FCBA BCS Foundation Certificate in Business Analysis
Exam ID : FCBA
Exam Title : BCS Foundation Certificate in Business(R) Analysis (ISEB)
Questions : 40
Passing Marks : 26 (65%)
Duration : 60 min.
Exam Type : Multiple Choice
The format for the examination is a one hour multiple-choice examination consisting of 40 questions. The examination is closed book (no materials can be taken into the examination room). The pass mark is 26/40 (65%).
Take your first step on your business analysis career path by attaining a certification that employers around the world respect and value
Understand how to identify and evaluate options for improving your business
Develop skills and knowledge to support successful business change programmes within your organisation
Attain one of the four modules you need to gain the International Diploma in Business Analysis
- What is Business Analysis (2.5%)
- The Competencies of a Business Analyst (2.5%)
- Strategy Analysis (7.5%)
- The Business Analysis Process Model (5%)
- Investigation techniques (15%)
- Stakeholder Analysis and Management (10%)
- Modelling Business Processes (10%)
- Defining the solution (5%)
- Making a Business and Financial Case (10%)
- Establishing the Requirements (7.5%)
- Documenting and Managing Requirements (7.5%)
- Modelling Requirements (7.5%)
- Delivering the Requirements (5%)
- Delivering the Business Solution (5%)
Candidates should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of business analysis principles and techniques. Key areas are:
the role and competencies of a business analyst
strategy analysis
business system and business process modelling
stakeholder analysis
investigation and modelling techniques
requirements engineering
business case development
This certification provides a foundation for the range of specialist BCS modular certificates in the areas of Business Analysis, IS Consultancy and Business Change. The certification can also be used as the knowledge-based specialist module for the Diploma in Business Analysis. In addition, the certification provides foundation-level Business Analysis knowledge for specialists in other disciplines, particularly Project Managers and System Developers.
The syllabus is based on the BCS publication Business Analysis, 3rd edition, and it is recommended that this text is studied by those preparing to take this examination. The headings listed in the syllabus relate to the relevant chapter headings, section headings and text included in this publication.
Syllabus
1. What is Business Analysis (2.5%)
1.1 The origins of business analysis
1.2 The development of business analysis
The impact of outsourcing
Competitive advantage of using IT
Successful business change
The importance of the business analyst
Business analysts as internal consultants
1.3 The scope of business analysis work
The range of analysis activities
Strategic analysis and definition
IT systems analysis
Business analysis
1.4 Taking a holistic approach
1.5 The role and responsibilities of a business analyst
Definition of the business analyst role
Further aspects of the business analyst role 2. The Competencies of a Business Analyst (2.5%)
2.1 Personal qualities
2.2 Business knowledge
2.3 Professional techniques
2.4 The development of competencies
3. Strategy Analysis (7.5%)
3.1 The context for strategy
3.2 The definition of strategy (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington 2008)
3.3 Strategy development
3.4 External environment analysis
PESTLE analysis
Porters five forces model
3.5 Internal environment analysis
MOST analysis
Resource Audit
Boston Box
3.6 SWOT analysis
3.7 Executing strategy
The McKinsey 7-S model
The Balanced Business Scorecard
Critical Success Factors and Key Performance Indicators
4. The Business Analysis Process Model (5%)
4.1 An approach to problem-solving
4.2 Stages of the business analysis process model
Investigate the situation
Consider the perspectives
Analyse the needs
Evaluate the options
Define the requirements
4.3 Objectives of the process model stages
4.4 Procedure for each process model stage
4.5 Techniques used within each process model stage
5. Investigation techniques (15%)
5.1 Interviews
Advantages and disadvantages of interviewing
Preparing for interviewing
Conducting the interview
Following up the interview
5.2 Observation
Advantages and disadvantages of observation
Formal observation
Protocol analysis
Shadowing
Ethnographic studies
5.3 Workshops
Advantages and disadvantages of workshops
Preparing for the workshop
Facilitating the workshop
Techniques
Following the workshop
5.4 Scenarios
Advantages and disadvantages of scenarios
Process for developing scenarios
Documenting scenarios
5.5 Prototyping
Advantages and disadvantages of prototyping
5.6 Quantitative approaches
Surveys or Questionnaires
Special Purpose Records
Activity Sampling
Document Analysis
5.7 Documenting the current situation
Rich Pictures
Mind Maps
6. Stakeholder Analysis and Management (10%)
6.1 Stakeholder categories and identification
Customers
Partners
Suppliers
Competitors
Regulators
Owners
Employees
Managers
6.2 Analysing stakeholders
The Power/Interest Grid
6.3 Stakeholder management strategies
No or low interest and no or low power (or influence)
Some or high interest but no or low power (or influence)
No or low to high interest but some power (or influence)
No or low interest but high power (or influence)
Some interest and high power (or influence)
High interest and high power (or influence)
6.4 Managing stakeholders
Stakeholder plan/assessment
6.5 Understanding stakeholder perspectives
Soft Systems Methodology
Analysing the perspectives
CATWOE
6.6 Business activity models
Creating a business activity model
Types of activities – Plan, Enable, Do, Monitor, Control
Developing a consensus model
7. Modelling Business Processes (10%)
7.1 Organisational context
Functional view of an organisation
7.2 An alternative view of an organisation
7.3 The organisational view of business processes
7.4 Value propositions
7.5 Process models
Business events
Developing the business process model
7.6 Analysing the as-is process model
7.7 Improving business processes (to-be business process)
Business rules
Simplify the process
Remove bottlenecks
Change the sequence of tasks
Redefine process boundary
Automate the processing
Redesign the process
8. Defining the solution (5%)
8.1 Gap analysis
Identifying areas of concern
Framework for gap analysis (elements of POPIT model)
Formulating options
8.2 Introduction to Business Architecture
8.3 Definition of Business Architecture
8.4 Business Architecture techniques
Definition of a capability model
Definition of a value stream
9. Making a Business and Financial Case (10%)
9.1 The business case in the project lifecycle
9.2 Identifying options
9.3 Assessing project feasibility
Business feasibility
Technical feasibility
Financial feasibility
9.4 Structure of a business case
Contents of a business case
Categories of costs and benefits
Impact assessment
Risk assessment
9.5 Investment appraisal
Payback
Discounted cash flow and Internal rate of return
10. Establishing the Requirements (7.5%)
10.1 A framework for requirements engineering
10.2 Actors in requirements engineering
The business representatives
The project team
10.3 Requirements elicitation
Tacit and explicit knowledge
Requirements elicitation techniques
10.4 Requirements analysis
Requirements filters
SMART requirements
10.5 Requirements validation
11. Documenting and Managing Requirements (7.5%)
11.1 The requirements document
Structure
Content of the requirements document
11.2 The requirements catalogue
Types of requirements; general, technical, functional and non-functional
Hierarchy of requirements
Documenting a requirement
11.3 Managing requirements
Elements of requirements management 12. Modelling Requirements (7.5%)
12.1 Modelling system functions
Use case diagrams
12.2 Modelling system data
Entity Relationship Diagrams
o Entities, attributes and relationships
o Types of relationships
Class Models
o Objects and classes
o Attributes
o Associations
13. Delivering the Requirements (5%)
13.1 Delivering the solution
13.2 Context
13.3 Lifecycles
The waterfall lifecycle
The ‘V model lifecycle
Incremental lifecycle
Iterative systems development lifecycle
14. Delivering the Business Solution (5%)
14.1 BA role in the business change lifecycle
14.2 Design stage
Information and Technology
o Design
o Development
o Testing
14.3 Implementation stage
SARAH model
14.4 Realisation stage
Contents of the benefits plan
BCS Foundation Certificate in Business Analysis ISEB Certificate Free PDF
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ISEB
FCBA
BCS Foundation Certificate in Business(R) Analysis
https://killexams.com/pass4sure/exam-detail/FCBA Question: 142
Which of the following statements is true?
