Best free PDF editors 2023: Their top picks

If you work with PDF files regularly then a PDF editor is an indispensable tool. Whether it’s part of your job, you manage PDF files for your own personal use, or you just need to complete a one-off editing task, a top editor program is an essential piece of software. Full-featured editors such as Adobe’s Acrobat Pro DC might provide all of the bells and whistles, but a free PDF editor can still offer most of the important tools of a paid service for no additional charge.

Plus, many free PDF editors are browser based, which means that you don’t need to worry about about platform- or device-compatibility issues.

Of course, free products won’t come with every feature of their premium counterparts. So, if you find that you need more advanced tools such as password protection, Bates numbering, or e-signatures, then you’re probably better served by a premium PDF editor.

PDF Candy – Best free PDF editor overall

Pros

Cons

Price When Reviewed: Free

PDF Candy is the rare free PDF editor that offers a lot of the features you’d typically have to pay for. We’re talking scanning, multiple file-conversion options, and OCR functionality. While the free version has access to the expansive toolset of the paid version, you’re limited to one PDF task per hour. For unfettered access, you need to shell out $6 month.

Apple Preview PDF editor – Best free PDF editor for Mac users

Pros

Cons

Price When Reviewed: Built into macOS

Mac users have an excellent PDF editor built right into their operating system. Although its ostensibly a photo viewer, macOS’s Preview app is rife with PDF-editing capabilities including tools for adding text and shapes, redacting content, making freehand drawings, inserting sticky notes, and capturing your signature using your trackpad, camera, or iPhone.

Sejda PDF editor – Most versatile free PDF editor

Pros

Cons

Price When Reviewed: Free (Premium $7.50/mo)

Offered as both an online tool and a desktop editor, Sejda is capable of performing dozens of tasks including editing, form creation and filling, Bates stamping, file encryption, and more. If the daily usage limits are too restrictive for you, you can upgrade to the affordable paid version.

While there are a number of different types of PDF file formats, they all fall under the umbrella term of PDF documents. A PDF form is a type of PDF document that has editable form fields a user can fill out. Typically, parts of the document are static and can’t be changed in a PDF form. These usually include questions and instructions for those who end up filling out the form later on. In a PDF form, the content fields a user fills out are typically open to editing and can offer a list of possible answer options or can be written in freely.

Yes. They are two entirely different document formats. While you can export from one file format to another, they are not the same. Word file formats are usually used for word processing, editing, and making changes to text. PDF documents on the other hand, are most often utilized for viewing, sharing, and printing documents. Additionally, Word files can be read and/or written to and contain some version of the “.doc” file format. Whereas PDF files are typically read-only and contain the “.pdf” file format.

Yes. If you have a PDF document that you do not want anyone else to be able to edit, you can protect the file. You can do this by opening the file in Acrobat, clicking Tools > Protect. Then you have a few options as to whether you want to just restrict editing with a password, or if you want to encrypt the file for further safety. Once you choose how you want to protect the PDF document, you can set a password and save.

Yes, many free PDF editors such as their top pick PDF Candy, allow you to merge two or more PDFs into one. As most free PDF editors are browser-based, you will just need to open up the PDF editor application or website in your browser and click the “Merge” option. It will then ask you to add the files of all PDFs you wish to merge. Once the files have been added, just make sure that they are in the correct position and alignment you want before proceeding with the merge. Afterwards, all of your previously PDF files will be merged together into one new PDF document.

Yes and no. Google doesn’t provide a designated free PDF editor itself, but there are third-party Chrome extensions that you can use to help get the job done. Alternatively, you can make use of Google Drive to edit a PDF document. Simply upload the document onto your Google Drive and then select the file and right-click and select Open with > Google Docs. The file will be opened as an editable Google Docs text document. Then just make your edits and when you’re finished click File > download > PDF Document to revert it back to a PDF file.

This method is a quick and easy way to edit a simple PDF document, but be careful as Google Docs can run into formatting issues if your original document has complex visual formatting such as tables and graphs. In this case, it’s best to use a designated free or premium PDF editor.

Ophthalmic Medical Technician Salary

Retired Air Force sergeant served 20 years as a medical technician

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Working in aerospace medicine and as a nationally registered EMT, Sergeant Derrick Judkins traveled the world, assisted surgeons, and treated their nation’s wounded. He was deployed to Operation Desert Storm, Operation Desert Shield, to multiple campaigns in between.

After scoring high on the Air Force Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test, young Derrick Judkins saw being a medical technician as his ticket out of Detroit.

“I was ready to get out of Detroit at the time, so I says, ‘You know what, I’m going to go the non-traditional.’ College… Military… So, I went military. And it was the best decision I ever made, to be honest with you,” said Judkins.

Courtesy: Derrick Judkins

His 20-year military career began with basic training at Lackland Air Force Base. He was stationed in Omaha when his unit was deployed to the Gulf War.

“I call him ‘Big George,'” Judkins said of President George H. W. Bush. “Yeah, that was the first one. Desert Storm, and that’s when they sent us over in the sandbox. That was when I guess you’d be saying things get real.”

Judkins said a contingency hospital was set up behind the front lines.

“Where they were stationed at, they weren’t directly in the line of fire, but they were in a position where they were taking care of the individuals that may have been injured or what have you,” said Judkins.

During a six-year stint at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, Judkins treated wounded soldiers in a hyperbaric chamber.

Courtesy: Derrick Judkins

“They put us in a chamber because the increased amount of oxygen is healing,” explained Judkins. “Like every other week or so, they were getting in with patients that needed wound care or wound therapy.”

Judkins picked up a few unique skills while working as a medical technician.

“I was asked, ‘How many jobs have you had?’ Even just in the military… aerospace medicine, public health, Honor Guard. I’ve caught mosquitoes when the West Nile virus was going. That was part of public health. Man, I can identify a female mosquito and a male mosquito. All of that stuff made a difference in that little piece of the job. It was integral to the mission at hand,” said Judkins.

His last assignment was a stop at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita in 2007, where he worked in public health. 

So, what was the most rewarding part of Judkins’ military career?

“The Honor Guard. Honor Guard was the most rewarding to me because that was a memory that you were leaving with the family. Maybe the last time seeing their loved one in a military state like that. Whether it be an active-duty funeral or retirement. That satisfaction or the gratification that you get from folding that flag and getting down on one knee and starting off ‘On behalf of the United States of America.’ That was big to me because it was something that you had to look at that person or that next of kin in their eye, and you saw that, and they were so appreciative of that. So, that was huge to me,” said Judkins.

Judkins retired from McConnell AFB at age 38, and he settled in Wichita. Now, he works as a clinical liaison for a long-term care company.

If you want to nominate a veteran for their Veteran Salute, email KSN reporter Jason Lamb at jason.lamb@ksn.com.