How to highlight PDF text

You need to highlight certain parts of a document to send it to your friend. A seemingly simple operation, were it not for the fact that the document in question is a PDF file and you don’t have the slightest idea how to do this. Fortunately for you, however, you are on the right guide, at the right time. Guess what’? With this tutorial of mine today I just wanted to show you how to highlight text in PDFs.

To succeed in the enterprise, I anticipate it immediately, you need some special programs, the ones that I have indicated below. These are resources that work on both Windows and Mac, both free and paid. Contrary to what you may think, they are quite simple to use – even by those who, a bit like you – do not consider themselves exactly a great computer expert – as well as very intuitive. And if you do not want to download new software on your computer, I am happy to inform you that the same operation can also be done online, through ad hoc Web services.

Then? What are you still doing standing there? Position yourself comfortably in front of your trusty PC and immediately start concentrating on reading everything listed below. I am sure that in the end you will be able to tell yourself very happy and satisfied with what you have learned and that, in case of need, you will be ready to provide useful advice in this regard to all your acquaintances. What do you say, we bet?

Index

• PDFelement (Windows / Mac)
• Preview (Mac)
• PDFescape (Online)
• PDFzorro (Online)
• PDF Buddy (Online)
• App to highlight text in PDFs

PDFelement (Windows / Mac)

The first of the tools to highlight text in PDFs that I want to tell you about is  PDFelement. This software, available for both Windows and Mac, allows you to view documents in PDF format and make changes of various kinds, including highlighting, thanks to the many integrated tools. It is free but applies a watermark to saved documents and imposes other small limitations that can be circumvented by switching to the paid version.

To download it on your computer, connected to the program’s website, click on the Free Trial button and then on the one with the Windows logo (to obtain the version for Windows) or on the one with the Finder icon (to obtain the Mac version).

When the download is complete, if you are using Windows open the .exe file you just obtained, click on Yes, on OK  and on Next. Select the item I accept the terms of the license agreement and press Next again three times in a row and then click Finish.

If, on the other hand, you are using a Mac, open the .dmg package obtained and drag the program icon to the Applications folder of macOS. Then right-click on it and select  Open twice, in order to go and open the program, bypassing Apple’s limitations towards unauthorized developers.

Once the PDFelement window is displayed on the screen, click on the Open File button on the left and select the PDF you want to highlight. Later, if you are using Windows select the Annotation tab at the top, click on the Highlight Area button that you find a little further down and use the cursor to define the part of the PDF to be highlighted. To do this, you have to left click and, while continuing to hold, you have to move the pointer.

If, on the other hand, what you are using is a Mac, click on the Annotation item that you find at the top of the window, select the Highlighted tool and proceed in the same way as I pointed out earlier.

By default the color used to highlight is yellow but if you want you can change it, together with the degree of opacity, using the special commands that appear in the right part of the window.

When you have finished making changes, click on the File item on the menu bar and choose Save. Then select the option to save the document with the watermark and that’s it.

Preview (Mac)

Do you own a Mac and don’t feel like using any of the above resources? Well, I am happy to inform you that if you are not looking for particularly advanced features, you can rely on Preview without any kind of problem, the application included “standard” in macOS for viewing images and PDFs. In fact, it also includes some useful tools for editing documents in the format in question including, obviously, the highlighter.

You ask me how to make use of it? I’ll point it out to you right away. First, double-click the PDF you want to highlight so that it can be previewed. If you have set up a different program for viewing PDFs, you can still do this by right-clicking on the reference file, selecting Open With from the menu that appears and then choosing Preview.

Once the document is open, click the highlighter button at the top. Now, drag the cursor over the parts of the text you want to highlight by left-clicking and continuing to hold.

By default the color used for the highlighter is yellow. If you want you can change it, before proceeding with the highlighting, by clicking on the arrow next to the button with the highlighter and selecting the color you prefer from the menu that appears.

When highlighted, simply close the Preview window and the changes will be automatically saved to the document. It was easy, wasn’t it?

PDFescape (Online)

If, on the other hand, you prefer the use of online resources, I recommend  PDFescape. This is an excellent free Web service that allows you to edit (and therefore also highlight) PDF files and save them without using external software. It does not require registration, it is free and works from any browser. The only thing to take into account is that you can upload files with a maximum size of 10 MB consisting of a maximum number of 100 pages.