A. Shadowing is an effective way of preparing test scripts for user acceptance.
B. Rich pictures and mind maps are used to document the requirements for the IT
system.
C. Interviews are effective in building a consensus view and securing agreement
from a diverse group.
D. Ethnographic Studies are concerned with the long term observation of the
business environment. Answer: D Question: 143
The following is a list of statements concerning investigation techniques.
a. Questionnaires are an effective way of developing rapport with the business
users. b. Workshops are an effective way of obtaining user buy-in and acceptance.
c. Protocol analysis involves following a user for a period to find out what they do.
d. Scenarios can be used as an effective basis for the development of prototypes.
Which of the following is correct?
A. Statements a and c are incorrect, statements b and d are correct.
B. Statements a and d are incorrect, statements b and c are correct
C. Statements b and c are incorrect, statements a and d are correct.
D. Statements c and d are incorrect, statements a and b are correct. Answer: A Question: 144
A business case for a project claims that the new system will provide managers with
more time to think creatively about strategic issues. What would this be classified
as in a cost- benefit analysis?
A. An intangible cost.
B. A tangible benefit.
C. An intangible benefit.
D. A tangible cost.
45 Answer: C Question: 145
Which of the following BEST describes the cause of a bottleneck in a business
process?
A. A step where one actor passes the process to another actor.
B. A mismatch between the capacities of related process steps.
C. An unnecessary step or steps in a sequence of process steps.
D. A number of related steps that are carried out by different actors. Answer: B Question: 146
Which of the following diagrams explicitly shows the sequence of tasks?
A. A swim-lane diagram.
B. A use case diagram.
C. A business activity model.
D. A class model. Answer: A Question: 147
Which of the following BEST describes the term value proposition?
A. The net present value of a proposed project.
B. The value that a product or service offers to customers.
C. The proposed value of benefits in a cost-benefit analysis.
D. The value of the Internal Rate of Return of a project. Answer: B Question: 148
46
Which of the following is an advantage to the host organisation of using an
internal consultant to conduct a business analysis project?
A. They will have a broad business perspective.
B. They will be familiar with the host organisation.
C. They will only be paid when they are needed.
D. They will have a dispassionate view of the host organisation. Answer: B Question: 149
The following is a list of statements about stakeholders and stakeholder
management. a. A customer can be considered as a stakeholder in a project.
b. A supplier can be considered as a stakeholder in a project.
c. Stakeholders' positions do not remain static during the life of the project. d.
Communication must not be tailored to each stakeholder in the project. Which of
the following is correct?
A. Statements a, b and c are correct, statement d is incorrect.
B. All four statements are correct.
C. Statements a and c are correct, statements b and d are incorrect.
D. Statements b and c are correct, statements a and d are incorrect. Answer: A Question: 150
Which of the following statements about business activity models (BAM) is
correct?
A. A BAM flowcharts the sequence of business events.
B. A BAM will show who carries out business activities.
C. A BAM is a model of the organisation s processes.
D. A BAM will be defined for each business perspective. Answer: D Question: 151
47
The senior managers of an organisation recognise that they employ
knowledgeable, committed staff. Under which category of a SWOT will this be
recorded?
A. Weaknesses,
B. Opportunities.
C. Threats.
D. Strengths. Answer: D Question: 152
Which of the following represents the total cash flows of an investment, over a
period of time, adjusted to reflect the time value of money?
A. The Internal Rate of Return.
B. The Time to Payback.
C. The Net Present Value.
D. The Return on Investment. Answer: C Question: 153
A business analyst wishes to show that a company wants to store information about
different types of product. Some attributes are common to every product (for
example; product name) but other attributes only apply to certain product types. For
example, product material only applies to accessory products. Which of the
following constructs could the business analyst use to represent this on a class
model?
A. An association class.
B. A many-to-many multiplicity.
C. A generalisation structure.
D. An <> structure. Answer: C
48 Question: 154
Which of the following would BEST be managed with the "keep satisfied"
stakeholder management strategy?
A. Those with high power/influence and no interest in the project.
B. Those with high power/influence and some interest in the project.
C. Those with some power/influence and high interest in the project.
D. Those with some power/influence and some interest in the project. Answer: B Question: 155
Which of the following would be an appropriate name for a use case that allows a
project manager to allocate resources to a project?
A. Assign resources.
B. Resource.
C. Project Manager.
D. Project. Answer: A Question: 156
Which of the following lists includes only activities that are defined as support
activities in the value chain?
A. Firm infrastructure, service, marketing and sales.
B. Inbound logistics, outbound logistics, operations.
C. Procurement, technology development, human resource management.
D. Service, procurement, firm infrastructure. Answer: C Question: 157
Given the cashflows below, which of the following is correct?
49
A. The project pays back in year 4 of the project.
B. The project does not pay back within the four year period.
C. The project pays back in year 2 of the project.
D. The project pays back in year 3 of the project. Answer: B Question: 158
The required competencies of a business analyst are classified into three categories.
Which of the following is one of these three categories?
A. Management Qualities.
B. Business Knowledge.
C. IT Skills
D. Project Skills. Answer: B Question: 159
When should benefits realisation be carried out?
A. Immediately at the end of the project.
B. At the beginning of the project.
C. At the end of the finalised feasibility study.
D. Months or years after the end of the project. Answer: D Question: 160
50
Which of the following statement is TRUE about the process view of an
organisation?
A. It focuses on the customer of the organisation.
B. It focuses solely on the internal view of the organisation.
C. It focuses on the functions of an organisation.
D. It focuses on the organisational structure. Answer: A
51
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https://killexams.com/exam_list/ISEBFree PDF to Word Converters for Windows PC
PDF to Word is one of the most frequently used search terms concerning PDFs; the reason is; that everybody wants to edit a PDF in a familiar format, and it is complicated to edit on a PDF. When people try to make changes in PDF files, they typically respond in two ways: they will look for a program that will allow them to edit the document directly, or they will attempt to convert the PDF to another file. There are simple online solutions if PDF editors don’t suit your needs. This article will cover the most popular and easy PDF-to-Word converters available online for free.
Here is the list of some of the best PDF to Word Converters For Windows PC. Since these are free services, you might face a limit on the PDF size. Hence it is recommended to use it for small files.
Adobe website
Microsoft Word
PDF to Doc
Zamzar
Small PDF
Try each to find out what works best for you, then choose one. Some tools may offer better formatting, while others may offer a larger file size.
1] Adobe website
Adobe Acrobat online converter is a quick and simple tool to convert a PDF file into a Word document. Drag and drop your PDF, and your Word document should be ready for download. Acrobat quickly converts PDF files to DOCX file format while keeping the format of the original documents. You can check out their PDF to Word converter in any web browser.
To convert a PDF file into a Microsoft Word document, follow these simple steps:
Drag the PDF into the drop point or select a file.
Choose the PDF that you wish to convert to a DOCX file.
