PDF is an acronym for Portable Document Format. The filetype was invented by Adobe and designed to look identical across different devices and screens - so, it retains consistency and maintains accuracy without formatting issues. However, because it’s standardized, it also means it can’t be edited without the use of a PDF editor like Adobe Acrobat.
The best Adobe Acrobat alternatives offer advanced PDF editing capabilities that rival the best PDF editor.
Adobe Acrobat DC has long been the go-to PDF editing software - for the very good reason that Adobe invented the PDF format. The filetype allowed true document standardization. No matter what device you viewed the file, it would appear the same to all users.
Today, there are plenty of premium and free PDF editors offering many of the same useful tools and features you’ll find in Adobe’s premiere PDF editing tool, including eSign software and OCR software. So, you’re looking to Strengthen efficiency, productivity, and faster workflows without taking out a Creative Cloud subscription, finding the best alternatives to Adobe Acrobat is essential.
To help you identify the right tools, we’ve tested, reviewed, and rated the best Adobe Acrobat alternatives to see where the competition matches, thrashes, and misses Acrobat’s power.
Do more with your documents -with the best PDF merger tools, best PDF compressors, and the best free PDF to Word converters.
Today's best Adobe Acrobat deals
The best Adobe Acrobat alternatives in full
Foxit PDF Editor is a stellar substitute for Adobe Acrobat. Like Adobe, Foxit has been offering PDF tools for decades, and users can take confidence from the many high-profile endorsements proudly listed on the Foxit site, with the likes of Amazon, Google, Dell, and Intel among them.
The company's best Adobe Acrobat alternative, Foxit PDF Editor, offers dozens of useful features. This includes watermarking, adding headers and footers, tailoring password permissions, creating templates, and converting other documents to PDFs. One neat feature is being able to drag files of other formats - such as converting Excel to PDF or using the PowerPoint to PDF converter.
In our Foxit PDF Editor review, we felt it might not offer enough value to casual users, but the multi-platform PDF editor app was great for businesses who regularly need to manipulate, edit, redact, annotate, and alter PDF documents.
Indeed, the redaction tools were a special highlight for us. We were impressed with how easily they worked, thoroughly scrubbing sensitive data from documents .The feature is a boon for compliant-conscious teams who understand the importance of adhering to global data laws.
Pricing for Foxit PDF Editor is flexible, with monthly and yearly subscriptions. If on-going payments are one of the reasons you’re looking for the best Adobe Acrobat alternatives, there’s the opportunity to pick up a perpetual license for a one-off purchase.
You’ll also find two upgraded versions of the PDF editing software - Pro and Pro + - which add additional features for power-users.
Read our full Foxit PDF Editor review.
PDF24 Creator isn’t just one of the best Adobe Acrobat alternatives for Windows - it’s also our top pick for best free PDF editor overall.
Despite the no-cost approach, the tool - a PC-only desktop app that works offline and is ideal for low-spec PCs - is surprisingly feature-rich.
During our time with the software, we rated it as “one of the best examples of free tools that go above and beyond. It’s packed full of features, and comes with everything you might need to create and edit a PDF document.”
Tools for PDF creation, compressing, merging, and converting are all present and results are grand. Extras like OCR and eSign are well-implemented. The interface is clean and fresh and emphasizes productivity - you can quickly find what you need and what to do.
We even felt it bested Adobe in one area. Praising Acrobat for its inclusion of tools for almost use-cases, we noted, “the only exception is if you need something more advanced for filling out forms, in which case an editor like PDF24 Creator or PDFZilla could work better, despite looking a bit clunkier.”
PDF24 Creator is available free and unlimited. The experience might not quite match Adobe’s fluid workflow, but it’s a price you can’t beat.
Read our full PDF24 Creator review.
Nitro PDF Pro is probably the best Acrobat alternative for those who absolutely, positively want to avoid subscriptions at all costs. You won’t find any on-going payment plans with this PDF editor. Just a one-off perpetual license.
When we tried out the product, we found it featured an impressive toolkit that compares favorably with Adobe Acrobat. The interface and experience make using the software incredibly simple and easy - a factor the sometimes overwhelming Acrobat struggles to boast.
Other tools to let you make changes to existing PDF documents, and even create one from scratch. You have a lot of tools at your disposal, including various ways to make annotations, leaving instructions for colleagues to follow.
Editing the genuine content of an already existing PDF isn’t as seamless as we’d like it to be, and that’s probably the weakest tool in Nitro’s arsenal. Everything else is very well implemented, and we especially liked how the ability to convert files to and from PDFs is performed.
Ultimately, we found this Adobe Acrobat alternative “a good PDF editing software package that allows you to make changes to documents, annotate them, and perform numerous alterations on them. It also comes with a good OCR, conversion tools.”
This PDF editing software is capable of running on a PC or a Mac, and costs $180 per license. Volume licensing for businesses is also available.
Read our full Nitro PDF Pro review.
EaseUS PDF Editor is the ideal choice if you’re on a PC - it’s one of the best alternatives to Adobe Acrobat for Windows.
Unlike many of the best Acrobat alternatives, EaseUS has a free, but limited version available alongside the Pro version. This works great in a pinch, but it restricted in many ways - not least adding a watermark to your documents. The Pro version opens up the software, however.
In our review, we described EaseUS’ offering as “a powerful, PC-only PDF editing software tool that allows you to manipulate and alter documents with relative ease. It also comes with more standard features, such as a converter, and has good OCR capabilities.” Elsewhere, you’ll find outstanding PDF converter tools and eSignature tools.
The program is impressively kitted out for PDF editing, splitting pages into boxes that can be moved and resized. Content can also be changed, such as altering the font, color, and the text itself.
And it’s all housed within a refreshingly clean user interface. This makes navigating the tool an absolute breeze - not dissimilar to the excellent user experience offered in Adobe Acrobat, with its focus on maximizing productivity.
Costs for EaseUS PDF editor vary, with monthly and annual subscriptions and a one-time-buy ‘lifetime upgrade’ option. It’s ‘one license for one computer’. Bundles are available.
Read our full EaseUS PDF Editor review.
If you’re looking for the best Adobe Acrobat alternative for Mac, iPad, and iPhone, look no further than Readdle PDF Expert.
While modern Apple machines come preinstalled with the excellent Apple Preview - a tool we felt “should be able to cater to all but the most demanding PDF road warriors” - it’s more of a PDF reader and manipulator, rather than a full PDF editor, like Acrobat.
PDF Expert is much more fully featured, making it a much better alternative to Acrobat. Alongside image and text editing, Readdle’s product also comes kitted out with converter tools for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, OCR and eSign tools.
When we tested out the software, we were impressed to find it “has lots of useful features for people who use PDF files on a regular basis. It has a very clean UI design and everything is neatly organized so you don’t need a lot of help in understanding how the software works when you use it for the first time.” We also loved how well PDF Expert synced documents on all Apple devices.
A wide range of editing tools include the ability to highlight parts of the PDF and add notes, redact sensitive information, extract or rearrange pages, and merge documents. Being able to draw directly onto the PDF is also useful for those who are using the software on iPad and have an Apple Pencil.
The sleek interface and a well-organized toolbar make it simple and intuitive for new users to accomplish everyday PDF editing tasks. In short, PDF Expert makes you feel like a PDF expert.
Pricing is via an annual subscription or a perpetual license - however, only the yearly fee offers use across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Read our full Readdle PDF Expert review.
PDF Architect, from pdfforge, offers a range of PDF packages that rival Adobe Acrobat. The free plan includes basic PDF creation for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint docs, and the ability to merge, move, and delete pages and files.
More advanced features rest in the Standard, Professional, and Pro + OCR plans. These open up necessary editing, converting, collaboration tools, and more. When we took a look at PDF Architect, we awarded it 4 stars, calling it “a great choice for those who need a reliable, advanced PDF editor with lots of extra features and a stable, reliable interface.”
