How to Edit a PDF — Add Text, Shapes & Annotations
Upload your PDF, click on the text you want to edit, type your changes, adjust font/size/color to match, and click "Save." Download the edited PDF.
Introduction
Edit PDF is a free online PDF editor that lets you add text, shapes, images, and annotations to your PDF documents directly in your browser. Whether you need to fix a typo, add a comment, highlight important passages, or insert new content, PDFly provides professional-grade editing tools without any software installation. Unlike other PDF editors like Adobe Acrobat ($14.99-23.99/mo) or Smallpdf ($9-12/mo), PDFly is completely free with no daily limits, no watermarks, and no account required. All editing happens locally in your browser using client-side JavaScript and WebAssembly — your files never leave your device. The editor supports text editing, shape tools (rectangles, circles, lines, arrows), annotations (highlight, underline, strikethrough, sticky notes), and image insertion. This tutorial covers every editing feature, with pro tips, troubleshooting, and FAQs.
Step-by-Step Guide
Upload Your PDF
Drag and drop your PDF onto the editor workspace, or click to browse and select it.
Add or Edit Content
Click "Add Text" to insert new text, click on existing text to edit it, or use shape tools to add rectangles, circles, and lines.
Add Annotations
Use highlight, underline, strikethrough, sticky notes, and drawing tools to annotate your document.
Save and Download
Click "Save" to apply all changes. The edited PDF downloads instantly.
Pro Tips & Best Practices
Use the font matching feature to automatically match existing text style.
Add images by clicking "Add Image" and positioning them on the page.
Annotations can be toggled on/off before saving — experiment freely.
Use layers to organize text, shapes, and annotations separately.
Common Use Cases
Update Document Content
Fix typos, update information, or add new content to existing PDFs.
Add Annotations
Highlight, comment, and mark up documents for review and collaboration.
Complete Forms
Fill in text fields, add checkboxes, and sign documents directly in the editor.
Key Features
Text Editing
Edit existing text or add new text with full font control.
Shape Tools
Add rectangles, circles, lines, and arrows.
Annotations
Highlight, underline, strikethrough, sticky notes.
100% Private
All editing happens in your browser.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Click on existing text to edit it. Change content, font, size, color, and position. For scanned PDFs, enable OCR first.
Yes. Click "Add Image" to upload and place images anywhere on the page.
No. The editor adds new content layers without re-encoding existing page content.
Common Issues & Solutions
Can't edit existing text in the PDF
If the PDF is scanned (image-based), you need to run OCR first to make text editable. For text-based PDFs, click directly on existing text to edit it. Some PDFs have text that is outlined or embedded as images, which cannot be edited directly.
Added text doesn't match the existing font
Use the font matching feature to automatically detect and match the existing text style. You can also manually select the font family, size, and color to match.
Annotations disappeared after saving
Make sure you clicked Save (not just closed the tab). Annotations are embedded in the PDF on save. If you closed without saving, re-upload and re-apply your annotations.
Editor is slow with large PDFs
PDFs with 100+ pages may be slower to edit. Close other browser tabs to free up memory. Try editing one page at a time. For very large documents, consider splitting first, editing sections, then merging.
Ready to Try Edit PDF?
Put this tutorial into practice right now. Edit PDF is free, browser-based, and requires no signup.
Open Edit PDF