Observe as Acrobat immediately converts the File from a PDF to a Word document.
Download the Word document after conversion.
2] Microsoft Word
Microsoft has a free PDF conversion feature that lets you save your documents in PDF format. So, you can open a PDF in Word to make the necessary edits required for your document. PDFs that are primarily text-based work best for this. Word won’t format PDFs of book chapters or documents that appear to be copies of manuscripts. Check out the following steps to edit PDF in Word.
Open Word and select Open on the left pane.
Find the PDF file you want to edit and press Open. Press OK to change your File into a Word document.
Do the required changes in the document. Go to File> Click Save.
Select your destination folder. Click on the drop-down box Save as type and choose PDF from the given list. Click Save.
In the converted document, some details may change—for example, line breaks or page breaks.
3] PDF to Doc
PDF to DOC converter enables you to save a PDF file as an editable document in Microsoft Word DOC format. It ensures better quality when compared to other tools. Both college students and professionals can easily use to tool to make edits. The following steps will guide you on uploading and converting a PDF to a Word document.
As given in the image, go to the UPLOAD FILES button.
You can select up to 20 PDF files you want to convert and wait for the conversion process to get over.
Download the outputs, one File at a time or all of them simultaneously in a ZIP file by using the obtain ALL option.
4] Zamzar
Zamzar is another converter that can easily convert images or documents. Using Zamzar, it is possible to convert PDF files to a variety of other formats: PDF to BMP (Windows bitmap), PDF to CSV (Comma Separated Values), PDF to DWG (AutoCAD Drawing Database), etc. One of the methods listed below makes it simple to convert your files:
By using the converting tool found on their homepage.
By using their desktop application.
By utilizing their email conversions service.
Follow the steps below to convert the file using Zamzar:
Please select the file you wish to convert from wherever it is located on your computer by clicking the Add Files button in the first step of the conversion program.
In the second step, choose a format from the drop-down menu, i.e., WORD
Select Convert Now, which is Step 3.
Once your file has been converted, you can obtain it from our website. You can optionally deliver an email address in Step 3 if you prefer to get a link to your converted file.
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Small PDF is yet another converter that easily converts PDFs to Word docs. You can quickly convert PDF to Word with a few clicks and drag. There is no file size restriction, and using their service does not require registration. Their PDF to Word converter works well on Windows, Mac, or Linux. The free trial version is limited to daily conversions of up to two files. They also deliver importance to privacy so that all files will be deleted forever from their servers after one hour.
Follow these steps given below to convert your files into Small PDFs.
Drag your PDF or upload it by clicking CHOOSE FILES. Choose your File from its destination and click Open.
A new page will open and show you two options: 1) Convert to Word and 2) Convert to Editable Word (OCR). The first option is free, and the second option requires payment. If you want a free trial, click on the first and choose options.
Your PDF file will be converted into a Word doc and ready for editing.
The main advantage of converting a PDF to Word is that you can directly edit the text on Word. Here, the benefit of an online PDF to Word converter comes to play because making changes to your PDF using an online PDF editor is not practical. Once a PDF has been converted to Word, adjustments can be made quickly using Word or other equivalent applications. You can also easily convert the edited Word document to PDF by choosing PDF format.
Thus, you can visit any website mentioned in the article, and that should get the job done.
How to Add a PDF to your Office file?
Insert a PDF file as an object to add it to your Word document. By doing this, the PDF effectively merges with the Word document. It implies that unless you link to the source PDF file, any changes you make to the source PDF file won’t be reflected in the embedded file in the Word document.
Open the Word document into which the PDF should be inserted. Select Insert > Object > Create from File. Find the PDF you wish to insert and click OK.
What are the restrictions of any PDF to Word Converter?
As a result of things being virtually printed onto a blank piece of paper to create PDF files, maintaining the original formatting of your PDF is a very challenging issue after converting it into a Word doc. There are no guidelines on where objects are placed on the page compared to most other file formats (such as papers, presentations, etc.)—because of this, converting PDFs to other file formats is quite challenging.
Fri, 09 Sep 2022 01:34:00 -0500en-UStext/htmlhttps://www.thewindowsclub.com/free-pdf-to-word-converters-for-windows-pcBest free PDF editors for Mac
PDFExpert for Mac from Readdle offers a seven-day full-featured free trial, which could make it ideal if you just need a solution now and don’t expect to be editing PDFs again for a while. If you do need it for longer than a week it costs $79.99/£72.99 a year on subscription, or $139.99/£119.99 if you choose the Lifetime plan.
We found PDFExpert did a good job of maintaining the fonts, style and formatting of the original PDF.
There are two options for editing that you can find in the menu at the top of the page: Annotate and Edit. Under Annotate you will find the tool to easily add text to the PDF. You can choose the font and colour of the text here.
However, you will find the better editing tools under Edit. Here you have the option to actually edit the text already on the page, add images, add hyperlinks, and redact sensitive information (you can choose to black out names, or you can search for a specific word and delete every occurrence of that.)
We were able to select text and move it around the page. But as we found with all the PDF editors here, it wasn’t possible to drag and drop text between pages (to get around this we were able to cut and paste though and still make a good-looking document).
Back to the Annotate tab. Here you will find options to highlight, underline, or strike-through text, as well as a pan tool that means you can draw freehand in any colour, as well as change the line width and opacity. There’s also a crop tool here. In Annotate you can also add sticky notes and stamps (e.g. an Approval). You’ll see a column of existing annotations on the left so its easy to see what edits have been made and when. These annotations can be exported as HTML, text or markdown.
Adding a signature is also done via the Annotate tab. You can add more than one signature and these are added via the keyboard, trackpad, or an image. To add the signature to your PDF just drag and drop from the signature pane. You an also add a watermark yourself, perhaps your company logo, rather than having one added for you as is the case with some of the other trials looked at here.
Resizing a large PDF was easy thanks to a High/Low slider that indicated the size of the resulting file. There was also the option to merge files, combine multiple documents into one PDF, or individual pages from multiple documents.
We had one PDF that was scanned on our iPhone via the Notes app (we explain how to scan a document with an iPhone here). Obviously such a document will only be recognised by the PDF editor if the editor has OCR abilities that are unlocked in the trial. PDFExpert couldn’t do this so we weren’t able to edit the text in the scanned document, although we were able to add hyperlinks to sections of that document. Obviously we couldn’t search the scanned document, or edit the text there.
We were able to search normal PDFs though, and we were able to search for a word and redact every occurrence of it either by blacking it out, or deleting it.
We were able to export the PDF into Word, PowerPoint and Excel, as well as to Text and Image.
It’s a free seven day trial, so if you need the software for longer than that and don’t want to pay up then you would have to look elsewhere. But if you don’t need something long term this trial offers everything you need.
Mon, 11 Mar 2019 04:12:00 -0500Author: Karen Haslamentext/htmlhttps://www.macworld.com/article/668866/best-free-pdf-editors-for-mac.htmlBest free PDF editor (2023)
The best free PDF editors let you edit, and work together on files without subscriptions or fees.
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We’ve tested free PDF editors online and for Android, Windows, Mac, iOS, and iPad. As part of our review process, we’ve explored each PDF editor app’s integrated tools and workflows, sized up the best cloud storage offerings, and compatibility - as well as ensuring that every option is a completely free PDF editor. So, you can get on with the job at hand, whether you're designing a document from scratch, you're swapping Adobe for the best Acrobat alternative, or you just the best free PDF eader to view your files.