We appreciated the excellent interface, which will be familiar to anyone used to Microsoft Office software, and the extensive toolkit - praising the developers for “researching the market and identifying underserved niches.” Best of all, with minimal system requirements, PDF Architect is one of the best alternatives to Adobe Acrobat for low-end, low-spec computers.
However, there are limitations, even beyond the free version. eSignatures, for example, require a separate module in the PDF editor. For that reason, we recommend a free trial to get a feel for what you can and can’t do, to see if it fits your current workflow.
Read our full pdfforge PDF Architect review.
For those with a need to edit PDFs online and on a budget, Sejda offers a tool that might just be the best free Acrobat alternative online.
It’s available as a desktop version that saves files locally to your computer or an online version that uses cloud storage. But watch out for restrictions in the free version. You can only perform three tasks per day, you can only work on one document at a time, and file sizes cannot exceed 200 pages or 50MB.
One of Sejda’s real highlights is its security process. All files uploaded to the server are automatically deleted after two hours. Ideal, then, for businesses with a focus on data protection and compliance.
The tool isn’t without its faults, though. We found in-document text editing to be fairly basic, meaning you might encounter some issues replicating a typeface if the original PDF features a unique or unusual font. But as a useful Adobe Acrobat alternative for infrequent PDF editing, Sejda offers an excellent no-cost or low-cost option.
As we noted when we reviewed the software, it’s “a convincingly powerful PDF editor, but you'll need to pay if you need to use it a lot.”
Pricing comes in the form of a weekly and monthly subscriptions for the web app, or an annual desktop and web app subscription. Team and volume licensing is available.
Read our full Sejda review.
Adobe Acrobat alternatives buying advice
How to choose the best Adobe Acrobat alternative for you
Why you can trust TechRadar Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
When deciding which Adobe Acrobat alternative is best for you, you first need to consider how you will be working with PDF files.
Modern operating systems and browsers can open PDFs without additional software, meaning this is all you need if you only want to view the files.
You can make basic edits using a PDF reader, many of which are available as free versions.
If you need to make more in-depth edits, batch process files, or convert between file types, then a fully-fledged PDF editor is the best choice for you.
What is a PDF?
What is Adobe Acrobat?
Adobe Acrobat is a PDF editor for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. Unlike PDF readers, lets users create, edit, and annotate PDF documents that can easily be shared and viewed by others. It’s often considered the industry standard in PDF editing software. Not only did the company design the PDF format, but also introduced a range of tools so businesses can easily build and modify documents
Why do I need an Adobe Acrobat alternative?
The best Adobe Acrobat alternatives deliver similarly effortless interfaces and experiences for PDF editing - without the need for a Creative Cloud subscription. Although Acrobat remains the obvious choice for editing PDFs, and is often considered the industry standard PDF editor, it might not fit your overall workflow, meet your needs, or your budget. This is especially true if you’re not a power-user; if you’re not a PDF power-user, alternatives may meet your needs better.
How we test the best Adobe Acrobat alternatives
To test the best Adobe Acrobat alternatives, we downloaded and installed each piece of software to deliver you a first-hand opinion.
Our research looked at operating system compatibility, system requirements, and real-world performance when working with large files.
We explored each program's features, noting any significant additions and omissions compared to Adobe Acrobat.
We also investigated the price, payment models, and free versions (where available) for each Adobe Acrobat alternative. Finally, we looked at the support services and documentation offered by each developer as we feel it's a key part of the overall user experience.
See how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar.
Looking for cost-effective alternatives? We've rounded up the best free office software
The best free PDF editors feature powerful document creation and manipulation features that rival premium tools - without the premium price tag. No one-off fees, no on-going subscriptions. Just free software for PDFs.
Top features to look out for include PDF conversion, OCR software, and eSign software. If you’re in and out of files all day, these are essential productivity tools and you’ll know how prevalent they are in the best PDF editors. You’ll also find plenty of basic free PDF software, for when your needs are simple.
Our top choice for PDF editing overall is Adobe Acrobat. For professionals and power-users, it’s worth every penny. But there are alternatives to Acrobat that don’t require a monthly or annual subscription.
To help you find the ideal software, we’ve tested the best free PDF editors, assessing the integrated tools and workflows, and sizing up their cloud storage and cross-platform compatibility.
For more PDF utilities, we've been testing out the best free PDF to Word converters, PDF to Excel converters, and PDF to PowerPoint converters.
TODAY'S TOP 3 BEST PDF EDITORS
We’ve tested, reviewed, and rated the best PDF editors for Windows, Mac, iPad, and more. If it's in budget, we recommend these top three premium picks - bringing professional PDF editing tools into the home or office.
The best free PDF editors of 2022 in full
PDF24 Creator is our pick for best free PDF editor overall. You may find the website a tad dated, but the tool is surprisingly feature-rich.
The free PDF editor is a very small program that can easily run on older systems - ideal, then, for businesses with limited resources or a suite of low-spec computers.
When we tested the software, we rated it as one of the best free tools, going above and beyond what's expected. It’s full of features, and has everything needed to create and edit PDF documents. While we noted that it lacked more advanced features usually found in premium tools like Adobe Acrobat DC, we felt that most users will find more than enough utility within PDF24 Creator.
The tool serves up a PDF editor for free document creation, PDF merging, PDF compressing, and converting PDFs into other formats. You can even optimize a PDF for the web or apply OCR to a PDF, so that you can convert scanned images to text.
PDF24 Creator has a minimalistic user interface and it’s clear that the program is designed around speed first and foremost. All of the important features are easy to find and when you first open the software, you’re presented with a grid of editing options. And yes, our top choice for best free PDF editor is genuinely free and unlimited, through and through.
Read our full PDF24 Creator review
Smallpdf was created with a single goal in mind: edit and compress PDFs.
But what sets it apart from the competition is its extensive multi-lingual support, available in 24 different languages and used in 195 countries around the world.
Long considered one of the best free PDF editors online - you can make all the changes you need from your browser - the user experience is excellent and incredibly easy to use. When we tested Smallpdf, we found the lightweight, cloud-based tool perfect for simple tasks, but not ideal for high-volume editing or advanced features.
Using the PDF editor is straightforward. Upload your PDF via the website, and begin making annotations and taking notes. You can also add pictures, text and shapes to a PDF. Once you’ve made the necessary changes, Smallpdf allows you to compress a PDF or export it as a Word, Excel or PowerPoint file.
If you want even more functionality, you can upgrade to Smallpdf’s premium edition. While the web version is slightly cheaper, you can pay a bit more to take advantage of the desktop version so you can work offline. Alongside a web PDF editor and Windows desktop app, users can also install the PDF editor on Android and iOS phones.
Read our full Smallpdf review
PDF Candy is ideal if you want a free online PDF editor and a way to edit PDF files in your browser. You’ll also find a desktop version available for Windows if you upgrade to the lifetime license.
Easily one of the best free PDF editors online, it's delightfully simple to use - everything is clean, clear, and easy to navigate. And it's absolutely packed with functionality, with an impressive 47 different tools for editing, altering, converting PDF files, and so much more.
The free version places a one-task-per-hour limit, which can be removed by setting up a monthly or annual subscription, or purchasing it outright for a one-off payment. The latter also grants access to the Windows-only desktop PDF editor app.
However, no tool or feature is off-limits, regardless of your plan. And that makes PDF Candy a great choice whether you're a casual PDF editor or a productive power-user. There's something for everyone here.
PDF Candy, which earned 4.5 stars in our review, simplifies and streamlines online PDF editing and converting. And there's loads of tools you probably didn't know you needed until now.
The free online PDF editor presents you with plenty of useful tools. This includes the option to edit PDF files online, convert documents to a variety of formats, merge and compress PDFs.
On top of that, PDF Candy lets you easily extract text and images, resize pages, and add watermarks. In total, there are an impressive 47 different tools to help you manage and edit PDF files. All features are found in a handy list of buttons, so you won't spend ages looking for what you need.
