How to change the text in a PDF

Step by step

1. Open the PDF. Drop the PDF on the box in Edit PDF. Its pages open on the screen, with a list of pages on the left.
2. Choose Edit text. Pick Edit text, then click the line you want to change and type the new words.
3. Finish the line. Click outside the line or press Esc. If the document's font lacks a letter you typed, the editor tells you before you save.
4. Save a copy. Press Save PDF and download the file. Your original is not changed.

Can I change the words that are already in a PDF?

Yes, line by line. A PDF stores instructions such as "draw these letters at this spot", not paragraphs. When you save, the editor takes out the instructions for the old line and writes your text where it started, at the same size, colour and angle, so the rest of the page does not move.

Will the new text match the rest of the page?

Usually. The editor uses the document's own font whenever that font has every letter you typed. Many PDFs carry only the letters they use, so a new letter may be missing. Then the editor says so and uses the closest standard font, serif, sans serif or monospace, in bold or italic to match.

What else can I do on a page?

The tools along the top let you:

• Add text, pictures, your signature, shapes, drawings, highlights and comments.
• Turn, reorder, delete and insert pages.
• Highlight, underline or strike through text. These are saved as standard annotations.

How do I edit a scanned PDF?

A scan is a picture of a page with no text to change. Run it through OCR PDF first to recognise the text. You can still add text, a signature and comments to a scan without it.

Honest limits

The text does not reflow. Each line stays on its own, so a longer line does not push words on to the next line or column, and a line you add goes under the last one. For bigger rewrites, PDF to Word gives you an editable document. The editor takes one PDF of up to 100 MB and 200 pages.

White-out only covers text with white. The words underneath are still in the file and can be copied. To really remove words, use Edit text.

Questions