Oct 15,2019 • Filed to: Mac Tutorials

Most of the tools that are created using the open source license are targeted at Windows users. This may seem to be so when you come to PDF editors. However, there are PDF editors hat have been specifically created for the Mac. The great thing about open source software is that it is free and is still under development. This means that future versions will have more features and they will not cot you any cash. Some of these PDF editors have very powerful features despite being developed on an open source license. Open source PDF editor for Mac can also perform just as well as some of the premium variations. One should not frown upon open source PDF editors, but try out those put in this list and be amazed. Besides, PDFelement Pro is a perfect PDF editor you can try.

Download PDF Editor for Mac to edit PDF document content on Mac OS X. Adobe Photoshop CC. Charting software with free 3-year market data, updated daily, e.g. Send files to other signers to collect their digital signature using Adobe Sign, save signatures, edit PDFs with PDF editor tools, create and preview fillable PDF forms, merge files, annotate files, add watermarks, convert PDFs, and convert files to and from PDF, including Microsoft Excel. Adobe Acrobat X. Adobe Acrobat Xallows you to change content or images without leaving PDF file.

Part 1. Top 5 Open Source PDF Editor for Mac

#1. Skim

Skim is primarily a PDF reader for Mac but it allows you to make some edits to PDF files. With the help of the open source PDF editor for Mac, you can add notes and make annotations to PDF files. It is a great tool for making presentations in PDF format. One can also add boxes and circles to a PDF file in order to emphasize something. The box can also be filled with white to create a white space for adding new text to the file.

Pros:

• The tool is easy to use and has quite a number of followers due to this.
• One can highlight and annotate text in order o emphasize a point.
• Can add white space for typing over in case one wants to change an entire paragraph or page.
• It is light and will not use up a lot of your system resources even when you load large PDF files.

Cons:

• The editing features are rather limited and it is not suitable for advanced PDF editing.

#2. Foxit

Foxit is primarily a PDF reader, but it is also an open source PDF editor for Mac that has some editing capability. You can add multimedia levels and make notes on PDF files. You can also run JavaScript on the file and secure the text. You can also select different blocks of text in order to edit. Editing with this tool can be somewhat tedious since every sentence is taken as a text box. You would have to go text box by text box, from the start of the page right to the end. This is a tool that enables you to see how many people read your document thanks to the connected signature feature.

Pros:

• It is easy to use.
• It allows for added multimedia levels.
• It can be used to annotate text.
• It has the ability to secure text.
• It has the ability to open protected PDF documents, which is quite a feat.

Cons:

• Every sentence is a text box, which makes the editing of a page to be very tedious.

#3. Scribus

Free Pdf Editor Mac

Scribus is a cross-platform editing tool that is primarily a text editor. It can be also used as an open source PDF editor on Mac to edit PDF files. You can add text and images, but you cannot edit the original text. You have to create white space so you can write over the original text. Apart from just editing our PDF files, you can now do prepress operations using Scribus. Get your PDF files edited and then print out the color separations ready for the printing press. You can also create a PDF right from the start using this program. Scribus actually has some very powerful editing features locked beneath s very simple exterior. Make sure you give it a try and see how great it can be.

Pros:

• Can create a new PDF document.
• Can do prepress operations.
• Has a simple user interface.
• Gives you more control over the editing functions.

Cons:

• The fact that you cannot edit the existing content but have to write over it.

#4. Inkscape

Although Inkscape is a graphics tool, it is also able to edit PDF files. You can open PDF files and edit the images and text. Each sentence of the text is taken as a text box. This makes it quite challenging when you want to use it for editing large text areas. Editing a paragraph would means clicking on each sentence, changing it, and then moving to the next. This means that text does not flow and the results could be a bit odd. However, when it comes to editing the images in a PDF file, this is perhaps the best that you can get.

Pros:

• It is the best for editing images within a PDF file.
• It opens up any PDF file, even when they are protected.
• Ideal for converting PDF files into images.

Cons:

• Each sentence is a text box and this makes it challenging and awkward when editing paragraphs.

