Edit a PDF File

How to Edit a PDF: A Step-by-Step Guide

Online PDF editor is a versatile instrument for quick work with PDF documents online. From now on, you don’t need a printer, a scanner, or a black fountain pen to make urgent changes to your files. Simply choose a PDF for editing and use this program. To make your experience with PDFLiner more productive we created the full step-by-step guide on how to modify PDF online. 

Step 1: Upload your document

The first thing you need to do to work with a PDF online editor is to upload the document of your choice. There are three ways for doing it.

• Click on the “Upload Document” tab on our main page and click on the upload button. Then choose the file from your computer.
• To paste the link to the file you’d like to edit, choose the tab “Type Document URL,” insert the link, and click on the “Fill Now!” button.
• Choose one of the files in our database. Choose the “Search for Document” tab, enter the document name in our search bar and click on the “Search” button.

After the upload, you will be immediately redirected to the editor with various tools that you can use to modify your PDF. Let us guide you through them.

Step 2: Add text to a PDF

Text is the most basic instrument, so let’s start with it. PDFLiner lets you edit text in a PDF online. To add text to your PDF document:

Click on the button in the upper left with the letter ‘T’ on it. Then move the cursor to a place in the document where you want to type in additional text. If you change your mind about the placing of the text, you can always drag the text box where needed.

PDF editor also gives you the ability to change the font, size, and color of your text, as well as to make it bold, italic, or highlighted.

Step 3: Insert marks and draw on PDF

Sometimes, when filling out a PDF, it is necessary to underline or mark a specific place in the document. We have a couple of instruments that will help you to do this in no time. To insert mark to a PDF:

1. Click on the “Insert” icon.
2. Choose a mark that you need for your PDF.
3. Place the mark where you want it to be on the document and click. After that, the mark will be inserted to your form, but if you wish to delete it, just click on the trash bin icon.

If you need to add a line or an arrow, the process will be similar, except you can control their length and direction by clicking and moving the red circles.

To draw on a PDF, click on the “Insert” icon and choose the Draw tool.

Step 4: Add image to a PDF

To make your document even more concise, you can use such instruments as image adding. To add an image to your document:

1. Click on an “Insert” icon on your toolbar and choose “Add Image.”
2. Then, you’ll be given a choice of our database images, but you will also be able to upload one of your images or even make a quick capture right here right now.
3. Insert a picture where you want it to be, change the image size if needed, and click ok.

Step 5: Highlight, blackout, or whiteout in your PDF

Highlight, blackout, and whiteout instruments are the key to changing how your document looks.

If you need to get rid of some information in the document or change its outlook, use the ‘Whiteout’ and ‘Blackout’ instruments. The former leaves the white field instead of the text, while the latter changes the color into black, making the text underneath unreadable.

1. Click on the “Whiteout” or  “Blackout” button. Your choice depends on the color of the field you need.
2. Stretch the field in place of the text you want to hide.

There’s also a “Highlight” instrument that acts a lot like a marker pen and lets you underline the most crucial parts of the document. 

1. Click on the “Highlight” button.                                                                                                                   
2. Stretch the yellow field on the text you want to highlight.

Step 6: Add Date To Your Document

Another great finding of this PDF editor is the "Add Date" tool. There are two ways of entering the date:

If there is a “Date” field in the document, simply click on it and choose the date you need.

If there is no “Date” field, just click on the “Add Date” button on your toolbar and place the cursor in the spot where the date is needed. The tool is automatically set to today’s date, so you may change it to any date you need. 

Step 7: Sign Your Document

Signing is another highly important instrument this editor offers. With it, you can sign any document without wasting paper and ink. 

1. There’s an ‘Add Sign’ icon among the instruments in the upper left. Click on it!               
2. Choose the way of adding the signature.
3. Decide on a place where you need to sign your file and add the signature.

If you already have a “Sign Field” on your document, the procedure will be the same just click on the “Sign Field’ instead of clicking on the “Add Sign” instrument.

Step 8: Rearrange, Add or Delete Pages on Your PDF

There’s a “Pages” box where you can quickly switch between the document pages by clicking on the one you need. In this box, you can alternate the order of the pages in the document and add the extra ones. 

1. Click on the “Rearrange Pages” tool.
2. Rearrange, add, duplicate or delete pages as you need using the control buttons.       
3. When you are done, click the “Apply” button.

Step 9: Add Fillable Fields To A PDF

The add fields function is super useful when you work with standard PDF forms like the ones we offer on our website.

1. Click on the “Edit Form” button on the toolbar.
2. Now you’ve opened its own toolbar where you can add text box to PDF, create date, signature, and other types of fields that can be included in the document. You can read the complete guide on how to add fillable fields.

When Your File Is Ready

Sure there’s nothing else to do to improve your PDF document? Then click on the ‘Done’ button and choose a saving option to keep the changes. This way, the edited document will be saved to your profile and ready for further action. 

Hope this guide answered the question of how can you modify PDF online. Maybe you want to learn other ways of how to redact a PDF? Browse through our guides to find them all!

Benefits of the PDF Editor

PDFLiner is a free simple PDF editing tool, the basics of which you can get with our simple instruction. Apart from editing the PDFs, with PDFLiner you can do the following:

1. You can add quick edits to the documents on a go.                                                                                   
2. Create new documents from scratch or on the basis of an old one,
3. Add your signature, date, or even an image to the file.
4. Password protect your file in a few clicks.
5. Add fillable fields to a PDF.
6. Store your documents in our secure cloud-based storage.
7. Share PDF with other users.
8. Merge and Split your documents online.

All of this can be made in just a couple of clicks and won’t take more than a few minutes. And don’t forget about our database of PDF forms that you can change in a way that is most convenient for you.

PDFs are preferred over other file formats due to their stability, security, and compatibility with almost all platforms. Editing PDFs online is convenient, as it eliminates the need to install additional software or worry about compatibility issues.

Relevant Guides:

• How to edit PDF files on Windows.
• How to edit a PDF document on Chromebook.