019 • Filed to: Mac Tutorials
PDF is the most common document type in which to share files. We send them around all the time; instructions, contracts, RFPs, proposals, even resumes and cover letters. When you need to send it back with notes, or pass it on to a colleague with the important parts called out, it can be tough to get your ideas across. While one of their biggest advantages is that they're 'permanent'files not conducive to editing, it's also one of their biggest pitfalls; manipulating them can be a bear of a task. Luckily, there are a multitude of tools on the market designed to help you edit PDFs more easily. However, with so many PDF highlighter App options floating for Mac (10.15 Catalina included) and windows around it can be tough choose which one to use. Luckily, we found the best one for you.
Highlight PDF Files with The Best PDF Highlighter App for Mac and Windows
PDFelement Pro for Mac — The Best Way to Highlight PDF Files
PDFelement Pro is loaded with features that make it possible for you to edit a PDF as easily as you can edit a Word or Docs document. The PDF highlighter app (Mac) comes complete with hefty editing tools that allow you to mark up the PDF however you need; by editing or adding text, inserting images, creating links, or including watermarks. The PDF highlighter app (Windows) also allows you to totally convert your document from a PDF to word document, so you can have all of your content in an easy to edit format.
Some Best Features of The PDF Highlighter App include:
- Marking up and adding notes to documents, like highlight, cross out, sticky notes, text box, shapes, and even hand-drawing tools.
- The ability to easily edit a PDF as if you were using a word processor.
- PDF to word conversion so you can grab and re-use PDF contents, as well as editing the exiting document. Bonus- your document will look the same in Word as it does as a PDF.
- Splicing and Integrating PDF documents, making it possible to take only the pieces you need or make a combined version of two separate PDFs
- The possibility to easily fill out PDF forms, like invoices and contracts
- Removing and re-ordering pages to make the PDF read the way you want it to
How to Use iSkysoft PDF Highlighter App(Mac and Windows)
Step 1. Download The Desktop App
In the homepage of PDFelement Pro, you can easily download the program both for Mac and Windows. You can choose to demo the PDF highlighter app first with the free trial, or you can buy the tool outright.
Step 2. Import PDF Files to the PDF Highlighter
Import your PDF by opening iSkysoft Editor Pro and then clicking 'open file'and selecting the PDF you'd like to edit from your drive. You can also opt to drag a file from your desktop, finder, or menu into the app directly.
Step 3. Highlight PDF Files
Get to highlighting! Your highlighter, underline, and strike through tools all exist in the 'Comment'menu. Just click on the mark up icon, and then go to your formatting tool bar and click on the arrow on the left hand side. Now when you click and drag to select text, you'll see buttons pop up for highlighting, underlining, and strikethrough. Pick whichever is best for your text.
And that's it! PDFelement Pro is incredibly easy to use, and allows you to make all the changes you need to your document. Plus, iSkysoft put together a comprehensive guide for how to use the app, so if you ever get stuck you can find all the information you need on their website!