PDF Editors For Editing, Converting, and Protecting Your PDFs
Online PDF editors are often the only way for people to make changes to their important PDF documents like adding or removing text or different images. Dedicated software and programs are often too costly for the casual user of PDFs to afford. Free online PDF editors offer users several features beyond just editing. Some offer file conversion that can turn other file types (Word documents, Google Docs, etc.) into PDFs and vice-versa. Others let users merge several different PDF files into one easily readable document. Others still let people protect their PDF files by storing them in a cloud-based drive or by password-protecting them. The following list shows the best PDF file editors in several categories.
Best PDF Converter
The ability to convert a file into a PDF and vice-versa is essential to sharing documents across many different platforms and with many different users. As PDFs are often difficult to edit or alter, users often create a separate document and then convert it into a PDF to make it shareable and easier to read.
There are several ways to convert PDFs. Word processors like Microsoft Word and Google Docs let users change the file format from those formats into PDFs from their save and print options. But there are online PDF editors that also offer conversion features for several file formats from image files (JPEGs, TIFFs, etc.) and spreadsheets (Excel, XLS, etc.), which are trickier to convert.
Soda PDF
High-Quality Conversions of Multiple File Formats
Soda PDF is a free online PDF program that lets users change their files into several different formats like Word, Excel, and JPEGs, and vice-versa. Apart from the conversion aspect of Soda PDF, which is largely free-to-use, the program also gives users the ability to create new PDF files and set important design parameters from the outset like color schemes, images, and formatting styles. The program is also available in a downloadable mobile app to give users wider access and freedom to create files from anywhere.
Soda also lets you convert multiple files at a single time to merge them into one new PDF. The site is easily navigable and the conversion feature is very easy to use. There are other advanced features incorporated in the Soda PDF site like the 3D-PDF viewer as well as the text and character recognition feature that lets users search PDF documents for keywords and phrases.
Best PDF Protection Software
PDF files can often contain sensitive and confidential information. That’s why the ability to encrypt and decrypt them or to add password-protected access to them is an important feature that many users look for in online PDF editors. Several online PDF editors can also perform the task of redacting private information or making sure that no one without authorized access can read them.
PDFelement
Password Encryption and Editing Suite
PDFelement is a free and premium software program that not only gives users a wealth of editing and annotation options but also lets them secure their documents with password-protected encryption. Beyond the standard PDF, editing features like annotating, marking, organizing, and converting, PDFelement also gives users the power to redact sensitive passages from public view.
When creating a PDF file, users can highlight the sections that they want to be redacted by using a simple user interface and a drop-down menu selection. PDFelement makes it easy to secure important information on PDF files created within the editor section. It also lets users protect documents with signature-only access that they can add when trying to verify a sent or received document.
Best PDF Unlocker Software
Unlocking PDF files is sometimes necessary when passwords are forgotten or information that was once private and confidential is made public. While getting around password-protected encryption may seem difficult, with the help of PDF unlocker programs – that are widely available online – gaining access to a locked PDF is as simple as dragging and dropping a file into your browser.
Sejda PDF
A Versatile PDF Tool With Unlocking Features
Sejda is an online PDF editor and converter that is not limited to only those features and also comes in a downloadable, desktop version. Sejda allows users to try its services for free for single-use purposes, but it is largely a paid site that offers several different subscription plans based on a user’s needs. The browser version has several, standard PDF editing and conversion applications, while it also lets users unlock PDF files.
Unlocking PDF files is as easy as uploading them from a specific drive (Google Drive, Dropbox, or your local hard drive) and letting the program’s unlocking mechanisms do the work. But the process still keeps your files private, and Sejda automatically deletes all unlocked files to prevent unauthorized viewing.
Best PDF Merging Program
Merging or splitting PDF files makes sharing, reading, and creating PDF files easier as well as being essential to organize a single, coherent document from many different ones. The process is simpler than you think and it does not require that much knowledge to quickly and efficiently compile a new PDF document from several PDF files, including from individual pages and passages.
Lumin PDF
An All-Around, Easy-to-Use PDF Program
Lumin PDF is a browser, mobile and desktop-based program that offers users several crucial features to edit, create, annotate and, of course, merge, various PDF files. LuminPDF users can sign-up to use the software for a free trial period but they can also subscribe to one of Lumin’s various user plans that unlock more advanced features.
Merging a PDF with Lumin software is as easy as uploading the selected document and selecting the pages that need to be merged or discarded to form the new one. This task was previously complicated and required very specialized software, but Lumin makes it an effortless task since it only requires users to upload their documents and delete pages they do not need or merge the ones they do into a new PDF file.
Add Comment