After the birth of the application Recordings with the arrival of iOS 11, users weren’t too happy with what “the new Finder” for iPhone should look like. In reality, the application lacked many features to become a good file manager. But Apple has been able to improve Files little by little, year after year, update after update.
Today, the Files app for iOS and iPadOS is an essential tool for any iPhone and iPad user. So much so that it allows practically any type of action to be performed: share, transfer, view, extract, copy and even edit files.
What iOS and iPadOS lacked was a file manager app that could do whatever it takes to improve the user experience of the system. An application like Preview on macOS, which allows you to edit images and even PDF documents. Now, with iOS 15, Files also offers the possibility of edit PDF with iPhone in seconds. Do you want to know how it works?
How to Edit PDF with Files in iOS 15
Editing PDF documents on iPhone and iPad is no easy task, once it was time to download apps from the App Store that specialize in this job, and not all of them were free. Currently iOS 15 is in beta, but it will bring an impressive amount of news that will make your iPhone even better if possible.
One of these new features is the compatibility of the Files application with editing PDF documents. We have already explained how the new Drag and Drop feature of iOS 15 works and we have discovered an exhausting barbarity of secrets and hidden tricks from the update but this time we are going to talk about how to edit PDF documents with Files app on the iPhone.
Before you start … what do you need to edit PDF on your iPhone?
Unfortunately, the PDF document editing feature of the Files app is only available for the iOS 15 version of the iPhone mobile software. So, unless you want to download and install the iOS 15 beta, you will have to wait for the official launch of the public version in September, after the presentation of the new Apple iPhone 13 models.
If you are curious to see how the PDF editor works in iOS 15, we invite you to continue reading this guide. If you want to try this fascinating novelty, you will be interested to know everything you need for it:
- An iPhone compatible with iOS 15.
- The beta of iOS 15 public or for developers.
- Apple Files app.
The Files app is installed by default in the latest versions of iOS and iPadOS, but if for some reason you don’t have it on your device, you can download it for free from the App Store.
How to activate edit mode in PDF files
Currently, with versions prior to iOS 15, the Files app on iPhone and iPad provides the ability to view and share PDF documents. And it works like a charm, in fact it also allows you to make freehand annotations and marks. But you cannot edit PDF although, as we mentioned before, there are plenty of alternatives to edit PDF in the App Store.
1. To start using PDF editing mode, open the Files app on your iPhone.
2. Then go to the corresponding folder, select and open the PDF document you want to edit.
3. Once you have opened the PDF and the document is displayed in full screen, quickly swipe your finger from the left side of the screen to the right.
4. As reported by Nerds Chalk, this new touch gesture is implemented in iOS 15 to enable PDF document editing mode.
5. On the left side of the screen, all pages of the PDF document will appear as thumbnails.
It should be noted that in order to activate PDF document editing mode, you need to perform the touch gesture very quickly. At first it may seem a bit complicated, but over time you will get used to it.
How to rearrange the pages of a PDF
Files app in iOS 15 will help you make all kinds of edits to your PDF documents. You can even change the order of the pages that make up the file.
To do this, you just have to keep your finger pressed on a page – until the floating menu disappears – and drag your finger to move it to the place you want. It’s easy !
How to rotate a page in a PDF
There are times when you download or export a PDF file and some pages display the content in landscape orientation instead of portrait (or vice versa). In these cases, rotating the orientation of a single page to your liking is quite complex, it is complex even if you are editing a PDF on a PC or Mac.
Fortunately, iOS 15’s new PDF editing feature lets you rotate individual pages with incredible ease. To rotate a page, activate the PDF document editing mode as we said before and hold your finger on the page you want to rotate. A floating menu will appear with several options for editing the document. Among the different options, you will find one that indicates “Turn left” and another for “Turn right”.
How to add an image to a PDF
One of the most common functions when editing a PDF is to insert images into the document. Of course, with the Files app in iOS 15, it is also possible to do this.
To insert an image into a PDF file, you must activate edit mode, select a page of the document and hold your finger on it. Then, in the floating menu, click on the option “Insert from file”.
From there, all you need to do is browse the iOS 15 folders to find the image you want to add to your PDF document.
Apple Files app’s PDF editing menu in iOS 15 has many other options to edit your PDFs on the fly, such as scan pages, delete pages or insert a new blank page. Of course, the tool also offers the most common options for annotate, add text, signatures, geometric images and a magnifying glass effect. The speed dial button is located in the upper right corner of the app. A series of options that make the iPhone even more useful than it already was.
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