It’s difficult to find a truly free PDF editor download that allows you to change images, add your own graphics, sign your name, fill out forms, and so on. However, you’ll find a list of exactly what you’re looking for below.
Some of these are web-based free PDF editor download that allow you to upload your PDF file, make the changes you want, and then save it back to your computer. That’s the quick way—but keep in mind that an online editor isn’t always as feature-rich as its desktop counterpart, and the file is public (which might be of concern if it contains sensitive content).
Because not all of these free PDF editor download have the same features and some are limited in what they can do, keep in mind that you can use more than one to process the same PDF.
Use one to edit the PDF text (if that’s supported), and then use a different free PDF editor download to do something supported in that program with the same PDF (for example, to edit a form, update an image, or remove a page).
If you don’t need to change the contents of the PDF but just want to convert it to a different file format (like.docx for Microsoft Word or.epub for an eBook), check out our list of free PDF editor download document converters. Learn How to Print to PDF if you have a file that you created yourself that you want to save as a PDF file.
Best Free PDF Editor Download
If you already have Microsoft Word 2019, 2016, or 2013, you can skip all of the programs listed below because you already have a fantastic free PDF editor download.
LibreOffice Draw
LibreOffice Draw is the flowchart and diagram programme in LibreOffice, but it can also open and edit PDFs. Select the PDF you want to edit from the File > Open menu, then zoom up to the text to select and change whatever you want. One of the cool things about using LibreOffice Draw to edit PDFs is that the programme is designed for creating and manipulating objects, so you can easily edit non-text elements like images, headings, colours, and so on.
Sejda PDF Editor
Sejda free PDF editor download is one of the few PDF editors that allows you to edit text in a PDF without having to add a watermark. Most editors only allow you to edit text that you add yourself, or they allow you to edit text but then slap watermarks all over it. Furthermore, this tool can be used entirely within your web browser, making it simple to get started without having to download any software.
If you prefer to use it on your computer, you can download the desktop version. There are some distinctions to be aware of between the online and desktop versions. For example, unlike the online editor, the desktop edition supports more font types and does not allow you to add PDFs from URLs or online storage services (which supports Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive).
Inkscape
Inkscape is a popular free image viewer and free PDF editor download, but it also includes PDF editing features that are only available in paid editions of most dedicated PDF editors. Inkscape is a powerful image editing software. It’s probably a bit advanced for you if you’re not already familiar with programmes like GIMP, Adobe Photoshop, and other image editors.
Inkscape should only be considered in the context of PDF editing if you want to delete or edit the images or text in the PDF. If you need to edit preexisting text, we recommend using a different tool from this list to edit PDF forms or add shapes, and then plugging that PDF into Inkscape.
PDFescape Online PDF Editor
PDFescape has a lot of capabilities. It’s free as long as the PDF isn’t longer than 100 pages or larger than 10 MB. This editor does not allow you to change text or edit images, but it does allow you to add your own text, images, links, form fields, and so on. You can customize the text tool by changing the size, font type, colour, alignment, and adding effects like bolding, underlining, and italics.
You can also add sticky notes, strikethrough text, white space over anything you want to hide, and insert lines, checkmarks, arrows, ovals, circles, rectangles, and comments to the PDF. PDFescape allows you to remove individual pages from a PDF, rotate pages, crop out parts of a page, reorder pages, and add pages from other PDFs. You can upload your own PDF file, paste the URL to an online PDF, or start from scratch to create your own PDF.
You can download the PDF to your computer once you’ve finished editing it without ever having to create a user account. You’ll only need one if you want to save your work online without having to free PDF editor download.
PDF-XChange Editor
Although PDF-XChange free PDF editor download has a lot of useful features, not all of them are free to use. The PDF will save with a watermark on every page if you use a non-free feature. However, if you limit yourself to the free features, you can still edit the file and save it to your computer. PDFs from your computer, a URL, SharePoint, Google Drive, and Dropbox can all be loaded.
You can either save the free PDF editor download to your computer or to one of the cloud storage services. Because the PDF-XChange Editor programme has so many features, it can be intimidating at first. However, all of the options and tools are straightforward, and they’re organized into separate sections for easier management.
Smallpdf Online PDF Editor
This website allows you to upload a PDF, edit it, and save it back to your computer without having to create an account or pay for anti-watermarking features. You can access files from your computer, Dropbox, and Google Drive accounts. If you need a rectangle, square, circle, arrow, or line, you can import them. The object’s main colour and line colour, as well as the thickness of its edge, can all be changed.
The text size can be changed to small, regular, medium, large, or extra large, but not the font type. When you’ve finished editing the PDF, you can save it to your device or to your Dropbox account. You can also create a share link for the PDF that anyone can use to download it. If you want to extract the pages, you can also run the document through Smallpdf’s PDF splitter free PDF editor download.
PDFelement
PDFelement, as the name implies, is free, but it does have one major drawback: it adds a watermark to every page of the PDF. However, because the watermark is hidden behind everything, you can still see the content, and it’s important to note that it includes some excellent PDF editing tools. If it weren’t for the fact that the free edition won’t save without first placing a watermark on every single page of the PDF, this programme would be a true free PDF editor download.
However, depending on how you intend to use the PDF, the features it supports may be sufficient to justify putting up with the watermarks. When you’re finished editing, you can save the document as a PDF or one of the other supported formats, such as Word and other MS Office files. You’ll need a Wondershare account to export or save.
PDF BOB
PDF BOB is a completely free PDF editor download that doesn’t require you to create an account. Simply upload your PDF, make the necessary changes, and then export it to PDF to finish. A text tool that lets you choose a custom colour and font type, an image picker, a coloured pencil/marker, and a few shape tools are among the tools available to edit your PDF.
You can also use PDF BOB to remove pages from a PDF and replace them with new ones. When saving to a PDF file, you can also add a password to protect the document. When you’re finished editing the PDF, you can save it as a PDF or save it as JPG or PNG if you’re logged in. Files can be saved to your hard drive or directly imported into Google Drive or Dropbox.