Once you’ve made the necessary changes to a PDF, you can download the file directly to your computer or save it to your Google Drive or Dropbox cloud storage. You can also edit multiple PDF files and when you go this route, PDF Candy queues them so you can download everything at one time.
Read our full PDF Candy review
Apple’s Preview app is free, and as you’d imagine, only available on the Mac. It’s designed to let you preview many different image formats, but its most interesting feature is its ability to view, interact with, and manipulate PDFs.
After testing our choice for best free PDF editor for Mac, we concluded that Apple’s product was a remarkably powerful editor, allowing you to perform what could be considered advanced content manipulation and note taking tools.
The basics are seamless: open a file, scroll through the pages, search for specific words, print the whole document, or just parts of it, fill in specific fields, add notes, it’s all there, and you can’t really ask for an easier-to-use PDF reader.
But Preview goes one better: you can manipulate PDFs files to a certain extent. There's no text editing, but you can reorder pages, rotate them, and even delete them.
For custom PDF creation, you have the option of copying and pasting pages into new documents - as long as those original PDFs allow you to copy their pages.
Read our full Apple Preview review
I Love PDF is an online service that allows you to manipulate PDF files in a number of ways. You can merge files together, split a single one into multiples, and convert documents to and from the PDF format. The only thing you cannot do is alter the original content of a PDF, although you can add additional text boxes, images and shapes.
So, it’s not a full PDF editor like Adobe Acrobat DC. In fact, we noted in our review of the PDF editing tool that while it lets you manipulate documents in many ways, the drawback is that you can’t actually change the existing content of these files. You can only add extra text boxes, shapes, images, and the like.
Despite this, it does contain a number of interesting features that are cleverly implemented. This includes being able to use your phone’s camera to scan pages, and have them appear back on your page on your computer, once done. You can easily add page numbers to every page, or even a watermark, and of course add a digital electronic signature to a document.
The online PDF editor is free, as long as you access it from a web browser. A handful of tools have limited functionality in this way, but should be suitable for most people’s needs.
If you require more advanced features like OCR and offline PDF editing , then you’ll need to consider subscribing.
Read our full I Love PDF review
Sejda, like PDF Candy and Smallpdf, is one of the best free PDF editors available online in your browser. You can also grab a separate free downloadable, editable PDF app for desktops.
What sets it apart from other similar offerings, however, are its security features. All files uploaded to the service are automatically wiped from its servers after two hours. This means you can use it to work on sensitive documents without having to be worried about your data being leaked or stolen.
Sejda as a convincingly power PDF editor - in our tests, we found that using it is incredibly self-explanatory, and it was frankly difficult to fault the tools on offer. On the other hand, we were disappointed by the lack of precision over layout and movement controls.
Sejda also offers a desktop version with the biggest difference being that all of the processing is handled locally as opposed to in the cloud. Regardless of which free version you choose, Sejda limits you to working on a maximum of three tasks per day, one file at a time and files can’t be larger than 50MB or 200 pages.
In addition to being able to edit PDF text, you can add new text as well as images including shapes and drawings. Sejda also lets you add annotations, create forms, whiteout sections of a document and more. For those that do decide to upgrade, Sejda is available as a weekly, monthly or annual subscription though there are discounts for larger teams with multiple users.
Read our full Sejda review
Canva’s free PDF editor is a good choice if you’re looking to create documents from scratch or re-edit an existing file.
Like the platform’s design app and logo maker, the browser-based editor is pure child’s play. If you’re familiar with Canva’s other free tools, you won’t find any surprises here. And if you’ve never made or edited a PDF document before, it won’t take long to master the tools and build professional-looking assets. Select an element, drag it into position, and that’s that. It offers a decent amount of customization. You’ll also find it packed with stock images and vector graphics that can be added to your file.
When we reviewed the free PDF editor, we were especially impressed with its ability to turn existing PDFs into editable documents. Upload your file and the tool smartly identifies the different elements on the page - text boxes, images, background colors, that sort of thing. You’re then free to click and modify (or delete) any of these.
There is also an app library for added utility. This is where you can connect your cloud storage services, add links, and even create QR codes. This is all free to use, but there is a monthly/annual subscription available, adding business-focused utilities such as brand kits, more cloud storage, premium graphics, and social media scheduling. Subscribers gain access to these across the Canva platform; it’s not limited to the PDF editing tool.
Effortless is, perhaps, the best way to describe this top free PDF editor. But while the tool excels on the design side, it lacks many of the advanced features you’ll find in full-fat software like Adobe Acrobat. There’s no OCR, for example, and no eSign integration. That makes it best for teams and marketing departments largely focused on designing their own PDF assets.
Read our full Canva PDF Editor review
Free PDF editor buying advice
How to choose the best free PDF editor for you
Why you can trust TechRadar Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
When deciding which free PDF editor is best for you, make a list of the must-have feature-set needed by you and your team. Not all free Adobe Acrobat alternatives are created equally. For example, if you’re bulk-editing, a tool like PDF24 Creator will serve you better than SmallPDF.
Consider which bits of your PDF file you need to change. If you’re just trying to add information to a form digitally, you’ll just need a basic editor that supports text insertion.
However, if you need to change the content of a PDF substantially, you’ll require a more powerful PDF editor that can make modifications to text or images already stored in the file. In some cases, especially if you want to change almost all the content of your file, it may be better to use a dedicated PDF converter instead.
Other advanced features to look out for, depending on your workflow, are built-in PDF conversion, OCR software, and eSign software.
Most modern browsers have free PDF reader capabilities if that’s all you need
What is a PDF editor?
A PDF editor lets you assemble a Portable Document Format (PDF) file from scratch, as well as amend the content of existing PDF files. The format was released by Adobe in 1993 as a way to standardize documents viewed across different platforms, devices, and screens.
Most PDF editors come with the ability to convert, or batch convert, common file types such as Microsoft Office’s Word, Powerpoint, and Excel to and from the PDF format. You’ll also find more advanced tools like optical character recognition (OCR) software.
Are free PDF editors good?
Whether or not a free PDF editor is best for you will largely depend on how you’ll use it, and where. While there are some free PDF desktop apps that work offline, they don’t always feature multi-platform and mobile support. Many others are only available online in your browser. Free tools can also impose usage limits, such as the amount of files you can import, or export, per day. As such, they’re often better for light users, or to get a taste for the tool.
How do I edit a PDF for free?
All PDF editors are designed differently - although tools and layouts follow a similar pattern. We’ve covered several ways to alter documents in the most popular paid-for and free PDF editors with our guide How to edit a PDF.
We've also highlighted the best method in Sedja PDF editor in our guide How to edit a PDF for free.
How we test the best free PDF editors
To test for the best free PDF editors, we first set up an account with the relevant software platform, whether as a download or as an online service.
We then tested the service using a handful of PDF files to see how the PDF editor could handle editing not just text, but also images, as well as tables imported from Microsoft Excel.
The aim was to push each software platform to see whether it could simply and easily not just edit a range of content types but also do so faithfully and consistently without introducing formatting issues or similar problems.
Try out the best HTML to PDF converters.
It’s been more than 25 years that PDF files have been around, and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon. As PDFs are the most popular format for presentations and document sharing, they are heavily used in schools and offices. No wonder PDF readers are the most commonly used applications and part of every desktop and laptop.
If you are a student, busiSupposess professional, or just somebody who needs to interact with PDFs frequently, you can take advantage o. In that case, all these features by using a quality PDF reader. The rise in the popularity of the PDF format has led to an increase in demand for PDF readers.
Today, we are going to discuss the best free PDF readers for Windows and macOS.
12 Best Free Pdf Readers for Mac and Windows
Today there are many PDF readers for both Mac and Windows. Some of them are free, while others require a subscription. The features they offer are also very different. So it can be confusing to decide which one you should use.
Here, we have compiled a list of the best free PDF readers that offer all the features you need and more. To help you choose the best PDF reader, we have listed them in two sections. The first section contains the best free PDF readers for Macs. The second section contains the best free PDFincludes for Windows.