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Platform:PC
Plan:Free
Developer:Geek Software
Features include:PDF editor, PDF reader, conversion, merging, eSign, OCR
Reasons to buy
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Completely free
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Fast and light
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Lots of features for every need
Reasons to avoid
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Occasionally a bit clunky
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Windows-only
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 Windows-only 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. The interface can feel a little clunky at times, but 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.
Features include:PDF editor, PDF reader, conversion, compression, merging, eSign
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Free online editor
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Loads of features and tools
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OCR capabilities
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Windows version available
Reasons to avoid
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No Mac or mobile apps
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Free version only allows for one task each hour
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. During our tests, we found PDF editing as effortless every other function in the software, delighted that "editing text in a PDF file isn’t a million miles away from editing a word processor document."
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Elsewhere, PDF Candy has a good amount of useful tools and features. 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. Overall, we found service delightfully simple, but as with even the best free PDF editors, an upgrade unlocks its full potential.
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Cloud-based
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Powerful range of tools
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Allows you to convert PDFs to other formats
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Cross-platform (for a price)
Reasons to avoid
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Can only process two documents per day
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Extra cost for desktop app
Smallpdf was created with a single goal in mind: edit and compress PDFs.
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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.
We found using the PDF editor very straightforward. Upload your PDF via the website, and begin making annotations and taking notes. We also liked the option to add pictures, text and shapes to a PDF. Once the necessary changes are made, Smallpdf gave us the option to compress a PDF or export it as a Word, Excel or PowerPoint file.
There are restrictions, as you'll find in many of the best free PDF editors. Chiefly, you're locked to two tasks per day - so a fully free tool like PDF24 Creator or Canva might be a better choice for more consistent use.
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.
Features include:PDF manipulator, reader, highlighter, annotations
Reasons to buy
+
Included with all Macs
+
Image-editing tools included
+
Can annotate and add signatures to PDFs
Reasons to avoid
-
Only available for macOS
-
Lacks OCR
Apple’s Preview app is free, and as you’d imagine, only available on Apple devices like the MacBook. 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.
On the downside, despite being one of the best free PDF editors on the market, it lacks OCR tools. But most other functions should cater for most users. 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.
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 Canva - one of the best free PDF editors with design capabilities - 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.
Features include:PDF manipulator, scanner, compression, conversion, protection, merge, OCR
Reasons to buy
+
Very easy to use
+
Mostly free online service
+
Some clever tools
+
Good for minor document manipulation
+
Multi-platform
Reasons to avoid
-
Certain features require subscription
-
Not a full PDF editor
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 can't 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.
Features inlcude:PDF editor, compression, conversion, protection, merge, eSign
Reasons to buy
+
No account required
+
Simple and easy to use interface
+
Uploaded files are deleted after 2 hours
Reasons to avoid
-
File size limitations
-
Time restrictions on free tier
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 thinking 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. In fact, during our time on the platform, we were noted a big flaw: "While you will find that it is possible to edit text, you're likely to find that fonts are changed, making it apparent precisely where edits have been made."
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. However, it's worth noting that free users will get hit by the file size and time restrictions. 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.
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. 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. Cloud storage is another factor, so check the free PDF editor supports platforms like Google Drive and Dropbox.
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 the best 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. You'll find some have extra features, like PDF merging tools and PDF compressors. But others are bereft of anything but the basics. So, it can be hit-and-miss. Free PDF editors 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.
Should I use a free PDF editor?
Free PDF editors are popular - but they're not always the best solution, particularly for data-conscious and data-compliant businesses. It's worth being aware of some of the reasons why organizations often tend to go premium in our guide 5 reasons why you should avoid free PDF editors
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.
PDF24 Creator is a completely free PDF editor. It's free of charge, free of spyware, and it's our pick for best free PDF editor overall. But there are loads of amazing free PDF editing software depending on your needs and device/platform - many also include paid-for upgrades for premium features.
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 obtain 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.
Mon, 08 May 2023 23:22:00 -0500entext/htmlhttps://www.techradar.com/best/free-pdf-editorBest free PDF reader (June 2023)
The best free PDF reader apps are perfect for viewing documents, collaborating online, and making changes to your PDF files without any subscription charges or one-off fees.
Using your browser is the easiest way to read a PDF online, but options are usually limited. To do more with your documents, both online and offline, it’s worth investing time in the best PDF editors, the best free PDF editors, or dedicated PDF reader software.
PDF readers are the ideal solution for casual users looking for easy-to-use apps and platforms. Better still, the very best free PDF readers come equipped with plenty of tools for power-users. So, look out for features like free PDF to Word converters that put you in control of your documents.
With plenty of options out there, it can be a challenge identifying which free PDF reader is best for you. To help you find the right tool for your work, we’ve tested out a range of options, exploring everything from performance with large files to cross-platform compatibility and integrated cloud storage.
Today's best PDF reader deals
The best free PDF reader of June 2023
(Image credit: Adobe)
Best free PDF reader overall
Specifications
Operating system:Windows, macOS
Reasons to buy
+
Multi-platform support
+
Handles large PDFs with ease
+
Tab view for multiple documents
Reasons to avoid
-
Relatively large
-
Regular 'upgrade to Pro' ads
-
Some tools paywalled
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is a free PDF reader software for Windows and Mac (with Android and iOS PDF reader apps available, too). And it's our top choice for best free PDF reader overall - although we found features one massive downside.
The top PDF viewer is designed with two purposes in mind: the first is to enable you to read and interact with PDF files (including adding annotations and even signing a document).
The second is to convince you to upgrade to the paid version of the software (which, you’ve guessed it, has many more features, including the ability to create and edit PDF files).
If it wasn’t for the latter, Acrobat Reader would be a decent addition to your software library. It’s simple, easy to use, and comes with all the basic features you need to interact with PDF files. In our review, we reckoned that “Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is one of the best free PDF readers for anyone looking to view documents and manipulate them in some way.”
Sadly, the adware side of things is pretty much everywhere: you get ‘try now’ buttons, you’re offered to use powerful tools but later are asked to pony up some cash in order to actually use them, there’s even a ‘7-day trial’ button. If you can overlook this, it’s a great tool, but there are less obtrusive ones out there.
Foxit PDF Reader is more than just a free PDF reader – you can also create PDFs from scratch using this software. Integration with Microsoft Office allows you to easily turn documents you’re working on into PDFs. Or, you can scan a document or image and turn it into a PDF using Foxit Reader. The only thing that’s lacking in the free version is support for optical character recognition in scanned documents.
The software can be a little intimidating at first, but it’s relatively straightforward to navigate. That’s thanks to the fact that it uses the same ribbon-style menu as Microsoft Office. Tools for editing, signing, highlighting, and commenting are fairly easy to access. You can also merge or split PDFs by downloading free add-ons for the software.
Another advantage to Foxit PDF Reader is that it offers security. There’s a Safe memorizing mode that allows you to automatically disable Javascript embedded in downloaded PDFs.
Note that with the software's latest update, Foxit seems to have removed its PDF virtual printer driver, meaning you can no longer use the software to create PDFs.
Slim PDF is the best free PDF reader if you’re looking for something incredibly lightweight. The software obtain is really small, so is the perfect choice if you’re limited by hard drive space. Plus, that means that it’s able to open and load your documents faster than most of its competitors.