To use it, the first step you need to take is to connect to the PDFescape website and click on the Choose file button to select the document to highlight. Then click the Upload button. Alternatively, drag the PDF directly into the browser window, in the Drop PDF Here box.

Wait for the document to be uploaded to the service and once the PDFEscape editor is displayed, access the highlighter by first clicking on the Annotate tab at the top left and then on the Highlight button.

At this point, all you have to do is highlight the text of the PDF by drawing rectangles with the pointer around the sentences to be highlighted. To do this, you have to left-click at the starting point of the text to be highlighted, continue to hold and include in the selection all the desired portion of text.

Once the highlighting is complete, you can also choose which color to assign to your virtual highlighter by clicking on the small yellow square located at the top right of the screen. You can also resize and move the highlighting, after selecting it, or delete it, by clicking on the button with the dustbin located at the top right.

When you have finished highlighting all the desired parts of your PDF document, you can save the modified version of the file by clicking on the button with the green square and the two white arrows located on the left.

PDFzorro (Online)

Another useful online service for highlighting text in PDFs is PDFzorro. It is a free and easy-to-use online resource that, in addition to fulfilling the purpose in question, allows you to modify the text in the documents, add signatures, notes and much more. It is free and there is no registration requirement.

To use it for your purpose, connected to the main page of PDFzorro, presses the Upload button and select the PDF on your computer that you want to highlight. Alternatively, drag the file directly into the browser window, corresponding to the box in the center of the screen.

If your PDF is on Google Drive, you can also upload it directly from there by clicking on the link click here, to open PDF directly from Google Drive present just below.

Once uploaded, press the start PDF editor button, select the page of the PDF to edit and click on the Mark button on the left. Then highlight the text of your interest by left-clicking somewhere in the document and, continuing to hold down, drag the pointer. At the end of the changes, click on the Save button on the left.

To conclude, click on the Finish / Download button on the left and choose, after clicking on the buttons on the left, whether to download the highlighted PDF on your computer, save it on Google Drive or send it via e-mail.

PDF Buddy (Online)

As an alternative to the above services you might seriously consider using PDF Buddy. It is another free online service that allows you to make changes of various kinds to PDFs, including the ability to highlight parts of text but also to insert annotations, symbols and much more. The only flaw, if we want it definitive, is that you have to register and it allows you to edit a maximum of 3 PDFs per month. To get around this limit, you must switch to the paid variant of the service.

To use PDF Buddy, first go to the main page of the service and then press the Choose PDF to Edit button and select the document to edit. Alternatively, drag the PDF directly into the browser window, in the Drag your PDF here box.

Once upload is complete, click on the Highlight button on the left and use the cursor to highlight the text. To be precise, you have to left-click where you want to start highlighting and, while continuing to hold down, drag the pointer to the point where you want the highlighting to end.

Once the changes are complete, download the edited PDF to your computer by clicking on the Download button at the top, pressing the Sign Up brass and carrying out the quick registration procedure that is proposed to you.

App to highlight text in PDFs

And what about the mobile side? Are there any apps with which you can highlight text in PDFs? Yes, of course! If the question interests you, test the applications used for the purpose (and not only) that I have indicated below.

There are both for Android and iOS, both free and paid. Feel free to choose the one that you think will best suit you and download it right away on your device.

• Foxit PDF( Android / iOS ) – Applications that allows you to edit PDF files by inserting annotations, highlights and so on. It’s free but by making in-app purchases, you can protect your files with certificates, create blank PDFs, and much more.
• Xodo PDF( Android / iOS ) – Excellent PDF file reader including several features that allow you to highlight the text but also to underline it, draw freehand on it and so on. The synchronization of documents with the main cloud storage services is also supported and its interface is very well built. Free.
• Universal Book Reader( Android ) – As you can guess from the name itself, it is actually an eBook reader that not only allows you to export more than 50 different file formats in PDF or ePub format but also allows you to edit the text of the same adding highlights (and more). Free.
• PDF Expert( iOS ) – Renowned commercial application for iPhone and iPad that allows you to fully edit PDF documents. It integrates many useful tools for this purpose, has a beautiful user interface and is very simple to use. In short, it is definitely money well spent!

If you think you need more information about how the above apps work, you can refer to my tutorial dedicated specifically to PDF editing apps.