If you usually work with files in PDF format, chances are you already use the application that best suits your needs. Otherwise, or if you are looking for an application to be able to edit PDF files on Mac, you have come across the right article.
In this article, we show you the best apps available inside and outside the App Store to edit PDF files. You can also take a look at the article we published a few days ago where I showed you how to edit PDF on iPhone.
Not everyone has the same needs when it comes to editing this file format. Some users simply want to add annotations, underline text, add shapes… while for other users, especially those who use it in a professional field, they need to edit documents, add images, to replace existing ones…
Whatever your PDF editing needs, here are the best options, free and paid.
Overview
If your needs when working with files in PDF format, they are not very tall, you can try all the options offered by the native macOS Preview app.
With the Preview app we can add note, insert documents or images that we scan with some of our devices (iPhone, iPad…) and add them as new pages of the document, add shapes and arrows, as well as free strokes, add text boxes…
It also allows us to extract pages from the document (by dragging them to the desktop), sign documents from the trackpad with from our iPhone or iPad, rotate the pages together or independently and add a password so that:
- The document cannot be printed.
- Selected text in the document cannot be copied to the clipboard.
- We do not have the ability to insert, delete or rotate document pages.
- We also don’t have the ability to add annotations or signatures.
- Also, we won’t be able to populate existing form fields either.
If you usually use the Preview app to change the size of images and add other annotations, you will have checked how all options available for images, are also available for files in PDF format, adding the ability to add a password.
Professional PDF
A more than interesting application available in the Mac App Store completely free to edit files in PDF format is in PDF Professional, an application that allows us to edit files, in addition to creating them from other formats.
It also allows us to add annotations, sign documents, fill forms, add marks, underline text, add shapes, split files, join multiple PDFs into one file …
The application offers us a design very similar to what we can find in iWork, with the menu bar located on the right side of the application. You can download the Professional PDF application for free via the following link.
This app requires macOS 10.13 or later. If your Mac has not been updated to this version, you should try the rest of the apps we show you in this article.
Inkscape
Inskcape is not an application designed to work with files in PDF format, however, it includes a fantastic function that allows us to recognize the text of PDF files when we import a file.
In this way, once we open the PDF file with Inkscape, we can modify it and save it again as if it were a new document or overwrite the document that we have opened.
For some unknown reason, although Photoshop also allows us to edit files in PDF format, it does not include a system responsible for recognizing text fields, so we cannot use this fantastic Adobe tool to edit files PDF.
The Inkscape app is available for completely free download via the link below.
PDF Specialist
If your needs when working with files in PDF format are professional or related to your work environment, the best application you will find on the market that does not include any type of subscription (you only have to buy application) is PDFExpert.
Almost since its launch, PDF Expert has become, on its own, the best application for editing and modifying (among many other functions) files in PDF format. In addition, it also allows us to create PDFs of forms, a function available in very few applications.
PDF Expert: Edit PDF is available in the Mac App Store for 79.99 dollars. There is also a version for mobile devices that offers us practically the same professional functions but requires a monthly subscription.
Before buying the application, we can visit its website and download the free version to see if it meets all our needs.
Acrobat Pro
The PDF format was created by Adobe. Since Adobe is the creator of this format, obviously it offers us an application to create and edit any type of file in this format. It gives us almost the same functions found with the PDF Expert application, but, unlike this one, you have to pay a subscription to be able to use it.
Adobe changed its business model a few years ago, adopting the subscription model as the only method to be able to use all its applications (Photoshop, Premiere, Adobe Acrobat, Illustrator…).
We can only contract the use of the applications we want, it is not necessary to pay for all the applications. If we are going to take advantage of all the applications it offers us, we will also have 100 GB of cloud storage.
In the case of Acrobat Pro, the monthly price (at the time of publication of this article) to use only this application is 18 dollars per month if we contract 12 months or 30 dollars per month if we contract independent months. We can test the application for free for 30 days to see if it corresponds to what we are looking for.
PDF element
Another interesting application available in the Mac App Store is in PDFElement, an application that offers us practically the same functions as PDF Expert and Adobe Acrobat and allows us to get the most out of them only if we pay a subscription.
The monthly subscription price is cheaper than what Adobe offers us, however, it does not offer us all the functions of Adobe Pro. If you have very specific needs when editing or creating PDF files, you should try the free version of both versions before deciding.
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