In our review, we called it "a sleek, minimalist PDF reader that only takes up a couple of megabytes on your hard drive." The downside to this small size is that Slim PDF is pretty basic. You can search and rotate documents, but that’s about it. There are no tools for signing, filling, commenting, or highlighting, let alone multiple memorizing modes. While there is a menu option to convert a PDF to a Word document, doing this requires another software download. On the other hand, if your needs are similarly simple, the free PDF reader might just be the solution for you.
As a result, Slim PDF is truly just a PDF reader. It does a good job at this, though, leaving out the toolbars that can distract you from what you’re reading. If you frequently need to print PDFs, Slim PDF is one of the fastest and most simple options available.
Best free PDF reader that's feature-rich and packed with tools
Specifications
Operating system:Windows, macOS
Reasons to buy
+
Touchscreen mode
+
Plenty of annotation tools
+
Simple ribbon-style menu
Reasons to avoid
-
No document signing or filling
The Nitro PDF Reader is another powerful free PDF reader in the vein of Foxit Reader and Adobe Acrobat DC. What makes this tool different is that it has a touchscreen mode that’s perfect if you’re working on a tablet. Touchscreen mode is especially nice for memorizing e-books, since you can flick the pages rather than scroll or click on a button.
While you can’t fill and sign PDFs with Nitro Reader, the software does a nice job of enabling collaboration. You can annotate documents with underlining and strikethroughs in addition to highlighting. Comments are also supported, and they appear like sticky notes that are easy to spot as you read through a document. Helpfully, the software also allows you to convert between PDF and other document formats.
The software has a ribbon-style menu that will be familiar to Microsoft Office users. The menu is pretty easy to navigate since there aren’t all that many options available in Nitro Reader. Overall, we found the app to be a remarkably powerful free PDF reader that's packed with handy features you'll use time after time, all presented in a clear, adaptable interface.
Perfect if you need a free PDF reader with built-in OCR
Specifications
Operating system:Windows
Reasons to buy
+
Optical character recognition
+
Text editing
+
Splits and extracts pages
Reasons to avoid
-
Watermarks documents
-
PC-only
Rather than just being a free PDF reader, PDF-XChange Editor is also a free PDF editing program for Windows. The interface is a little more complex than some others but gives you easy access to plenty of helpful features.
For most users, the main reason to use PDF-XChange Editor is the fact that it comes with inbuilt Optical Character Recognition (OCR). This means that if your original PDF document is a photocopy, PDF-XChange will still recognize the text and allow you to edit it. Also, PDF-XChange Editor lets you reformat text, and even convert it into fonts that aren’t already loaded on your computer.
You can use this platform to merge or split individual PDF files. The only serious downside of this powerful editor is that, if you haven’t signed up to the Pro version, a small 'Created with PDF-XChange Editor' watermark will be added at the bottom of any PDF files that you export.
During our tests, we ultimately felt that while nothing stood out as incredible, there was also nothing that stood out as frustrating or annoying either. Under the right circumstances, it's a great product that has the ability to be your one and only PDF editor without any compromise.
Cross-platform with apps for online, on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android
+
Customer support is responsive
+
Plenty of editing tools
+
No sign-up to read PDFs
Reasons to avoid
-
Full toolkit requires subscription
-
Advanced tools may prove steeper learning curve than most
pdfFiller serves up a very simple free PDF reader experience. If your needs are basic, it’s quick and easy to upload your document and read it via your browser, or through the Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS apps. Not only is the PDF viewing process free, you won’t even need to sign up to read files.
However, the platform is actually a full PDF editor, with plenty of additional features for document creation and editing like fillable forms, data redaction tools, online collaboration, digital signatures, and PDF converters. After a thorough review process, we ultimately felt that the platform is “a very versatile PDF document management system” for both personal and business use.
When it comes to a straight PDF viewer, pdfFiller’s free service feels hobbled by the inability to do anything beyond memorizing files. You can tweak documents, but they’ll remain locked on your dashboard and unavailable as a PDF file. To really get the most from the service - and, to be fair, it offers a fair amount - you’ll need to subscribe to one of three monthly/annual subscription plans. Enterprise licensing is available, too, for teams of ten or more.
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
When deciding which PDF reader is best to obtain and use, first consider which parts of your PDF file you need to change. If you’re just trying to add information to a form digitally, you’ll only 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 software program 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 fully functioning PDF Editor or even the best PDF to Word converter instead.
What is a PDF reader?
A PDF reader is a program used to open, view, and print PDF (Portable Document Format) files. First introduced in the 1990s, PDF files are an excellent way to distribute documents containing text, images, and various other media types.
Many modern browsers can read PDF files, but the best free PDF readers still have their place. These dedicated programs deliver users more ways to interact with the file and offer greater control over how the document appears on the screen.
PDF files were designed to appear and function the same on any piece of hardware, so you'll find PDF readers for Android and other mobile devices too.
Do I need a PDF editor or a PDF reader?
Deciding between a PDF editor and a PDF reader comes down to how you'll use the software. PDF readers are primarily designed to view documents - although many include online collaboration tools like commenting, highlighting, and annotating content. Altering a PDF file is often limited to small edits and manipulation. A PDF editor lets you design and create documents from scratch and make large changes. They almost always include powerful tools for power-users, like built-in OCR software and digital signature tools.
The best free PDF readers feature plenty of tools for viewing and sharing PDF files - however, they're often slightly more limited compared to paid-for counterparts. In many cases, they offer a taste of how the software works, with upgrades and subscriptions that add more tools. If you're only memorizing PDFs on your computer or mobile device, a browser will likely meet your needs. If you're frequently in and out of documents, making minor edits, and sharing files, a full PDF reader will likely suit you best.
How we test the best free PDF readers
We test the best free PDF readers against the factors that users care about - from the interface and experience to performance and platform availability.
We also assess each tool against its use-case. Some want a lightweight reader, others need one packed with plenty of other PDF utilities for professional use - so we look at how well the free PDF readers deliver for their intended audience.
We also ensure that free means free - no hidden charges. Any subscriptions, lifetime licenses, and upgrade fees must be clearly signposted.
As part of our overall testing process, we've also reviewed and rated free and premium platform-specific PDF readers.
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Tue, 23 May 2023 04:39:00 -0500Michael Grawentext/htmlhttps://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-pdf-readerISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Certificate Program
Covering the Complete Cybersecurity Lifecycle for Industrial Automation and Control Systems
The ISA industrial cybersecurity training courses and knowledge-based certificate recognition program are based on ISA/IEC 62443—the world’s only consensus-based series of automation cybersecurity standards, and a key component of government cybersecurity plans. This program covers the complete lifecycle of industrial automation and control system (IACS) assessment, design, implementation, operations, and maintenance.
The program is designed for professionals involved in IT and control system security roles that need to develop a command of industrial cybersecurity terminology, as well as a thorough understanding of the material embedded in the ISA/IEC 62443 series of standards. The ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity certificates are awarded to those who successfully complete a designated training course and pass a 75-100 question multiple choice exam.
Recommended Experience
While there are no required prerequisites or formal applications to begin this program, consider the following recommendations:
You should have three to five years of experience in the IT cybersecurity field, with some experience in an industrial setting—at least two years specifically in a process control engineering setting
Familiarity with the ISA/IEC 62443 standards is helpful
The advanced courses do have recommended course prerequisites and experience, but they are not required
Note that certificate one attainment is required to proceed to all other certificate levels
ISA/IEC 62443 Certificates and Requirements
Each certificate requires you to successfully complete a course and pass the exam. Successful completion of Certificate 1: ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Fundamentals Specialist is required before taking exams for certificates 2, 3, and 4. The courses and certificate exams for 2, 3, and 4 may be taken in any order. The ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Expert certificate is awarded automatically upon successful completion of all four certificates.