Note that many of the PDF readers listed work on both platforms, but their features may vary slightly. Finally, you’ll find my personal favorite PDF reader at the end. Without further ado, let us get started with the list!
6 Best Free PDF Readers for Mac
These are the best free pdf readers for macOS.
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- PDF Reader Premium
- Apple Preview
- Skim PDF
- Soda PDF
- Kdan PDF Reader
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Not surprisingly, Adobe Acrobat Reader is our first choice for Mac and Windows because it’s free, widely compatible with other software, and offers all the features you want in a PDF reader. Not only is it great for reading PDFs, but it’s also extremely powerful when it comes to editing, printing, and commenting on PDFs.
With this free software, you can not only open and view PDFs but also edit them, sign them, fill out forms, protect them and highlight important information. Adobe Reader is indispensable for anyone who needs to work with PDFs on a regular basis.
PDF Reader Premium
If you work with PDFs frequently for your job, consider downloading PDF Reader Premium. With over 50 million downloads, it is one of the most widely used PDF readers for Apple devices.
It lets you view your PDFs in multiple tabs at once, add image-based annotations and sticky notes to them, organize files using tags, add signatures to form fields within saved PDFs, and transfer PDFs via various cloud services.
It’s a good choice for anyone who wants to do more with their PDFs than just read them.
Apple Preview
If you’re looking for a simple PDF reader that comes pre-installed on every Mac, then you should use Preview. While it doesn’t offer as many features as some of the other PDF readers on this list, it’s still a good choice for quickly viewing or printing PDFs.
Preview lets you open PDFs, view multiple pages at once, fill out forms, and add annotations. You can also reduce the file size of a PDF, split it into multiple PDFs, or combine multiple PDFs into one.
It’s a good choice for those who don’t need advanced features and just want a program to open quickly.
Related: How to Combine PDFs on Mac using Preview or Third-party PDF Utilities
Skim PDF
Skim is a free and open-source PDF editor that allows you to read not only scientific articles in PDF format but also eBooks. Its most useful features include full-screen mode, the ability to export notes as text, compatibility with Spotlight for searching text directly from the program, and the ability to add and update notes. Skim also allows displaying highlights and using built-in transitions when viewing a PDF file.
The program was originally developed for academic use, so it’s a good choice if you need to read and annotate scientific papers. However, its features make it useful for anyone who needs to read PDFs.
Soda PDF
Soda PDF is a great program for viewing detailed documents like online comics, magazines, and catalogs. You can even edit and create new PDFs from scratch!
Soda PDF is a great way to manage your PDFs on the Mac. With the built-in software, you can easily convert files and add freehand writing, text boxes, sticky notes, hyperlinks, and annotations.
By providing free PDF tools on its websites, such as converters, splitters, and compressors, as well as document signers and security features, Soda PDF creates not only demand for its online PDF platform but also sales. If you want to free up some space on your computer’s hard drive, you can use these online tools instead of a downloadable PDF reader.
Kdan PDF Reader
It is a versatile PDF management tool that allows you to view, edit, convert and annotate PDF files. It can be downloaded directly from the Mac App Store. Kdan PDF Reader is one of the most powerful and popular PDF management tools for Apple computers.
The software facilitates PDF editing by adding freehand writing, text boxes, sticky notes, hyperlinks, and annotations. You can tag and color code important documents so they do not get mixed up. And with the Import History feature, you can keep track of all your saved files.
Kdan PDF Reader is a good choice for anyone who wants to do more with their PDFs than just read them.
6 Best Free PDF Readers for Windows
These are the best free pdf readers for windows.
- Nitro PDF Reader
- PDF-XChange Editor
- Foxit PDF
- MuPDF
- SumatraPDF
- Slim PDF
Nitro Reader
Nitro Reader is a widely used productivity and office software program. We prefer this free PDF document reader because it offers a perfect balance between ease of use and features rather than being cluttered with unused add-ons. Besides, its sleek interface looks like other Microsoft Office applications.
Nitro Reader is not like other PDF readers. Not only does it have all the basic features, but it also has QuickSign – a feature that makes digitally signing documents as quick and easy as can be. Moreover, you have the option to secure your documents so that they can only be opened by those who have received a digital certificate from you. Thus, if you are looking for a PDF reader for Windows that is effective and has an attractive UI, choose Nitro Reader.
PDF-XChange Editor
PDF-XChange Editor is a PDF reader for Windows 10 that has been redesigned and shortened. It opens quickly and provides a basic experience for tasks like reading, printing, annotating, and saving images as text from a PDF file.
Before this software was named PDF-XChange Viewer, the only editing feature available for free was very basic. You also get features like OCR and digital signature with this program. Although it has many useful features, some people might feel that the UI is too cluttered because there are so many options. Maybe a redesign in the future could solve this problem.
The free version of PDF-XChange Editor provides over 60% of the features available in the paid version.
Foxit PDF
Foxit Reader is not only a PDF reader, but you can also create, edit and annotate PDF files. It’s also compatible with multiple platforms and has plugins for Microsoft Office products. Thus, it is an incredibly versatile tool that anyone who frequently deals with PDFs should have at hand.
This program is a collection of tools that will let you create, verify, sign, modify and print PDF files. It is free to use, but the premium version offers you some additional benefits. The free version covers all the essentials unless you need special functions.
MuPDF
MuPDF is a free and open-source software framework written in C that implements a PDF, XPS, and EPUB parsing and rendering engine. It is mainly used to render pages in bitmaps but can also be used for other functions such as search, table of contents listing, and hyperlinks.
It is a standalone program and does not require any external dependencies such as a web browser or PDF reader. It also lets you convert PDF files to other formats, such as HTML, SVG, and CBZ.
SumatraPDF
Sumatra PDF is a good choice for reading PDFs if you don’t need advanced features like annotations, document signatures, and form filling. Sumatra offers numerous viewing modes, such as single page, book mode, presentation mode, and keyboard shortcuts that make navigating any PDF file easy.
You can use it to read multiple file formats such as PDF, CHM, DjVu, XPS, ePub, MOBI, CBZ, and CBR. Sumatra also offers a plugin for Firefox that lets you open PDFs directly in the browser.
Slim PDF
Slim PDF is one of the smallest PDF readers available, taking up only 15 MB of space on your PC. Despite its small size, this free PDF reader has many advanced features, such as printing, searching, zooming, and rotating PDF files.
For PC users, this PDF reader is easy to use and has been recently updated with a dark mode option and a new design UI. With this free software, you can focus only on reading, viewing, and printing your PDF files.
Despite its size and lack of features, it loads quickly and doesn’t take up much space on your computer. Besides, it lacks common keyboard shortcuts, so you’ll have to get used to navigating if you switch from another PDF reader.
Microsoft Edge Browser – the Default PDF Reader
If you have Windows 10 or higher, then you already have Microsoft Edge as your default browser and default PDF reader. In our opinion, it is a powerful software because it includes both a browser and a PDF reader. It opens PDF files really fast and without delay.
The website UI is also very clear and user-friendly. I have been using it for a long time and I am very satisfied with it. Although it does not offer extensive features, it is still able to handle all your PDF needs, such as reading, printing, and signing. It is an easy-to-use PDF reader that comes pre-installed with important features like searching documents, zooming, and bookmarking.
One of the best things about Microsoft Edge is that it can open PDFs in separate tabs, so you can easily switch between them while working on other tabs. Microsoft Edge is our personal favorite PDF reader, and we would recommend it to anyone.
Did This Help You Find Your Best Free PDF Reader?
We looked at 12 different PDF readers that are available for free. They all have their own unique features, but my personal favorite is the Microsoft Edge browser. It comes pre-installed on Windows 10 and has a clean and user-friendly UI.
If you are looking for advanced features, you should use Nitro Reader or PDF XChange Editor. However, if you are just looking for a simple PDF reader that is lightweight and fast, then Slim PDF or Sumatra PDF are good choices.
