How to Edit PDF Files for Free

 

On the Web (Works on Android, BlackBerry 10)

If you don't have a Windows or a Mac machine, or if you don't want to install any applications, head to PDF Buddy for basic editing tools. This website also works for editing pdf files on an Android phone, but not on iOS devices. In case you want to try the website first, PDF Buddy lets you use basic features (adding shapes, symbols, text, whiteout and highlight) without creating an account. You will have to create an account if you want to do anything useful like save or download the edited file, add images or signatures to the pdf file. You can edit up to three pdf files a month for free. The website asks you to pay $8 (roughly Rs 500) per month to let you edit an unlimited number of files.

1. Drag a pdf file into the browser or click the Choose PDF to Edit button on the website and then select the file you want to edit.
2. Now, PDF Buddy will open the file (might take long for large files). Once it opens, you'll see a set of editing tools on the left side of the file.
3. The editing tools are fairly straightforward, since the name of each tool tells you what it does. You can choose the text tool to edit text and whiteout tool to erase text. Note that only two fonts are supported (Arial and Times). You can also highlight text, add images and signatures, using the corresponding tools.
4. Below the tools mentioned above, PDF Buddy has shapes and symbols, which you can add to your file. You can use symbols such as "thumbs up", "thumbs down" and "arrows" as bullet points or for annotations if needed.
5. Above the pdf file, you'll see arrows pointing to the right and left. Use these to move to the next or previous page.
6. When you finish editing, hit the Save button at the top of the page. This will save a copy of the file on the website. If you want to save it on your computer, click the Download button that's next to the Save button.

 For desktops and laptops

 For those who use Windows, Mac or Linux, LibreOffice Draw may be the best programme for editing text in pdf files. LibreOffice is a full office suite and you'll have to download the setup file for the whole suite to use Draw. 

1. LibreOffice Draw can open pdf files without any configuration. All you have to do is press Ctrl+O or click File > Open, and select your pdf file.
2. All the tools are laid out at the bottom and should be familiar to anyone who has used MS Word. Click on the line you need to start editing and get to work.
3. Before you get to editing, note that LibreOffice Draw can make formatting go haywire. We imported a pdf file with bullet points, symbols and underlines. Draw moved all of these and it took us a lot of time to restore these to their original positions.
4. To align various elements, just click and drag to move them.
5. As long as your system has the font used in the pdf file, text editing is fairly easy. All you need to do is select the text you want to edit and start typing. Each line of text, bullet point, underline, etc. appear as an object in Draw.
6. When you finish editing, select the Export as PDF option in the File menu.