Successful completion of the ISA/IEC 62443 Standards to Secure Your Industrial Control System training course and exam. Choose from one of the following formats:
Obtain the ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Fundamentals Specialist certificate.
Successful completion of one of the following training courses and exam. Choose from one of the following formats:
The ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Expert
Individuals who achieve Certificates 1, 2, 3, and 4 are automatically designated as ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Experts
Renewal
You are not required to renew your ISA/IEC 62443 certificate(s); however, once obtained your certificate(s) will only be considered current for three (3) years. To learn more about extending the current status of your certificate(s), visit the Certificate Renewal page.
Sun, 19 Mar 2023 02:46:00 -0500entext/htmlhttps://www.isa.org/certification/certificate-programs/isa-iec-62443-cybersecurity-certificate-program11 Free Online Certification Courses to Advance Your CareerNo result found, try new keyword!Finding free ways to obtain training and certifications should be at the top of your list. Certificate programs can lead to high-paying jobs – so if you don't have to pay for a certification ...Sat, 13 May 2023 00:41:00 -0500text/htmlhttps://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/articles/free-online-certificate-courses-to-advance-your-careerBest free PDF editors 2023: Our top picks
PDF editors are an indispensable tool for those who frequently work with PDF files. Whether it’s part of your job, you manage PDF files for your own personal use, or you just need to complete a one-off editing task, a top editor program is an essential piece of software. Full-featured editors such as Adobe’s Acrobat Pro DC might provide all of the bells and whistles, but a free PDF editor can still offer most of the important tools of a paid service for no additional charge.
Plus, free PDF editors are typically browser based, meaning you won’t need to worry about platform- or device-compatibility issues.
Of course, free products won’t come with every feature of their paid counterparts. So, if you find that you need more advanced tools such as password protection, bates numbering, or e-signatures, then you’re probably better served by one of the best premium PDF editors.
PDF Candy – Best free PDF editor overall
Pros
Many advanced features
OCR capability
Very easy to use
Cons
Lacks a single interface, which some users may not like
Free version limits you to one task per hour
Price When Reviewed:Free
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. While the free version has access to the expansive toolset of the paid version, you’re limited to one PDF task per hour. For unfettered access, you need to shell out $6 month.
Apple Preview PDF editor – Best free PDF editor 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
Price When Reviewed:Built into macOS
Mac users have an excellent PDF editor built right into their operating system. Although its ostensibly a photo viewer, macOS’s Preview app is rife with PDF-editing capabilities including tools for adding text and shapes, redacting content, making freehand drawings, inserting sticky notes, and capturing your signature using your trackpad, camera, or iPhone.
There are daily usage limits without a subscription
Limited font options
Price When Reviewed:Free (Premium $7.50 p/m)
Offered as both an online tool and a desktop editor, Sejda is capable of performing dozens of tasks including editing, form creation and filling, Bates stamping, file encryption, and more. If the daily usage limits are too restrictive for you, you can upgrade to the affordable paid version.
Content editing: As its name indicates, a PDF editor’s primary function is to enable you to edit a document. That includes the ability to add and modify text; insert, resize, and move images; and reorganize pages in the PDF. Most free PDF editors will let you perform these tasks, though they may impose daily limits on how many you can perform or how many documents you can edit.
Create, convert, and export PDFs: A common need for a PDF editor is to create PDF files from scanned hard copies or by converting digital documents. A good free PDF editor will be able to convert common file formats such as Word, JPG, and HTML to a PDF and preserve the original formatting. It should also 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.
Review and annotate: Most free PDF editors allow you to add comments and other annotations to PDF files during review. Typical annotation tools include sticky notes, shapes, and drawing markup options.
Signatures: Often all you need a PDF editor for is to sign a document. This used to be a premium feature only available on paid desktop editors, but more free PDF editors are allowing users to create and add electronic signatures to documents.
FAQ
1.
Is there a 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 typically open to editing and can offer a list of possible answer options or can be written in freely.
2.
Are Word files and PDF documents 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 can be read and/or written to 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 stop other people from editing your PDF documents?
Yes. If you have a PDF document that 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 just 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.
4.
Can I merge PDFs with a free PDF editor?
Yes, many free PDF editors such as our top pick PDF Candy, allow you to merge two or more PDFs into one. As most free PDF editors are browser-based, you will just need to open up the PDF editor application or website in your browser and click the “Merge” option. It will then ask you to add the files of all PDFs you wish to merge. Once the files have been added, just make sure that they are in the correct position and alignment you want before proceeding with the merge. Afterwards, all of your previously PDF files will be merged together into one new PDF document.
Wed, 24 May 2023 21:00:00 -0500Author: Michael Ansaldoentext/htmlhttps://www.pcworld.com/article/702374/best-free-pdf-editors.htmlThe 13 Best Free PDF Editors (May 2023)
Use these PDF editors and online tools to change your PDF files absolutely free
Looking for a truly free PDF editor that lets you not only edit and add text but also change images, add your own graphics, sign your name, fill out forms, and more? You came to the right place: We've researched these types of apps to come up with a list of exactly what you're looking for.
Some of these are online editors that work in your web browser, so all you have to do is upload your PDF to the website, make the changes you want, and then save it back to your computer. That's the quick way—but do bear in mind that, typically, a web-based editor isn't as fully featured as its desktop counterpart, plus the file is exposed to the internet (which might be of concern if it contains sensitive content).
Because not all of these editors support the same features, and some are restricted in what you can do, remember that you can process the same PDF in more than one tool. For example, use one to edit the PDF text (if that's supported), and then put the same PDF through a different editor to do something supported in that program (e.g., to edit a form, update an image, or remove a page).
If you don't need to change the contents of the file but instead just need to change it to another format (such as .docx for Microsoft Word or .epub for an eBook), see our list of free document converters for help. On the other hand, if you have a file you created yourself that you want to save as a PDF file, learn how to print to PDF.
If you already own a modern version of Microsoft Word (2021, 2019, 2016, etc.), then skip all the suggested programs below: you have a great PDF editor at your disposal right now. Just open the PDF as you would any Word document, deliver the program a few minutes to convert the PDF, and then edit away. This also works in WPS Office and Google Docs.
Sejda PDF Editor is one of the very few PDF editors that actually lets you edit pre-existing text in the PDF without adding a watermark. Most editors only let you edit the text you add yourself, or they support text editing but then throw watermarks all over the place.
Plus, this tool can run entirely in your web browser, so it's easy to get going without having to obtain any programs. You can get the desktop version if you'd rather use it that way.
There are some differences between the online and desktop versions that you should know about. For example, the desktop edition supports more font types and doesn't let you add PDFs by URL or from online storage services as the online editor does (which supports Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive).
Another neat feature is the web integration tool that lets PDF publishers provide a link for their users that they can simply click to automatically open the file in this editor.
All uploaded files are automatically deleted from Sejda after two hours.
This tool works no matter which operating system you use. Sejda PDF Desktop runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
PDFgear is a full toolkit for doing pretty much anything you could want to do with a PDF.