Do you have a favorite PDF reader that is not on this list? Let us know in the comments below.
FAQs About Best Free PDF Reader
Downloading a PDF reader is the first step to reading PDF files with Windows 10. Microsoft Edge, the default program, can open PDFs but offers only a few features. A reader designed specifically for viewing PDFs is the best option. You can download many PDF readers online for free, including Adobe Acrobat.
The Office 365 component Microsoft Word is a PDF editor that you can use to edit PDF files. You don't need to buy or set up any other extensions. In Office 365, Word acts as a PDF editor that you can use to edit PDF files.
Adobe Reader is the most popular PDF reader, but many users find it sluggish. An alternative is Foxit Reader, which is faster and offers more features. However, there are many other PDF readers out there, and which one is best for you depends on your specific needs. Try a few different ones to see which one you prefer.
Foxit's annual plans are cheaper than Adobe's. For example, Foxit PhantomPDF (or Foxit PDF Reader) annual plan costs $79.99, while Adobe Acrobat Pro is available for $179.88 and Adobe Acrobat Standard for $159.99 per year.
Adobe Reader offers more features than Foxit, such as the ability to annotate PDF files and fill out PDF forms. However, Foxit is a lighter program that could be faster and easier to use. For users who only need basic PDF viewing capabilities, Foxit might be the less expensive choice.
There are several free alternatives to Adobe Reader. And the best Adobe Reader alternative is SumatraPDF which is both free and open source. Other popular free alternatives to Adobe Reader include Foxit Reader, SlimPDF, MuPDF and more.
Yes, the Foxit PDF reader is free to download and use, but some of the features are locked behind the paywall, making it a freemium service. But most of the basic PDF reading features are free to use, making it one of the popular alternatives to Adobe Reader.
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If you work on or read PDF documents often—be it books, magazines, or other files, you'll surely have encountered occasions when some scanned copies were hard to read, likely due to smaller font sizes or darker backgrounds.
One way you can fix this is by turning up the brightness or contrast and adding some color, which will make it more legible and easier on the eyes. Let's take a closer look at some of the effective methods to darken the text in a PDF file and make it more readable.
1. Adjust Colors and Background Settings in Adobe Acrobat Reader
Acrobat Reader has built-in accessibility features to fine-tune background and text settings. This helps to enhance print quality as well as make it more readable and scannable. Here's how to do this:
- On your desktop device, install and open Adobe Reader.
- Go to Edit > Preferences, and click Accessibility from the available drop-down options in the Categories section. You can also use the Ctrl + K shortcut for the same.
- Check the box next to Replace Document Colors.
- Choose High-Contrast Colors, and select the one you want from the list of available drop-down options.
- Alternatively, you can check Custom colors. Select appropriate color combinations for Page Background (use lighter colors) and Document Text (use darker colors).
- When choosing the custom option, make sure you tick the checkboxes for Only change the color of black text or line art and Change the color of line art as well as text.
- When done, click OK to apply those changes to your document.
Download: Adobe Reader for Android | iOS | Web (Free, subscription available)
We also recommend using WebAIM's free contrast checker tool to analyze the contrast ratios in your documents and images.
2. Export to Microsoft Word
You can convert your PDF file into a Word document and apply different font types, sizes, and colors to Strengthen the legibility of text. To do this, follow the steps listed below:
- Convert the PDF file into a Word file by using an online conversion tool like SmallPDF.
- Once you've converted your PDF to .doc file format, you can open it in Word. The text should already be dark by default. If not, you can easily change the font to a darker style.
- Click the Home tab, and navigate to the Font section.
- To highlight text and make it readable, click on the pencil icon and select the desired color. Select the area you want, and tap anywhere on the screen.
- You can also play with font colors and sizes by choosing the arrow next to the font color.
- Tap the colored A-icon to apply shadow, gradient, and similar effects if necessary, to make it readable.
Download: Microsoft Word for Android | iOS | Web (Free)
3. Windows & Mac: Use the Default Print and Scan Settings
When you're printing out a document or file, you can adjust your printer's settings to darken the text in PDF files. You'll want to do this in cases where the prints are unclear or illegible. This can be done on Windows as well as on a Mac.
Increase Print Density For Windows
You can adjust the printer settings on your Windows device to increase or decrease the print density as required. Here's how:
- On your Windows desktop, tap the Start menu. Navigate to Settings > Printers and scanners > Devices in the left-hand menu.
- Choose your printer from the list of options and click Manage.
- A dialog box will pop up. Switch to Device Settings, and increase the print density from 1-5 as you wish to darken the text. Alternatively, you can refill your printer's ink to Strengthen the print output.
Apply Decrease Lightness Settings on Mac
You can apply similar settings when you're trying to print documents on your Mac. To do this, follow the steps below:
- Open the PDF document, and click on File > Export. A dialog box will pop up.
- In the Quartz filter section, select Lightness Decrease. You can now print your documents with the modified settings.
4. Use Free PDF Tools Online
As we mentioned earlier, you can make PDFs legible by altering text colors and adjusting font size.
Sejda is a free PDF editing software that allows you to change the font attributes of the document, or any other enhancements you may want. You will also find some useful functions that can help make your editing experience easier.
To get started, you'll need to upload your PDF document. Select the Text option in the upper-left corner. Once the fields become editable, select the desired area of text. It will bring up a mini-toolbar to adjust font sizes, colors, and more. You can then apply formatting changes as required.
5. Convert to Images and Apply Color Correction Tools
You can try and Strengthen the legibility of your PDF documents by adding some color correction features like brightness and contrast, highlights, and more, where possible. To do so, you'll need to convert your PDF files into images first. You can also use popular photo editing tools such as PhotoDirector.
To edit your images in PhotoDirector, open the app and navigate to Adjust in the bottom menu. You can see a variety of image enhancement effects—Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Sharpness, and more. Select the filter you want from the list and move the sliders across the range as necessary.
Close
You can also modify and change image backgrounds using Adobe Photoshop.
6. More Options: Use a Comprehensive PDF Editing Tool
PDFElement is yet another comprehensive editing tool that offers a suite of features that allow you to modify your default document settings—select fonts, backgrounds, and colors that suit your needs. You can sign up for a free trial and proceed with a paid subscription later. Here's how it works:
Apply Highlights to Your Texts
You can highlight a specific portion of text to add a touch of contrast. To do so, ââââopen the PDF editor, click Comment, tap the marker icon in the upper-left corner, and select the area you wish to highlight. Tap anywhere on the screen to apply the changes.
Use OCR Properties
You can select the OCR feature from the Tools section to scan and "recognize" text from your PDF, in case it's unclear. Here's how to do this:
- Open the PDF editor, and select the OCR Area or OCR option.
- Upload your document. Next, in the dialog box, select the Scan to editable text checkbox, and the language of your choice.
- Tap anywhere on the screen to bring up the mini toolbar. Click Edit on the right to bring up recognition.
- Once done, right-click the text and tap Properties.
- After that, you can change fonts, bold and italicize texts, select colors, and increase font sizes to make the text comprehensible.
You can also export your PDF into Word or PowerPoint format and make the necessary changes.
Improve the Quality and Legibility of PDF Documents
Whether you're simply hoping to add a little flair to your files or if you're looking for more substantial ways to make them more legible, the suggestions above should help.
Getting the balance right between legibility and style can take some trial and error, but we hope that this list will help smooth things out a bit. Further, most of these methods are free. Go ahead and deliver them a try.
Though it’s nearly 25 years old, the PDF may be more useful than ever in our increasingly multi-device, cross-platform world. Most of the time you can get by with a free PDF reader to review and comment on these files. But inevitably, particularly in a business setting, you’ll need to edit a PDF file and that usually requires upgrading to a premium PDF editor.
Historically, Adobe Acrobat has been the go-to option, but it has also been the most expensive, putting it out of reach for many individuals and small businesses. That has given rise to a whole host of alternatives with varying features and costs. We looked at several top PDF editors to see the features they offer and how they stack up against each other.
