On this page
- Introduction
- Get your bearings
- Job 1, step 1: fix a price in an invoice
- Step 2: if the editor says it used another font
- Step 3: download
- Job 2, step 1: replace details you can't edit
- Step 2: type the new details
- Step 3: add a signature picture and a link
- Job 3: review a draft for someone else
- Tips that save you redoing an edit
Introduction
You learn an editor fastest by fixing something with it. So rather than tour every button, this guide follows three ordinary jobs: correcting a price in an invoice, updating an old form where the text can't be edited, and reviewing a draft for someone else. On the way you'll learn which tool does what.
A computer gives you the most room, but the steps are the same on a tablet.
Get your bearings
Open the PDF Editor and select or drop a PDF. If it has a password, you'll be asked for it first, on your device. Zoom with the buttons in the toolbar, or use Fit width to fill the space; Ctrl+Z undoes and Ctrl+Shift+Z redoes (⌘ on a Mac). Once the file is open there are three areas:
- The toolbar above the page, in three groups: Text, Add and Comment.
- The page itself, where you click and draw.
- The Control Panel, with Tool, Properties and Document sections. It changes to show settings for whatever you're doing.
Job 1, step 1: fix a price in an invoice
Pick Edit text from the Text group and click the line with the price. It turns into an editing box, written in the invoice's own font. Change the number, then click outside the box or press Ctrl+Enter (⌘+Enter on a Mac). Escape cancels the change.
That's usually it. The new price has the same font, size, colour and position as before, and the rest of the line hasn't moved.
Step 2: if the editor says it used another font
Sometimes you'll see a note that the text uses a different font. That means the invoice's copy of its font didn't include a letter or digit you typed, so a close match drew the line instead.
If the match looks right, leave it. If it doesn't, open "Fonts in this document…" in the Document section. Find the font, pick a replacement, and choose whether it applies to this text only or to all text in that font. You can also add a font file of your own, or show the fonts installed on your device.
Step 3: download
Select Download PDF. The file keeps its name, and pages you didn't touch are saved exactly as they were.
Job 2, step 1: replace details you can't edit
Old forms and scanned letters are often pictures of text, so clicking a line does nothing. The editor tells you how many pages are like this. For those, cover and retype.
Pick Whiteout from the Add group and drag over the old address. It covers the area with white.
Step 2: type the new details
Pick Add a text box, drag where the text should go, and type. In the Control Panel, set the font, size and colour so it sits comfortably with the rest of the page. Select and move, in the Text group, lets you nudge the box into place afterwards.
Step 3: add a signature picture and a link
Pick Add an image and drag where the signature goes, then choose a PNG or JPEG of it. A PNG with a transparent background looks most natural. If the letter mentions a website, pick Add a link, drag over the address, and type where it should go: a web address or another page of the document.
Job 3: review a draft for someone else
Switch to the Comment group. Whatever you add here is saved as a standard PDF comment, so the person you send it to sees it in whatever PDF reader they use.
- Highlight, underline or strike out text by dragging across it.
- Add a comment by clicking where it belongs and typing your note.
- Draw freehand to circle something.
- Add a stamp: choose Approved, Draft, Confidential or another stamp, type your own wording, or use a picture, then drag it onto the page.
Tips that save you redoing an edit
A few habits that keep your edits clean.
- Edit text before adding boxes. Real text edits keep the document searchable and copyable; a text box on top of whiteout doesn't replace the words underneath.
- Check the font note. If a line was drawn with a replacement font, look at it zoomed in before you download.
- Undo is your friend. Ctrl+Z steps back through every change, including moves and resizes.
- Whiteout covers, it doesn't remove. The old words are still in the file underneath. For details that must really disappear, such as an account number, use a redaction tool instead.
Written by
Ankit Kumar
Senior Software Engineer & Founder at ToolBuddy
Engineering browser-first utilities with zero upload requirements using WebAssembly, Web Audio, and Canvas technologies.