#5. Formulate Pro for Mac

Formulate Pro for Mac has been said to be one of the best open source PDF editors for Mac. It comes with very powerful features. You are able to redact your PDF files and add text on top. It also merges several PDF files into one and rearranges the pages. The tool is able to use OCR to turned scanned documents into editable text. You may create a PDF file from scratch using this tool, and then add special security measures including a digital signature.

Pros:

• It has the ability to create PDF files right from the start, which brings out the creativity in you.
• It can be used to create a digital signature for added protection of your work.
• It is able to convert other files into PDF and maintain the overall look.
• You can easily use the tool thanks to the simple user interface.
• You can edit images, text, and complete pages. This means that you can change the order of pages.

Cons:

• It cannot convert documents to ePub, and that limits its ability to provide all eBooks.

Part 2. The Best PDF Editor for Mac (10.15 Catalina Included)

PDFelement Pro for Mac (macOS 10.15 Catalina included) is a powerful PDF editor for Mac and allows you to edit every part of a PDF file, thanks to some of its wonderful features. Every elements of the PDF file will be editable, giving you full control over how the file will be in the end.

Steps to edit PDF files using PDFelement Pro for Mac (Including macOS 10.15 Catalina)

• Step 1: Download and install PDFelement Pro for Mac on your Mac
• Step 2: Click on 'Open File' button to import PDF files to the program.
• Step 3: Open the 'Edit' menu and choose the editing tools to edit texts, images, links and pages in PDF files with ease.

Why Choose PDFelement Pro to Edit PDF Files on Mac

With the help of PDFelement Pro, you can also change the order of the pages, delete some of them and do a lot more. Place your own digital ID on the PDF and also change the metadata. Scan printed document and turn them into editable text through OCR. Here are some of the other great features that can be found in this tool:

• Starting off with a blank file, you can create your own PDF files. The tool also allows you to get files of other formats and convert them to PDF.
• No more seeking out PDF Form templates on template sites. You simply have to create your own. You can also edit and fill out PDF forms from other sources.
• Add security to your PDF documents with a digital signature. You will get a digital ID which you will use to secure all your PDF files
• The PDF tool has a user interface that is easy to navigate and find editing features. This makes it fast and easy to use.
• The tool allows you to edit scanned documents and turn them into PDF files that can be edited. This is called the OCR process.

Get PDF editor with OCR

In a digitized era, where practically all business is done online, it’s hard to spend a day without encountering a PDF file. After all, it’s the most popular digital document format — interactive, free to use and, crucially, able to preserve original formatting (including fonts, images, layouts, and more).

Developed by Adobe in the 90s, PDF made it possible to present identical documents using different applications and devices. Originally a proprietary invention that was promoted with Adobe software, PDF became an open format in 2008, which meant free use for all, without any lingering ties to Adobe.

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Download Setapp and try the best PDF editors for Mac. From OCR recognition to flexible PDF search, it’s all covered.

How To Choose The Best PDF Editor For Mac

Today, there are dozens of applications that can read, modify, and edit PDFs. All are different: free PDF editors, PDF modifiers, costly Mac PDF editors, and even a default PDF reader for Mac that comes with your operating system.

If you need to edit a PDF on Mac, it’s important to not go straight to Google looking for a “free PDF editor download.” In the last decade, lots of bad players have been putting all kinds of malware in those free PDF downloads, hoping for people to be enticed enough by the proposition. So you should know exactly which PDF editor app is best for your needs — luckily you have the perfect guide below.

Apple Preview PDF reader for Mac

If you’re looking for a free PDF editor for Mac, you should start with the one you already have — Preview — which is the default application for viewing any images and PDF files.

Although it can hardly be called a PDF editor app, Preview can perform most of the tasks most people need to do every day: looking through the documents, leaving comments, and signing contracts.

To configure Preview to your liking:

1. Launch the app from your Dock or Launchpad
2. Select View from the menu bar options
3. Set scroll, zoom, and toolbar to what you’d like to see

Then to actually use PDF modifier functions:

1. Choose Tools from the menu bar
2. Hover over Annotate
3. Select from shapes, signatures, notes (comments), and more

When you’re done editing the document, don’t forget to save it (⌘ + S) or export it to create a new file by going to File ➙ Export.