We even have a pick for best free PDF editor, because sometimes you just need the basics to help complete the job quickly. There are a surprising number of capable free services to choose from along with the more premium editors. Check out our recommendations below to see our takes on the best available options.
1. Adobe Acrobat Pro DC – Best overall
Pros
- Easily navigable tabbed interface
- Comprehensive PDF edting features
- Streamlined sharing feature makes it easier to fill documents and get signatures
Cons
- Rich feature set can be overwhelming for new users
Adobe Acrobat Pro DC remains the industry standard for good reason. Its rich combination of creation, editing, reviewing, and security features are what the best alternative options are built on, but we feel Acrobat still does it best. Its recent interface redesign makes it much easier to navigate its robust toolset than the nested menus of yore, and its cloud subscription option puts its advanced features within reach of more individuals and small businesses. See how it compares to the Adobe Acrobat Standard DC.)
Though many of its features are available in other, cheaper PDF editors, Acrobat is still the editor against which all others are judged.
2. Nitro PDF Pro – Best overall runner-up
Pros
- Microsoft Office ribbon-style interface
- Fully integrated with Nitro Cloud for easier collaboration
- Improved document conversion
Nitro PDF Pro’s now full-integration with Nitro Cloud—as part of Nitro Productivity Suite—makes collaborating on documents and securing signatures easier than ever. The ability to perform common editing tasks right in a browser rather than having to toggle over to the desktop program makes document workflows feel simpler and more seamless.
As far as alternatives to Adobe Acrobat go, Nitro PDF Pro sits near the top of the heap. Its recent upgrades have continued to help it narrow the gap at the top. If you’re looking for an Acrobat replacement, you won’t find many better.
3. Swifdoo – Best budget option
Pros
- Intuitive tabbed interface
- Comprehensive PDF editing features
- Affordable
Cons
- Windows only
- No mobile app
MSRP: $69 per year I $8 per month
Swifdoo might not have the name recognition of some of the other editors on this list, but it’s more than capable of holding its own in the crowded PDF editor market. Swifdoo provides all of the essential tools for managing PDF files without any of the fancy or hard-to-understand features. It allows users to jump right in to their toolset and get straight to editing with only what they need.
While Swifdoo’s features are great, they are also pretty standard fare among PDF editors. What makes Swifdoo stand out is its affordable price—it’s a great value for those who regularly edit PDFs and don’t want to pay out the nose. Swifdoo also offers a generous trial period so users can take it for a spin to see if it meets their needs before they commit to paying any money.
4. PDF Candy – Best free option
Pros
- Many advanced features
- OCR capability
- Very easy to use
Cons
- No Mac support
- Free trial only offers basic features
PDF Candy is the rare free PDF editor that offers a lot of the features you’d typically have to pay for. We’re talking scanning, multiple file-conversion options, and OCR functionality. All of this combines to make PDF Candy stand out among the multitude of lesser free PDF editors. It does have a bit of a wonky interface, but once you get the hang of it you’re off and running.
Unfortunately, while the free version has access to the expansive toolset of the paid version, you’re limited to one PDF task per hour. If you want unfettered access, you need to shell out $6 per month.
5. PDF Expert – Best full-featured editor for Apple devices
Pros
- Syncs across Mac, iPhone, and iPad
- Comprehensive editing and annotation tools
- Simple, intuitive interface
Cons
- Requires annual payment
- Lifetime license enables use on Mac only
PDF Expert is an excellent editor that fits seamlessly into the Apple ecosystem, making it our pick for Macs, iPads, and iPhone users.
While macOS does include a PDF editor in its Preview app, iOS devices don’t have a native PDF editor and PDF Expert fills that gap nicely. It has a clean and intuitive interface and offers a plethora of easy-to-use editing options such as page management, converting scanned files into editable documents, and conversion to other file formats, among other things. The pricing plan is also considerably cheaper than most of the other top picks, meaning this is a no-brainer for Apple users.
6. Apple Preview PDF editor – Best free option for Mac users
Pros
- Full set of PDF markup tools
- Supports form filling
- PDFs can be protected with passwords, encryption, and permission controls
Cons
- Limited native sharing options
- Only available to Mac users
MSRP: Built into macOS
Mac users needn’t look beyond the macOS for their PDF editing needs, since there is a full set of PDF markup tools already available at their disposal in Apple Preview. It has the chops to handle most personal and business PDF editing needs, including encryption, password protection, and permissions for files.
Apple Preview’s PDF features and capabilities are impressive and should be all you need for most common editing tasks. The drawback, of course, is that only Mac users can take advantage of them.
7. pdfFiller – Best web-based editor
Pros
- Intuitive web-based interface
- Robust security options
- Lots of business-ready capabilities
Cons
- Business features won’t be needed by some users
- Requires annual commitment to get best value
MSRP: $20 a month/$96 a year
pdfFiller is a browser-based PDF editor that allows you do to just about everything—editing, securing, sharing, and storing PDF files—all from its intuitive and simple web interface. It has a surprisingly deep set of features for both personal and business use.
While incredibly versatile, not all of pdfFiller’s business features will suit everyone. Fortunately, there are three subscription tiers which gives users a way to meet their editing needs without paying extra for unnecessary features.
A word about online PDF editors
Why spend a chunk of change on a desktop editor when free online PDF editors abound? The simple answer is because you get what you pay for. Generally, free online editors will let you add text and comments, merge and split documents, and convert files to and from PDF. With rare exception, however, they won’t let you edit existing text and many have file-size and page-volume restrictions. And a lot of them will watermark your edited document. For these reasons, web PDF editors are best reserved for simple, fast editing jobs. Call in these big dogs for anything more demanding.
What to look for in a PDF editor
- Create, convert, and export PDFs: The most fundamental function of a PDF editor is to make PDFs, either from scratch, scanned hard copies, or by converting digital documents. A good PDF editor should be able to transform a variety of file types—from Microsoft Office formats to images to HTML—and do so seamlessly, preserving the original formatting. It should also include OCR technology to make the PDF text searchable and editable. Likewise, a good PDF editor must be able to export PDFs into other editable formats such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, HTML, or plain text, maintaining the original files hyperlinks, images, and other elements.
- Content editing: Another bit of magic that PDF editors unlock is the ability to modify text; insert, resize, and move images; and reorganize pages in the PDF. A good one will perform these tasks as easily as in a text document or slide deck, allowing in-line editing, dragging-and dropping graphics, and adding or removing hyperlinks.
- Review and annotate: A good PDF editor should also let you or anyone else using it add comments and other annotations to PDF files during review. It should have tools to mark up both text documents and graphic-heavy files like webpages. Common options include sticky notes, callout boxes, highlighting, freehand drawing tools, and stamps with messages like “approved,” “revised,” and “confidential.”
- Security: All businesses deal with documents containing sensitive data. Look for a PDF editor that includes security features that allow access for authorized eyes only. Good options will usually offer several levels of security, including password protection, permissions setting, and content redaction, which “blacks out” selected text and images. Most PDF editors will also offer one or more ways to electronically sign documents.
- Mobile support: While deep PDF editing is best done on a desktop, it’s nice to be able to review and annotate files when you’re out and about. While PDFs can typically be reviewed in any PDF reader or editor, regardless of which one they were created in, consider looking for an editor that has a dedicated mobile app, is optimized for mobile devices, or allows cloud access to features through a mobile browser.
One of the great things about a PDF is that it can be read and edited in any PDF program regardless of which one it was created in. So beyond the features outlined here, let your personal preferences guide you in making your decision.
FAQ
1.
What is the difference between a PDF document and a PDF form?
While there are a number of different types of PDF file formats, they all fall under the umbrella term of PDF documents. A PDF form is a type of PDF document that has editable form fields a user can fill out. Typically, parts of the document are static and can’t be changed in a PDF form. These usually include questions and instructions for those who end up filling out the form later on. In a PDF form, the content fields a user fills out are open to editing and can offer a list of possible answer options or can be written in freely.
