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How to Annotate a PDF
This post answers How do I:
- Create PDF proofs?
- Annotate a PDF?
- Add proofreading marks on a PDF?
- Place strike-through marks on a PDF?
- Put editing marks on a PDF?
What’s the Best Way to Proof PDFs?
PDF.Live’s editing allows you to do much more than just leave comments on a PDF. We’ll explain how you can use the tool to highlight, underline, strike through and add text, which makes collaboration between content creators and editors easy.
Using PDFs for content proofing is efficient. The content creator can export the document as a PDF, which is a universal file format, so the editors don’t have to have the same software. For example, if a graphic designer creates an e-book in a program like Adobe Illustrator, the editor needn’t learn to use the same (expensive) software. The editor uses PDF.Live to mark up the PDF and send it back to the graphic designer.
With PDF.Live, you can mark up, comment, and annotate any PDF using the online PDF editor tool. Then, once the edits have been suggested, the content creator can take it back to the original program (Word, Illustrator, PowerPoint, etc.) and implement the changes.
PDF Proofreading to Annotate, Comment, Suggest, and More
Open a PDF document in the PDF.Live editor, and find the Annotate tab at the top of the screen, which will have most of the edit functions.
There are a lot of functions in this section to take note of, depending on how you like to proofread. Before you make any proofreader marks, though, note the two options you have for interacting with the page.
On the upper left, the Move and Select tools are your two options.
- The Move tool, marked by the hand icon, will allow you to drag and move the page, as well as objects that you create in the editor.
- The Select tool, marked by the dotted box, allows you to select elements in the PDF that you want to make edits or annotations to.
For highlighting, underlining, striking out or replacing text in a PDF, select the function you’d like to perform under the annotate tab. You can change the opacity of the annotation you make and the color of it in this tab as well.
Striking out text: Select the Strikeout tool on the toolbar. Then, click and drag over text to start striking through it.
Highlighting text: Select the Highlight tool on the toolbar. Then, click and drag over the text to highlight it.
Underlining text: Select the Underline tool on the toolbar. Then, click and drag over the text that you want to underline.
Squiggle text: Select the Squiggle tool on the toolbar. Then, click and drag over the text you want to have a squiggle under.
Replacing Text: Select the Edit Text tab. Editable areas of your PDF will now be outlined by blue dashes. Double-click an area to edit the text.
In this screenshot, we’ve edited the text and annotated the PDF!
Erase annotation: Click the Erase option and click and drag over the annotation you want to delete.
Add a line or shape: Click the Shapes tab, and click the drop down next to the Shape option. Select the shape you’d like to make and then edit the color, fill, or weight of the shape. Click and drag on the PDF where you’d like to make your shape!
Editing a PDF After Someone’s Proofed It
Let’s say someone proofread your document, and you want to make changes to it with the PDF.Live editor. The best way to do this is to pull up the original document that you created in Microsoft Word or a similar document editor. Then, have the edited PDF open and make the changes as necessary.
However, let’s say that you don’t have access to the original document or need to make a quick edit. The PDF.Live Edit Text section allows you to make simple edits to the text or add images to your PDF.
This tool lets you select existing text in a document and change it! The tool will automatically match the font of the text you’re editing, but you may need to change the color or type in capitals to match the original formatting.
This tool can add text to your PDF by simply clicking where you want to add text, creating a text box! Tip: If you want to add comments to your PDF while proofreading it, this is a good way to add a “text box” next to a section! Note that you will need to edit the Font, color, and font size to match the formatting of the document you’re editing.
Commenting, reviewing, proofreading, and editing a document is easier than ever with the powerful PDF.Live editor. Try it out for yourself for free (PDF.Live offers a limited free trial, followed by low-priced monthly subscriptions, cancelable at any time, for our power users!).