A hidden benefit of Preview that’s not often talked about is its natural integration into the macOS. The app can be easily used within the Apple ecosystem and is quite swift as well.

Adobe Acrobat Reader for Mac

One of the first and hence now widely considered standard solutions for viewing and editing PDF files is Adobe Acrobat Reader. By all accounts, it’s a solid and professional PDF editor for Mac.

There’s, however, one caveat — you can hardly call Adobe Acrobat the best free PDF editor for Mac because to get all of its features you need to pay, a lot. If you subscribe for the whole year, it comes down to $15 a month. Otherwise, it’s $25.

So if you download Adobe Reader for Mac from Adobe’s website, it will only give you a limited number of tools, which are very similar to Apple Preview: comment and sign. To get more you’d need to sign up for the Adobe Acrobat Pro free trial.

Anyway, in case you’re satisfied with Acrobat PDF editor’s limited functionality for the basic version, you can still work with all the PDFs you need:

1. Download and install Adobe Reader for Mac from adobe.com
2. Open the PDF file of your choice
3. To comment or sign the file, navigate to Tools in the top bar of the app
4. Choose the tool you want to use and then select a more specific one from the top bar once you’re in the document itself

If you try to choose the tool that’s not available in the free version of Acrobat Reader for Mac, the app will direct you to the website where you can subscribe to get access.

All in all, while the paid Adobe Acrobat Reader for Mac offers you a full toolkit of productivity, its free option is comparable to Apple Preview, with the latter being a bit more lightweight and fast due to its integration with macOS.

But what’s a truly powerful Mac PDF editor?

PDFpen full-featured OCR editor

While the paid version of Adobe Acrobat Reader for Mac is costly and convoluted, PDFpen offers much more in one straightforward package.

Install PDFpen, best PDF editor for Mac

Make any PDF file editable with PDFpen. With in-built OCR support, nothing is carved in stone if you have PDFpen installed on your Mac.

PDFpen lets you edit PDFs by adding text and images, fixing typos, filling out forms, and covering sensitive information. What’s more, the app features an OCR (optical character recognition) functionality, so you can scan printed documents directly into editable PDF files, and even export them to Microsoft Word later on.

Using PDFpen is as easy as Preview:

1. Open any PDF document
2. In the top bar, find the toggle which lets you switch between text and shapes. These are the tools you can use to enhance your documents. All of them can also be accessed from the Tools dropdown in the menu bar.

One of the most commonly used features with PDFs is highlighting, which is perfectly executed in PDFpen. Just select from the top bar and choose a color. The tool will then switch between a freehand highlighter when hovering over shapes and a structured one when it’s over some text.

Finally, PDFpen’s renowned OCR functionality doesn’t require you to have any specific AI knowledge — it just works:

1. In PDFpen, go File ➙ Open (or ⌘ + O) and select your image
2. Check all languages that apply
3. Turn the image into either an OCR Page or OCR document
4. Now you can edit your image freely and export it later

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Bonus: Professional PDF Search

When you’re working with lots of PDFs everyday, some things are inevitably going to get lost. Especially, since lots of documents and reports are often dozens or even hundreds of pages long.

In this reality, you absolutely need a tool that will help you retain information at the tip of your fingers. Enter PDF Search. This app doesn’t just search your PDF files for exact matches — it uses the power of AI to check relevant terms, multiple combinations, and even scan PDF files in bulk.

The first time you open PDF Search, it will ask you to index the folder with all your PDFs, which may take some time but will also speed up all future searches. After indexing is complete, simply enter the number or text you’re looking for in the search field, press Return, and the results (including related ones) would instantly appear.

To recap, when you’re looking for the best free PDF editor for Mac, your options might seem infinite, but it really comes down to what exactly you need to edit. If it’s just viewing documents and making comments, Apple Preview can do the job just fine. But when you need some heavy-duty lifting, nothing beats PDFpen. In addition, PDF Search is recommended for anyone working with large number of PDFs on a daily basis.

Best of all, PDFpen and PDF Search are both available to you on a free 7-day trial from Setapp, a platform for over 150 indispensable Mac apps designed to take your productivity to the next level. All that’s left to do now is just read and edit!

Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.

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