2.
Are PDF documents and Word files different?
Yes. They are two entirely different document formats. While you can export from one file format to another, they are not the same. Word file formats are usually used for word processing, editing, and making changes to text. PDF documents on the other hand, are most often utilized for viewing, sharing, and printing documents. Additionally, Word files are read and write and contain some version of the “.doc” file format. Whereas PDF files are typically read-only and contain the “.pdf” file format.
3.
Can you protect PDF documents from being edited by other people?
Yes. If you have a PDF document which you do not want anyone else to be able to edit, you can protect the file. You can do this by opening the file in Acrobat, clicking Tools > Protect. Then you have a few options as to whether you want to simply restrict editing with a password, or if you want to encrypt the file for further safety. Once you choose how you want to protect the PDF document, you can set a password and save.
Adobe Acrobat is a professional PDF editing and viewing program developed by Adobe. They have been in the market for many years which a huge user base around the world. You can view, create, edit, print, and manage PDFs using Adobe Acrobat. To use Adobe Acrobat, you need to subscribe to it by paying monthly or annually. You can only get Acrobat Reader DC as freeware. Some users of Adobe Acrobat are seeing a blank screen while they try to save PDF files. In this guide, we have a few solutions to fix when Adobe Acrobat Save As screen is blank.
If you see a white blank screen when you try to use Save As option on Adobe Acrobat, the following methods can help you fix it.
- Check your internet connection
- Update Adobe Acrobat
- Disable Show online storage when saving the files
- Reinstall Adobe Acrobat
Let’s get into the details of each method and fix the issue.
1] Check your internet connection
Adobe Acrobat works on the cloud as well as locally. If you are working on documents from the cloud and see a white blank screen, you need to check your internet connection. If there is any issue with the internet connection, it will not load. Then, you will see only a white blank screen. Run a speed test using the online tools and see if your internet connection is working fine.
Read: Fix Network & Internet connection problems in Windows
2] Update Adobe Acrobat
The error might also have been caused by a bug in the previous update or a corrupted file. You need to update Adobe Acrobat to the latest version to fix it. Use the Help option in the Adobe Acrobat menu and select Check for Updates to find new updates and install them.
Read: Adobe Acrobat Reader DC not showing bookmarks in Windows PC
3] Disable Show online storage when saving the files
Since you are working on a cloud-based program, you need to disable Show online storage when saving the files options if you don’t want to save them online. You can enable or disable it at any time you want. It will fix the Save as blank screen issue on Adobe Acrobat.
To disable Show online storage when saving the files,
- Click on Edit in the menu and select Preferences.
- Select General tab
- You will see various options under Basic Tools. Uncheck the button beside Show online storage when saving the files
- If you want you can also uncheck the button beside Show online storage when opening files to disable storage options completely. Click OK to save the changes.
This should fix Save As blanks screen issue on Adobe Acrobat.
4] Reinstall Adobe Acrobat
If none of the above methods can fix the issue, you need to reinstall Adobe Acrobat. For that, you need to uninstall the program using the Start menu or from the Installed apps in the Settings app. Then, download Adobe Acrobat from Adobe and install it on your PC.
These are the different ways using which you can use when you see Adobe Acrobat Save as screen blank.
Read: Fix Adobe CEF Helper High Memory or CPU usage
Why is my save as screen blank on Adobe?
Adobe works on the cloud as well as locally. When the files you are working on are from the cloud and you have a bad internet connection, you might see a screen blank. The bugs in the previous updates can also cause it. You need to check the internet connection, disable online file options in the Preferences, and update Adobe Acrobat to the latest version to fix the issue.
Why is my Adobe Acrobat not saving?
Make sure your internet is working fine and see if the file is from a local disk or from the cloud. Then, go to Preferences from the Edit menu and change the storage settings. Disable Show online storage when saving the files in the preferences to save them locally.
Why is my PDF saving as blank?
If your PDF is saved as blank, there might be corruption occurring with the file. The plugins of the software you are using to save PDFs might be causing it, or the file is not saved fully due to a bad internet connection. You need to see if they are working fine and save the PDF again.
Related read: Adobe Acrobat Reader DC has stopped working in Windows.
Today’s economy is digital-first and hyper-personal. It rewards brands that deliver exceptional customer experiences at scale. But success is still not a guarantee – customers expect brands to drive delightful experiences with a deeper understanding of their requirements. In response, what businesses need now is leaders who understand the pulse of this discerning consumer, are focused on building products and solutions that solve for the consumers’ needs and most importantly build personalization as an integral part of their suite of solutions and products.
Recently organised in Mumbai, Adobe’s Experience Makers LIVE event saw leaders from some of India’s biggest brands convene to discuss how personalisation has become core to unlocking the future of customer experiences.
“In today’s digital economy, personalisation has emerged as a glue that keeps the relationship between a brand and the consumer intact. At the core of every successful business today lies a sharp digital strategy that not only ensures conversion but translate to long term loyalty. As leaders in the Customer Experience category – Adobe is partnering with some of India’s biggest brands to enable their digital transformation and personalization journeys”, said Prativa Mohapatra - Vice President & Managing Director, Adobe India.
Anindita Das Veluri, Director - Marketing, Adobe India added, “Today, customers live in the moment, and they expect brands to do the same. Brands need to humanise their interaction with their customers which means they need to understand context, and marry that with deep historical knowledge about the customer, predict the customers wants and delight them with an experience by using that data within that moment- while respecting their need for privacy. Whether a business is far along its personalisation journey or just getting started, Adobe has the building blocks it needs to transform the relationships you build with each customer”.
The event saw leaders from Adobe as well as industry luminaries from some of India’s biggest brands take the stage to discuss the present and future of personalisation – spanning across real time audiences and insights, content supply chain strategies, contextual customer journeys, digital commerce and more.
Key speakers included Ranjani Krishnaswamy, General Manager Marketing, Titan Company Limited; Anjali Gupta, Head of Marketing, Sify Technologies; Shoorveer Singh Shekhawat, Head of Marketing, Video Banking and TFx initiatives at AU Small Finance Bank; Francis Rodrigues, SVP, E-Commerce & Digital Marketing HDFC Life; Vishal Bhatia, CIO, Kotak Cherry; Tushna Marolia, Strategy Manager India, Mondelēz International; Praneeth Obilisetty, Associate General Manager- Digital, CX and E-commerce, Asian Paints and Ashutosh Inamdar, Senior General Manager, Strategy Cell, Lupin.
The best PDF editors allow you to get even more done with PDF files. However, the real question is which PDF editor is best suited to your needs and workflow. Despite their appearance, Portable Document Format files can actually be changed in the same way that you can alter a text document with the right software. The best PDF editors let you open up almost any PDF file so that you can edit, alter, annotate, sign or convert it to other popular file formats including Microsoft Word.
The PDF format was first developed by Adobe co-founder Dr. John Warnock back in the early 90s. He designed it in such a way that it could digitally capture the high-quality design and layouts of printed pages in magazines and newspapers.
While they are often presented as finished documents, PDF files can be changed and altered. The best PDF editors can also recognize text in scanned documents, let you edit both text and images and make annotations so that someone else can update the original document.
If you regularly work with PDF files as part of your job or in your free time then one of the best PDF editors will make things even easier for you. We’ve tested more than a half-dozen different options and these are the best ones for altering text, changing images and annotating PDF files. There are also both free and paid options for Windows and Mac that allow you to work on PDFs like a pro on either operating system.
The best PDF editors you can buy today
Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
You'd expect Adobe Acrobat Pro DC to be great because it comes from Adobe, the birthplace of the portable document format. To some extent, this full-service PDF-editing application meets that expectation.
Acrobat Pro DC offers a complete set of PDF-editing tools, and it even lets you edit scanned documents. Acrobat DC's OCR engine can convert scanned documents to text, which you can then search through and change.
