Computer Skills: Is There a Way to Edit a PDF?

PDFs have been around since 1994 when the IRS began to use them as tax forms. That is because of their ability to lock editing capabilities and create an electronic fill feature.

You now come across these types of forms daily, but what if you want to edit a PDF? Is there a way to edit a PDF if it is locked?

Read on to find out how to edit a PDF to modify its text and format.

Unlocked Editing

For unlocked documents, all you need to know is how to open a PDF to edit it. However, you will need a subscription to Adobe Acrobat to use this feature. The Adobe Reader has limited functions for editing a PDF.

Once you have the software, go to “file” and “open” to choose an existing saved PDF. In the right toolbar choose “edit PDF.”

You can click on the text to delete it or edit the content. The “format” section of the toolbar will appear to change fonts, text sizes, and colors.

Images can be changed by clicking on them and choosing the “objects” section of the toolbar.

Is There a Way to Edit a PDF Using Copy and Paste?

Understanding PDF formatting means that it can be difficult to copy and paste content and still get the same result.

To solve this issue, you will need to select the PDF in sections. For example, an image or table needs to be selected, copied, and pasted separately from text.

First, open a new PDF file or a blank Word document so that you can copy and paste in sections.

Converting to Word

When you learn about PDF files you know that they are compatible with just about any other file type. You can use this feature to edit a PDF that is locked.

Open the PDF and choose “save as” to bring up the save box. In the file dropdown menu choose .doc or Word document and click save.

The text and images will be transported to the Word document, but the format will not look perfect. You will need to make your edits then convert it back to a new PDF.

Play with the formatting to make it the way you want.

Free Editors

Adobe isn’t the only PDF editor available even though it might have the most features. The best reason why to use PDFs is they have been around so long that there are many free editors online like PDF.net.

Search online for one that has the editing functions that you need. Upload the document, make changes, then save the new PDF.

Unlock the PDF

How to use a PDF that is locked and won’t let you copy it or use an online editor due to its security permissions and complex content?

You can try PDFUnlock to unlock the document. Upload the PDF using a web URL, file, or Google doc then click unlock.

One issue is that you will need the password used to unlock the file. So, this option is useful only if you don’t have a software program like Adobe to unlock the file yourself.

Enhancing Your PDF Editing Skills

Now that you have discovered the answer to is there a way to edit a PDF—it’s time to learn all the editing features that PDFs have to offer.

Visit our Guides/How-To section for more tips on PDFs.

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