How to edit a PDF for free

You’ve been tinkering with printer and scanner for more than ten minutes now, what are you up to? How do you say? Do you need to edit a PDF, but not knowing what software to install on your computer, have you decided to print the file, edit it by hand and scan it again to bring it back to your PC? But this is pure madness! Huh? Are you aware of this but have no idea how to edit a PDF for free? Well, then let me help you and you will see that you will be able to cope with it in a flash.

With today’s guide I will in fact show you, step by step, which software and/or online services to use to be able to edit a PDF for free in a simple, fast and smooth way. These are tools that can be used without any kind of problem by everyone, even by those who, a bit like you, do not consider themselves exactly a great expert in terms of information technology and new technologies.

So, what are you still doing standing there? Take a few moments of free time, make yourself comfortable and concentrate on reading the information you find right below. I am sure that in the end you will be able to tell yourself more than satisfied and that in case of need you will also be ready and willing to provide all the necessary explanations to your friends eager to receive a similar tip. Let it bet?

LibreOffice (Windows, macOS and Linux)

The first solution to edit a PDF for free that I want to suggest you appeal to is  LibreOffice. Haven’t you ever heard of it? Strange! In any case, don’t worry, let’s fix it right away. It is a free and open-source productivity suite available for Windows, macOS and Linux (on which it is often pre-installed) which is a valid alternative to the Microsoft Office package.

It includes applications for processing text, spreadsheets, presentations, printable documents and offers full support for PDFs in both reading and writing. Its interface is fully translated into Italian and the spell checker also supports our language. In short, try it and you will see that you will not regret it.

To download LibreOffice on your PC, connect to the suite’s website via the link I gave you a moment ago and click on the  Download version xx button  If you are using a Mac, in addition to the software you must also download the language pack to translate it into Italian. Then click on the Translated User Interface button and wait a few seconds for the download to complete.

When the download is complete, if you are using a Windows PC, open the LibreOffice installation package and click in sequence on the Next,  Next,  Install,  Yes and  Finish buttons to complete the suite installation process.

If you are using a Mac instead, open the LibreOffice_xx_MacOS_x86-64.dmg package and copy the LibreOffice icon to the macOS Applications folder. When finished, open the package in .dmg format that contains the language pack and start the LibreOffice Language Pack executable contained within it. If an error message is displayed, right-click on the executable and select the Open item from the menu that appears. Then click on the Open and  Install buttons twice in a row and LibreOffice will be translated into Italian.

Once the installation is complete, you can finally start editing your PDFs with LibreOffice. Then start the suite, click on the Open file button located on the left and select the PDF document to edit.

Then wait for the file to be loaded into  Draw  (the LibreOffice software for creating printable drawings and documents) and proceed with the changes by double-clicking on the texts on which you intend to act or using the tools you find in the sidebar of left. To use them, just click on their icon, click where you want to use them in the document and adjust their settings using the controls on the right.

When you are satisfied with the result, save the edited PDF by selecting the  Export to PDF  item from the  LibreOffice File menu at the top left and clicking the Export button in the window that opens.

PDFill FREE PDF Tools (Windows)

Another great tool to edit a PDF for free on Windows by acting on aspects such as the number of pages and their orientation and by carrying out conversion operations is  PDFill FREE PDF Tools. It is a free program that collects various tools to join, divide, rotate, encrypt and perform many other changes on PDF files.

PDFill FREE PDF Tools also supports converting PDFs to images and vice versa, can scan documents to PDF, add watermarks on document pages and much more. In short, try it and you will see that you will not regret it.

To download it on your PC, connect to its official website of the program via the link I provided you a moment ago and click on the Download now button twice: the first at the top right under the heading  Get this tool only and the second in the center of the page that opens.

When the download is complete, open the PDFill_PDF_Tools_FREE.exe file you just obtained and then click first on  Yes and then on  Next. Then accept the conditions of use of the program by placing the checkmark next to the item  I accept the terms in the License Agreement and complete the setup by pressing  Next twice consecutively and then on  Install and  Finish.