Beyond basic PDF viewing and full text editing are options to add a signature, convert the file to other formats, extract text, annotate and insert your own watermark, rotate and delete pages, add a password, compress the PDF, and more. You can even present the PDF as a slideshow if you want to.
Something we really like is the Extract Text tool. It lets you highlight any part of the page to pull out text into an easily usable text box so you can copy that content. This is great for lists and other situations where selecting PDF text is usually difficult.
Canva is a very capable website for creating unique, high-quality designs. While you could create a project from scratch or a template, another way you can use its editing tools is on a PDF.
Unlike most free tools, Canva lets you fully edit text. Click into any text area to change what the text says and to adjust the font type, size, and color. You can also add hyperlinks to text and other objects, and special fonts are available to easily type out your signature.
Of course, because this is a full graphic design platform, it has a wealth of other tools so you can also edit images, add shapes, edit and build PDF pages, include charts, etc. If you have most of your media on another site like Google Photos or Dropbox, you can connect to those services to easily copy files into your PDF.
PDFs can't exceed 15 MB or 15 pages. When you're done, you can save back to PDF or choose from various image and video formats.
PDF-XChange Editor offers some great tools, but not all of them are free to use. If you use a non-free feature, the PDF will save with a watermark on every page.
If you stick to just the free features, however, you can still do some editing to the file and save it back to your computer.
You can load PDFs from your computer, a URL, SharePoint, Google Drive, and Dropbox. You can save the edited PDF back to your computer or to any of those cloud storage services.
There are lots of features, so it might seem overwhelming at first. All the options and tools are simple to understand, however, and they're categorized into their own sections for easier management.
One nice feature is the ability to highlight all the form fields so that you can easily spot where you need to fill in. This is really helpful if you're editing a PDF with lots of forms, such as an application.
Many of the features are free (like editing the text), but some are not. If you use a feature that's not covered by the free version (you're told which ones aren't free when you use them), the saved PDF file will have a watermark attached to the corner of every page. There's a comprehensive list of all the free features on the obtain page.
Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7 users can install PDF-XChange Editor. You can obtain it in portable mode to use on a flash drive or as a regular installer.
Inkscape is an extremely popular free image viewer and editor, but it also includes PDF editing functions that most dedicated PDF editors support only in their paid editions.
This is a very capable image editing program. If you're not already familiar with programs like GIMP, Adobe Photoshop, and other image editors, however, it's probably a bit advanced for you.
In the context of PDF editing, though, you should consider this software only if you want to delete or edit the images or text in the PDF. We suggest you use a different tool in this list to edit PDF forms or add shapes, and then plug that PDF into Inkscape if you need to actually edit the preexisting text.
All the functions you need are available here: Edit text, add text, highlight and blackout items, include shapes and checkmarks, import the date and time, upload images, and add your signature. You can also rotate, delete, and add new pages to your document.
Files can be uploaded from your device or your Google Drive account. All edited documents can be saved back to a .pdf file.
Edit existing text and erase or redact text/images.
Can add your own custom text to the PDF.
Supports highlighting anything on the page.
What We Don't Like
No easy-to-access undo button (but you can delete what you've done).
Can upload PDFs only from your computer (not Google Drive, etc.).
FormSwift's Free PDF Editor is a very simple online option that you can start using without even making a user account (although, you'll need one when you save).
It's as simple as uploading your PDF file to the website and using the menus at the top of the page to quickly perform some basic PDF editing functions before downloading it back to your computer.
For example, you can add circles, checkmarks, and "x" icons over any text; easily type, draw, or sign on the file; and insert your own images.
When you're done editing, you can obtain the file as a PDF file, print it directly to your printer, or save as a .docx document.
The .pdf-to-.docx conversion didn't work for every PDF that we tried, but in those that did convert successfully, the images were formatted nicely and the text was fully editable.
FormSwift's Convert Images to PDF page lets you quickly edit or sign PDFs from your phone by taking a picture of a document. You can then share or obtain the PDF when you're done. It's not perfect: Most things done through a web app are spotty. It does work, however, with a little patience.
You can upload Word documents and images to FormSwift, too, if you need to edit those instead of a PDF.
All operating systems can use this since it works online.
Draw is LibreOffice's flowchart and diagram program, but it also lets you open and edit PDFs. Use the File > Open menu to select the PDF you want to edit, and then zoom up to the text to select and change whatever you want.
One of the neat things about editing PDFs with this program is that it's made for creating and manipulating objects, so you can just as easily edit non-text things, too, like images, headings, colors, etc.
When you're ready to save, don't use the typical save option; go instead to File > Export As to find the PDF option.
Documents stored in your account remain there only for 7 days.
PDFescape has quite a lot of features. It's free as long as the document doesn't exceed 100 pages or 10 MB.
You can't truly change text or edit images for free using this editor, but you can add your own text, images, links, form fields, etc.
The text tool is very customizable so that you can pick your own size, font type, color, alignment, and apply effects such as bolding, underlining, and italics.
You also can draw on the PDF, add sticky notes, strikethrough text, put white space over anything you want to disappear, and insert lines, checkmarks, arrows, ovals, circles, rectangles, and comments.
PDFescape lets you delete individual pages from the PDF, rotate pages, crop out parts of a page, reorganize the order of the pages, and add more pages from other PDFs.
You can upload your own PDF file, paste the URL to an online PDF, and make your own PDF from scratch.
When finished editing, you can obtain the PDF to your computer without ever having to make a user account. You need one only if you want to save your progress online without downloading the PDF.
The online version works in all operating systems. There's also an offline editor that runs on Windows, but it isn't free.
One of the quickest ways to add images, text, shapes, or your signature to a PDF is with Smallpdf.
This website allows you to upload a PDF, make changes to it, and then save it back to your computer, all without needing to make a user account or pay for any anti-watermarking features.
You can open files from your computer or your Dropbox or Google Drive account.
Importing shapes is possible if you want a rectangle, square, circle, arrow, or line. You can change the object's main color and line color, as well as the thickness of its edge.
Text size can be small, regular, medium, large, or extra large, but you can't change the font type, just the color.
When finished editing the PDF, you can decide where you want it saved; to your device or your Dropbox account. You can also generate a share link that anyone can use to obtain the PDF. Something else you can do is run the document through Smallpdf's PDF splitter tool if you want to extract the pages.
After editing one document, you'll have to wait several hours to keep using the site, or upgrade/pay.
This site works with all operating systems that support a modern web browser.
This website is incredibly simple, which is good or bad, depending on what you're wanting it to do.
We add this PDF editor to our list because it lets you easily sign your name on any PDF. There aren't any extra features that get in the way, it doesn't put a watermark on your document, and it's just overall very easy to use if you just need a quick way to add your signature to a PDF.
If you want to, you can also include your written name and a date.
Supports adding images, links, and custom watermarks.
The background of the PDF pages can be edited.
Headers and footers can be included in the PDF.
Supports combining several PDFs into one.
PDF pages can be cropped.
Can insert, extract, delete, and rotate PDF pages.
Editing embedded forms is easy.
Can password-protect the PDF.
What We Don't Like
Free version places a watermark on the PDF.
Requires large OCR feature download.
Must log in to save the document.
PDFelement is free, but with a major limitation: It places a watermark on every page of the document. That being said, the watermark is behind everything, so you can still see the content, and it's important to realize that it supports some truly great PDF editing features.
This program would be a truly free PDF editor if it weren't for the fact that the free edition will not save without first putting a watermark on every single page of the PDF.
