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Can You Edit PDF Files Easily?
This post answers basic questions about editing PDF documents: Is there any way to edit a PDF file? Is it possible to edit a PDF? Can I modify a PDF in Word? Can you scan and edit a PDF?
Yes, PDFs can be edited. However, you can’t edit them in the same way that you would be able to edit a .doc or .docx file in a document editor. Why is this?
To understand why PDF editing is more difficult than editing a regular document, we first have to understand what a PDF is. A PDF, or portable document format, is a digital file format that’s designed to easily share across the web and across devices. It’s meant to be emailed, faxed, printed, and shared.
A PDF is more similar to an image file than a document. It’s a file that captures all the formatting elements of a document, including its images, text, and any other graphics. It’s actually not meant to be easily modified, but rather act as a “final version” that you share across the web.
That said, it’s sometimes still necessary to make changes or edits to a PDF. To do this, you need a PDF editor.
Do You Need Special Programs to Edit a PDF?
Yes (and no). If you try to edit a PDF in a document editor like Microsoft Word, it will first try to convert your PDF to a document with a .doc extension. Many of the original formatting settings will be lost, and the document will look dramatically different from the original.
To mitigate this, you need to use a PDF reader or PDF editor. Not all PDF editors are the same. Some are apps that run from your computer, requiring an additional download. A web-based PDF editor like PDF.Live’s editor functions entirely within your browser, allowing you to change your PDFs from the web rather than with a program.
Ultimately, you will need a third-party application to edit PDFs, whether it is an app that you download or an app that you access online (as in PDF.Live) through a browser.
Can You Edit PDF Content?
Yes, a true PDF editor allows you to edit the text, images, and other content of a PDF. Some PDF editors will only allow you to add or reduce the number of pages, for example. But PDF.Live’s editor allows you to adjust and edit the actual content within a PDF.
This includes changing, adding, and removing text. It also includes adjusting the positioning of text, image, and shape elements within a PDF. The PDF.Live editor is a powerful tool that gives you editing options similar to a true document editor.
Can You Scan and Edit a PDF?
Yes, but the results may vary. If you scan a physical document and turn it into a PDF, you can technically edit it using the PDF.Live editor. However, the results may look artificial, with the sections you’ve edited standing out significantly. You can learn more about how this works in a related post called “What Optical Character (OCR) Means.”
If you want to edit PDFs, you’re better off tracking down the original digital PDF version of a physical document and directly editing that with the PDF.Live editor. This version will interface far better with the PDF.Live editor.What Are Some Other Ways You Can Edit a PDF?
What Are Some Other Ways You Can Edit a PDF?
PDF.Live has a lot of PDF editing features outside of just adjusting text and images in a document. For example, if you’re annotating a PDF for someone else, or editing a PDF with a group, you can use the Comment section of PDF.Live to create callouts or text boxes to draw attention to certain areas.
If you’re creating a form you want people to fill out for something like a job application, you can build the form in the document editor again in the Edit Text tab and select Forms to create fields in your document that a user can fill out.
PDF.Live’s editor includes several popular editing features that are commonly used when editing PDFs, found on the left-hand side of the editor. Explore more PDF editing tutorials.
Consider trying the PDF.Live editor today to make editing PDFs convenient and easy from any desktop or laptop. Sign up now to access a free trial of PDF.Live’s premium PDF management tools.