Overview
Edits a PDF the way a desktop editor does, inside a browser tab. Add text boxes, replace existing lines of text, place images and signatures, draw shapes and freehand ink, highlight or strike through passages, leave sticky-note comments and links, and reorder, rotate, insert or delete pages. The file is opened with pdf.js and rewritten with pdf-lib on your own device, so nothing is sent to a server.
How It Works
Open a PDF of up to 100 MB and every page appears in a continuous scrolling view with a thumbnail rail beside it. Pick a tool from the toolbar, or press its letter key, then click or drag on a page. Each addition stays an editable object: select it to move, resize, rotate, recolour, duplicate or change its stacking order, nudge it with the arrow keys, or undo and redo any step. Download edited PDF flattens the objects into the original file and saves it with -edited added to the name.
Step-by-Step Usage Guide
- Drop the PDF you want to change onto the editor, or click Open PDF.
- Choose a tool such as Add text box, Edit existing text, Highlight text or Signature from the toolbar.
- Click or drag on a page to place the object, then adjust it in the properties panel on the right.
- Reorder, rotate, duplicate or delete pages from the thumbnail rail, or insert pages from another PDF.
- Click Download edited PDF to save a flattened copy named after the original with -edited appended.
Technical Specifications & Standards
Nothing you add touches the PDF until you download. Until then the edits live in an overlay model measured in PDF points from the top-left corner of the page as you see it. On export each object is drawn into its page through a single transformation matrix built from the CropBox origin, the page's /Rotate value and the object's own angle, so a text box placed on a sideways or cropped page lands exactly where it appeared and still reads upright. The original page content streams are kept, which means existing text stays vector and selectable, fonts and form fields survive, and the file size grows only by what you added. Sticky notes become real /Text annotations that other readers list as comments, and links become /Link annotations with a URI action limited to web and mail addresses. Edit existing text works from the pdf.js text layer: clicking a run covers its box with white and opens a replacement text box filled with the original string at roughly the same size and in the closest of the 14 standard fonts. Those fonts cover Latin text only, so other scripts are swapped for a question mark with a warning. Redaction is handled separately because covering text does not delete it: any page with a Redact box is rendered to a 150 DPI image with those areas painted black and that image replaces the page.
Targeted Use Cases
- Fixing a typo or an outdated date in a contract when the source document is lost.
- Marking up a draft with highlights, strike-throughs, arrows and sticky-note comments for a colleague.
- Signing and dating a form, then ticking its boxes with checkmark stamps.
- Redacting account numbers or names before sharing a statement, so the hidden text cannot be copied back out.
- Assembling a packet by inserting pages from a second PDF, adding a blank cover page and rotating scanned pages upright.
Notes & Gotchas
- Use Redact rather than White-out for anything confidential, because white-out only paints over text that stays in the file.
- Keep the original PDF; the editor always writes a new -edited copy, and redacted pages cannot be turned back into text.
- Check replacement text against the line it covers, since the standard fonts only approximate the document's own typeface.
- Save the session before closing the tab if you plan to keep working, and use Close to clear it from the browser on a shared computer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I edit the existing text in a PDF?
Yes, line by line. Choose Edit existing text and click a run of text: it is covered with white and a text box holding the same words appears on top for you to retype. The original characters remain underneath, so use Redact if they must be removed.
Is the redaction permanent?
Yes. Every page that carries a Redact box is replaced on export by a 150 DPI image with the marked areas painted solid black, so the covered text no longer exists in the file. The trade-off is that the rest of that page also becomes an image and can no longer be searched or selected.
Does it keep my PDF's text selectable?
Pages without a redaction keep their original content streams untouched, so their text stays selectable and searchable, and text boxes you add are written as real PDF text in a standard font rather than as pictures.
Why can't I open a password-protected PDF?
Encrypted files cannot be rewritten without first removing their protection. The editor detects them and points you to the Unlock PDF tool; once you have an unlocked copy, open that one instead.
Are my files uploaded anywhere?
No. Rendering, text extraction and the export all run in your browser, and the optional saved session is stored in this browser's IndexedDB on your own device until you close the file or discard it.
Will other PDF readers show my sticky notes?
Yes. With the comments option on, notes are written as standard /Text annotations with your text and an author name, which Acrobat, Preview, Edge and most readers list as comments. Turn the option off to print the notes on the page instead.
Related tools
- Sign PDF (Fill & Sign) - Sign a PDF by drawing, typing or uploading a signature, drag it into place on any page, add text and today's date, and download a flattened copy. No account and no upload required.
- Unlock PDF (Remove Password) - Remove the password from a PDF you can already open: enter the known password and download an unlocked copy.
- PDF Form Filler - Detect the fillable fields in a PDF form, fill text boxes, checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdowns and lists from a simple list, optionally flatten the answers, and download the completed form.
- Organize PDF Pages - Reorder, delete, rotate, duplicate and extract PDF pages with drag-and-drop thumbnails, then download the new PDF.
- PDF to Text Extractor - Extract raw text from any PDF file in-browser using PDF.js. No upload to any server.
- Add Page Numbers to PDF - Stamp page numbers on a PDF in formats like "Page 1 of 9" or roman numerals, with position, size, margin and start number.