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How Can I Write on a PDF?
This tutorial shows you how you can write on a PDF online, if you’d prefer to write on a PDF form, for example, rather than type on it. You can also use the drawing tool and your mouse to write comments and shapes online. Here’s how!
When editing a paper, nothing’s quite the same as being able to take out a red pen or highlighter and mark up the pages. Or is it? PDF.Live’s online edit tool allows you to write or draw all over your PDF online. This allows you to make more nuanced comments and edits while saving the paper required to print out a physical copy.
If you’re looking to sign a PDF, skip over to this page, where we show you how to upload and add your signature to a PDF online.
So, how do you write on a PDF? This article will be all about drawing and marking up a PDF using PDF.Live’s online editor. This editor functions entirely in your browser, with no additional downloads!
Write on a PDF Online
Once you locate the PDF on your computer, head to the PDF.Live editor to edit the PDF online. You’ll need to drag and drop your PDF into the editor or click Select File to Edit and navigate to where the PDF is stored on your computer. Once you’re ready to start, click Edit PDF.
You’ll then be taken to the PDF.Live online editor. Here, you’ll find several functions for editing, annotating, and protecting PDFs. Feel free to familiarize yourself with the editor before moving forward, as there are a lot of great features!
To get started writing on a PDF, click the Annotate option at the top of the PDF.Live editor’s toolbar.
Here, you’ll see several options for drawing or creating text on your PDF. The tool we’re interested in is the Free Hand option, which is highlighted in the above screenshot.
Upon selecting the free-hand tool, your cursor will be turned into a Plus sign. You can now draw on your PDF!
You’ll notice that, by default, the PDF.Live Free Hand tool lets you draw free-hand in red on your PDF. This may not be your preferred color! To change the style settings of your pen, click the downward arrow next to a selected pen icon in the PDF.Live toolbar.
Here, you’ll be able to adjust the color, opacity, and stroke size of your free-hand tool. You can save 4 styles of pens here.
Draw with multiple styles on the same PDF.
To erase a drawing that you’ve made on your PDF, simply click the Eraser icon on the far left of the toolbar. Then, drag the eraser over the part of your drawing that you want to remove.
With the PDF.Live editor you can also draw shapes on your PDFs! To do this, select the Shapes tab at the top of the toolbar. You’ll have the option to create rectangles, circles, and more.
Similar to the free-hand tool, you can save 4 preset shapes with different styles. You can also erase your shapes using the same eraser tool. The shapes tool functions identically to the free-hand tool within the editor, with the main difference being the preset shape you’re creating versus free-hand drawing.
You can also, for example, make edits appear similar to a highlighter on a physical document. Instead of the Free Hand tool, select the Free Hand Highlight tool that is next to it. This will make a slightly transparent pen tool that you can use to highlight key sections of your PDF.
The free-hand, free-hand highlight, and shape tools are just some of the many powerful functions that the PDF.Live online editor has for editing and marking up a document.