Note that during the setup procedure you may be asked to download  GhostScript and the  .Net Framework from Microsoft. These are two free software essential for the correct functioning of PDFill FREE PDF Tools, they are not promotional programs, so accept without problems.

When the installation is complete, start PDFill FREE PDF Tools by double-clicking on its icon that has been added to the Windows desktop and choose which program function to use:  Merge PDF Files allows you to merge two or more PDFs into one; Split or reorder pages allows you to split and reorder PDF pages; Rotate or crop PDF pages is used to rotate or crop document pages; the  Add watermark by text and  Add watermark by image functions allow you to add textual or graphic watermarks to PDFs; Convert PDF to images allows you to convert PDF to images, and so on.

Preview (macOS)

If you are using a Mac, you can edit a PDF for free even without resorting to third-party applications… just use  Preview and that’s it. Don’t you know what I’m talking about? Don’t worry, I’ll “enlighten” you right away. Preview is the default macOS application for opening images and PDFs, you can customize the content of a document by adding highlights, underlines, signatures, arrows, and more to it.

It also allows you to rotate PDF pages, merge multiple documents into one and delete/extract pages from an existing file.

To be able to edit a PDF for free with Preview, open the file on which you intend to go to act and click on the suitcase icon located at the top right. To merge or split documents, you just need to enable the thumbnail view from the  View menu. Then proceed to reorder, delete or add page thumbnails in the left sidebar.

Finally, save the edited file using the Print  Preview function. In the window that opens, then select the item  Save as PDF  from the drop-down menu located at the bottom left.

PDFescape (Online)

You can also edit a PDF for free by acting directly from your web browser, without having to download absolutely anything to your computer. To do this, you can turn to PDFescape. It is a free online service that allows you to edit PDF files online extremely quickly and efficiently. Run to find out how it works and add it to your favorites!

All you have to do to edit a PDF for free with PDFescape is to connect to the website of the service via the link that I have provided you a little while ago and upload the document on which you intend to go and act by dragging it into the box with the word Drop PDF Here. or by selecting “manually” the file to modify by first clicking on the Choose file button and then clicking on  Upload.

When the upload is complete, you will find yourself in front of the editor for editing the file. The PDFescape toolbar is divided into three tabs. In the main one ( Insert ) you will find the buttons to insert texts, images, drawings and other customized elements within the document. In  Annotate you will find the highlighter ( Highlight ) and the annotations ( Sticky note ) while in  Page you can modify the pages of the PDF by rotating them, cutting them and deleting them.

When you are satisfied with the result, click on the green icon with the arrow located in the left sidebar to download the edited PDF to your computer.

Once the download is complete, go to the folder on your computer where the files downloaded from the Internet are saved (eg Download ) in order to view the modified file.

App for smartphones and tablets (Android, iOS and Windows)

Instead of a computer, are you interested in understanding how to edit a PDF for free on the go, from your smartphone or tablet? No problem, I have a solution for that too. In fact, below you will find some applications that allow you to edit PDF documents on a small screen in a very simple way. Check it out, I’m sure you’ll be able to find the app that’s right for you.

• Xodo PDF(for Android, for iOS and for  Windows tablets ) – This is a PDF viewer that also includes numerous editing features. Allows you to add highlights, custom text, geometric shapes and much more. It’s free.
• Foxit Mobile PDF(for Android and for iOS ) – This is another PDF viewer that includes numerous editing features. It allows you to add highlights, text, notes, arrows and more to your documents in a very simple way. It’s free.
• PDF Expert(for iOS ) – Probably the best-paid PDF editor available in the mobile environment. It allows you to highlight, add text, notes, geometric shapes and also supports various cloud storage services. It costs 9.99 euros.
• PDF Office(for iOS ) – This is another application for creating and editing PDFs developed by Readdle, the same software house as PDF Exert, and specific for iPad. It is a much more complete app than the aforementioned solution. It costs 4.99 euros / month or 39.99 euros / year.