Depending on what you'll use the PDF for, however, the features it supports might be enough for you to consider living with the watermarks.
When you're done editing, you can save back to PDF or any of the several other supported formats, including Word and other MS Office formats. To export or save, you have to have a Wondershare account.
PDF BOB is a free online PDF editor that requires no user account. Just upload your file, make the changes you need to, and then export it to PDF again to finish up.
There are several tools here, like a text option that lets you select a custom color and font type, an image picker, a colored pencil/marker, and a few shape tools.
It uses OCR to identify the text, so things like the strikeout and underline tool look great, and all you have to do is double-click the word you want to apply it to.
You can also use this website to delete pages from the PDF and add new ones to it. When you save, there's even a password option to secure the document.
When you're done editing, export to the PDF format or, if you log in, JPG and PNG. Files can be saved back to your computer or imported directly into Google Drive or Dropbox.
To edit a PDF on Chromebook, use a third-party app like Sejda, DocFly, or Soda PDF Online. Most Chromebooks do not come with a PDF editor app by default.
How do I edit PDFs on iPhone or iPad?
To edit PDFs on an iPhone or iPad, go to Files, open a PDF, then swipe from the left edge of the screen to open the thumbnail view. Press and hold a page to open the edit menu.
How do I make a PDF file?
To make a PDF file in Word, go to File > Save as > PDF. On Google Docs, go to File > Download > PDF Document (.pdf). On Mac Pages, go to File > Print > Save as PDF.
Tue, 04 Apr 2023 00:30:00 -0500en-UStext/htmlhttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/the-12-best-free-pdf-editors-april-2023/ar-AA18JBGGAshampoo PDF Free: Edit, Create, and Manage PDF files on Windows 10
We recently talked about Ashampoo Burning Studio, which is still available for free, and now its time to talk about their professional but free PDF software, which is also available for free. PDF is actively used throughout the world, and one of the toughest parts is editing it. Not any more. Ashampoo PDF offers professional-grade software with features that can suffice the need for most of the consumers. I would strongly suggest downloading this right away if you do not have any PDF editor on your computer. Let’s talk about Ashampoo PDF Free.
Before I start, once you obtain the software, it will be activated using your Ashampoo account. You can use your email id to create one if you don’t have one. Your Ashampoo account will have the record of all Ashampoo products you have downloaded along with the activation keys. You can also obtain all the activation keys in PDF format.
Reading PDF is not a problem anymore. Most modern browsers support it out of the box. What is tough is editing it, deleting or adding pages, filling forms, and so on.
Adding Text to PDF
Adding Notes to PDF
Managing Pages of the PDF file
PDF Document Security
Ashampoo PDF Free Features
These features are most useful for those who need to edit PDF documents now, and then, but even if you need to do it sometime, make sure you have this on the computer. Since this is the primary focus of the software, let’s talk about it first.
Edit, Create and Manage PDF files
1] Add Text to PDF
Any PDF file you open will be available to edit instantly. So if you are using this as a PDF reader as well, make sure to switch to View mode ( Edit > Work Mode > Viewing). Once you are through, switch to Editing mode.
When you click anywhere or drag on the PDF file, it will create a text box where you can write your text. You can change fonts, text size, alignment, line spacing, and even use a highlighter. You can increase or decrease the text box size as well.
When editing files, you have the option to “Revert to Saved.” If you are not sure if this is the editing you wanted as a final result, you can use it to go back to the last saved state.
2] Add Notes to PDF
The tool can also be used as a markup tool. If you mostly approve and point out the already created PDF tool, then use this. The markup tool offers. You can add comments, draw rectangles, circles, polygons, scribble to draw as you wish, line tools. Your name will be used, so if anybody else opens the PDF file, the person will be able to read all the comments.
3] Manage Pages of the PDF file
If you want to add, remove, or extract pages from a PDF file, the tool offers those features as well. Open a PDF file, and then click on the Pages menu, and you have all those options. You can choose to add PDF after a particular page, first page, or last page. Once you are done with adding and remove pages, you can reorder them to what fits best.
4] PDF Document Security
Since the software is almost offering a versioning feature, you can choose the level of security for the document. Once you select the security level (Acrobat 3 to Acrobat 7), go ahead and set up password protection for the document. Along with this, you can add username, choose the level of editing, control print quality, copying extracting content, unlocking locked objects, and so on.
Ashampoo PDF Free Features
Create PDFs: Built-in printer driver to create PDFs from any Windows application
Fill out interactive forms and static forms
Compact in size and loads PDF files faster
Search for text in documents
Add delete, replace and reorder pages
Insert pages from existing PDF documents based on a range
Wed, 01 Jun 2022 04:15:00 -0500en-UStext/htmlhttps://www.thewindowsclub.com/ashampoo-pdf-free-windowsBest PDF editors in 2023
The best PDF editors enable you to get even more done with PDF files but the real question is which PDF editor is best suited to your needs and workflow.
Despite their finalized appearance, Portable Document Format files can be changed in the same way you alter a text document – you just need 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.
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. On a tight budget, these are the best free PDF editors.
The best PDF editors you can buy today
(Image credit: Adobe)
1. Acrobat Pro DC
Best PDF editor for Windows
Specifications
Cost:$240/year
Developer:Adobe
Compatibility:macOS, Windows
Category:PDF editor
Reasons to buy
+
Full-featured PDF editing and annotation tool
+
Excellent OCR
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 allow you 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 look 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.
Since 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 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. actual 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 obtain the edited document or upload a new document to work on. PDF Candy keeps all of your documents in a queue so you can obtain them all at once after you've finished making changes to them.
Web-based annotation tools are easy to understand and use
Reasons to avoid
-
Extremely limited font options when you add text
-
Desktop version requires a subscription
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.
(Image credit: Apple)
4. Apple Preview
Built-in PDF annotation for macOS
Specifications
Cost:Free with macOS
Developer:Apple
Compatibility:macOS
Category:PDF annotation
Reasons to buy
+
Excellent annotation tools
+
Easy-to-use signature capture
+
Markup features are often available in other apps
Reasons to avoid
-
Locating annotation tools not obvious
-
Mac only
Apple's Preview app is built-in to 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 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 click on the Markup button in that mode.
(Image credit: Readdle)
5. PDF Expert
PDF editor with the cleanest interface
Specifications
Cost:$80 one-time license purchase
Developer:Readdle
Compatibility:macOS
Category:PDF editor
Reasons to buy
+
Clean, easy-to-use interface
+
AI-powered Enhance feature
+
Editing tools appear when you need them and hide when you don't
Reasons to avoid
-
Difficulties with larger files
-
Mac-only
Readdle's macOS-only PDF Expert is a popular PDF-editing tool that allows you to make changes to text in existing PDF documents 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 Mac. However, 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. There's also a Windows version in development and you can sign up to get notified when it's ready.
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 a 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.
(Image credit: Sejda)
7. Sejda PDF Desktop Pro
A PDF editor with too many limitations
Specifications
Cost:$63/year
Developer:Sejda
Compatibility:macOS, Windows
Category:PDF annotation
Reasons to buy
+
Can edit text, though on a limited basis
+
Can add images and annotate your documents
+
Paid weekly pass available
Reasons to avoid
-
Very limited features
-
Paragraphs are treated as individual lines of text
-
Cannot remove or edit existing images
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. 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.
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.