But Acrobat doesn't offer to convert an entire document the moment you open it. Instead, the app waits for you to begin using the Pro DC's edit tools, recognizing and converting the pages as you select them for editing. Changing text in an OCR'd document was simple and the results looked great.
It's also easy to edit images and text in documents you haven't scanned. I was able to make changes to everything with zero issues.
What I don't like about Acrobat Pro DC is the interface. It feels like a half-realized demo of what the app could be. Editing tools surround your document, and the UI feels disorganized, offering few options for customization.
Because it's designed to work on both Macs and PCs, Acrobat Pro DC looks like it belongs in neither environment. This doesn't make this program bad at what it's supposed to do; it just makes you feel like you're working outside your chosen OS.
Our new pick for the best free PDF editor is PDF Candy, because it offers something many free options do not — an OCR feature for scanning text. You can't edit OCR'd text in this web-based PDF editor, but you are able to upload PDF files and extract text and create a text document, RTF file, or Word document in both .doc and .docx formats.
You can choose from 44 tools to create or convert PDF files. It's also easy to rearrange pages within a document, add watermarks, protect PDF files with passcodes, edit metadata within a PDF file, split or add pages to documents, and extract images. genuine text editing is pretty limited, the trade-off you make to enjoy a fairly feature-rich free PDF editor.
Once you've made your edits in PDF Candy, you can download the edited document or upload a new document to work on. PDF Candy keeps all of your documents in a queue so you can download them all at once after you've finished making changes to them.
PDFescape is a basic, web-based PDF-editing and -annotation program you can use for free to work on PDF documents that are smaller than either 10MB or 100 pages, whichever is greater. (PDFescape used to limit you to 50 pages, so the higher limit is a welcome change.) If you need to edit larger files, you can upgrade to a premium account for $36 a year. There's also an "ultimate" plan for $72 per year.
Accessible through any modern web browser, PDFescape offers no OCR capabilities like PDF Candy does. But PDFescape's annotation tools are easy to use. You'll find a pretty solid set of standard annotation tools that can easily add, highlight and strike through text; insert notes; and otherwise mark up the pages of your PDF file. Using the web app's insert tools, you can also add new images and text to a document, white-out text, and add web links and form fields.
PDFescape does have some major limitations in adding new text. Because there are no OCR capabilities, you can't make changes to existing text; you're limited to adding new text to an existing document. Additionally, the app has very limited font options, as it doesn't use any of your computer's fonts. So you're limited to Arial, Courier New, Times New Roman, Verdana and a Signature font for signing documents.
Apple's Preview app is built-in to the macOS and offers a minimalist but valuable set of tools for marking up any PDF file. You won't find full-on PDF editing here. But if you need a basic set of tools for highlighting or redacting text, making notes, or adding comments to a document, you won't likely need much more than what's already available on your Mac.
Preview's markup tools are hidden when you first open a PDF document. To see them, you'll have to look for the small pencil icon that appears near the Spotlight search bar at the top of your PDF document's toolbar. Clicking this reveals a small set of tools you can use to select text and add objects, text or notes to your document.
The app's standout feature is a signature tool you can use to store a signature you create using your trackpad or scan using your Mac's iSight camera. You can then easily add that signature to a document by clicking Preview's Signature tool. Simple and easy to use once you set it up, Preview's signing feature will prove its usefulness every time a digital document requires your John Hancock.
You can access all of Preview's editing tools without opening Preview, as long as you're running macOS 10.14 Mojave or later. Just use QuickLook to view a PDF, then turn to the Markup button in that mode.
Readdle's macOS-only PDF Expert is a popular PDF-editing tool that allows you to make changes to text in existing PDF documents, including by removing and replacing images, updating text, and adding text of your own. PDF Expert lacks OCR capabilities, so if you want to edit text in scanned documents, you'll need to look beyond this program.
Of all the apps I tested, PDF Expert has the cleanest interface and therefore was the most pleasant to use. Two tabs appear at the top of the screen: Annotate and Edit. Clicking one of them gives you an appropriate selection of tools to perform either annotation or editing tasks.
PDF Expert's editing tools are flawless. Click text in your PDF, and tools for editing text will slide out so you can make changes. Select an image, and tools for changing the image appear. You can move selected text anywhere on the page you want or remove it altogether.
PDF Expert struggles with large documents; otherwise, this would have been my top pick for both macOS and Windows. But every time I attempted to open my nearly 450-page test file, PDF Expert hung. Until this program behaves more dependably, look elsewhere if you tend to work with larger documents.
Wondershare's PDFelement Pro is a full-featured PDF editor with an OCR engine for recognizing scanned text and a standard set of tools. With those, you can fill in forms, annotate documents, create and add signatures, and edit images within a document.
PDFelement had no problem opening anything I threw at it, including scanned documents, large files and image-heavy PDFs. Once documents are open, PDFelement Pro offers a fairly simple interface, with a set of tools on the left side of your document that are easy to figure out. Just select a tool, and you can go to work making changes to the file.
Editing images, adding signatures and using annotations in the application all worked as planned, but I did experience some odd behaviors when I was editing or adding text using PDFelement Pro. In particular, when I was editing existing text in a document, the application wanted to make the text bold and would not allow me to change the content back to regular text. Also, when I added new text boxes, my own text did not display normally; the program always added a space after I typed an apostrophe. And the program constantly played my Mac's system beep as I typed. That's both annoying and not optimal.
Sejda is a web-based PDF-editing application that works on any OS that has a modern web browser. A desktop version converts that web interface into something that runs on your computer.
You can use a free version of Sejda, but it limits the number of daily tasks you can perform and the size of the documents you can access.
To get the most out of the program, you can buy an annual license for both the web and desktop versions for $63. A perpetual license for the desktop version is a one-time payment of $126, but it doesn't deliver you access to future updates or the web version. You can also buy a weekly pass for both versions for $8 if you've got a one-time project that requires Sejda.
Sejda has no OCR engine, so you can't use this app to edit PDF files created from scanned documents. You can edit only PDF files that already have selectable text.
To edit your PDF file, you upload it to the Sejda website and then use the toolbar at the top of the page to choose your tools. You'll find tools for editing text, adding links, adding form fields and images, and signing or annotating your document. All of Sejda's tools are rudimentary at best.
The app breaks every line of text in your document into a single text entry, so you can't edit entire paragraphs of text. When you do edit existing text, remnants of the previous text often get left behind in the document. Sejda will let you add new images to a document, but you can't use the app to edit or remove existing images.
Sejda isn't a great app, but it works in a pinch when you need to make a quick change to an existing PDF document and you have no other tools at hand.
How to choose the best PDF editor for you
The first question you should ask yourself when choosing a PDF editor is what you plan to do with it. If it’s just to mark up documents and add digital signatures, PDF annotation software will better suit your needs.
As there are many well-featured PDF annotation programs that are available for free, you can save yourself some money. For instance, as we mentioned, Mac users can save even more time since the Preview app that ships with Apple’s computers includes markup and signature tools.
It also doesn’t cost much, or even anything at all, to create a PDF. You can do so from a Word document or a web page, and also convert a PDF to a Word doc or a JPEG.
However, if you’re in the market for a full-fledged PDF editor that lets you manipulate text and create documents, consider what kinds of features you’ll need for PDF editing. Applications with good OCR capabilities will likely cost more but if you don’t need OCR, you may be able to make do with a free PDF editor.
While PDF editors are great for making changes or notes to documents, they’re not necessary if you simply want to view and read a PDF. For that, check out our list of the best PDF readers you can download.
How we test PDF editors
We looked at both PDF editors and applications used for making annotations in PDFs. Every PDF editor can also annotate documents but dedicated PDF-annotation tools aren’t actually designed to make changes to any of the original content in a PDF document.
While testing each of these applications, we used a few different types of documents including large, text-heavy files, documents with a mix of formatted images and text and simple documents with text and images inserted into the document in a linear fashion. We tested features like text recognition (when supported) and we tried making changes to text, replacing and adding images and adding annotations.
