There are plenty of ways to view and edit PDFs on a Mac, but Apple's built-in Preview application is phenomenal and often overlooked. While Lion didn't wow the crowd with most of its features, it brought some amazing additions to Apple's PDF viewer/editor that puts it over the top and makes it our choice for the best.

1. Pdf File Editor Freeware
2. Download Pdf Editor For Mac

Note: There are a few ways you could define a PDF viewer/editor, as features can range from simple form-filling to complete PDF manipulation. For this post we're concentrating on the features the average person would use, meaning viewing, form completion, annotation, and so on.

Pdf file editor free download - File Properties Editor, Proview PDF Editor, Wondershare PDF Editor, and many more programs. In this article we show you how to edit PDFs on your Mac for free though. How to edit a PDF using Preview. To reduce the size of the the PDF, click File > Save (or Command + S). PDF Filler is another web-based free PDF Editor for mac and Windows users to manipulate PDF online. It supports multiple ways to upload PDF files into its server for free editing, such as URL, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive.

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UPDATE: Wondershare is claiming we named their Product, PDF Editor, our top choice. We did not, and they are using a false award that claims our approval. Please do not buy their products as they are a dishonest company. We've left the original text (stricken out) about PDF Editor in the alternatives section so you can see how little of a recommendation we made.

Preview

Platform: Mac OS X
Price: Free
Download Page

Features

• View and edit images in addition to PDF files
• Annotate, highlight, and mark up PDFs in several ways
• Digitally fill out forms
• Sign PDF documents with your webcam (read on for more info)
• Super-fast performance
• Super-fast search
• Insert new pages into PDFs
• View and edit PDF metadata
• Add and edit hyperlinks in a PDF file

Where It Excels

Preview is fast. Mac OS X isn't exactly known for its speed and efficiency, so Preview's ability to blow through PDF documents is pretty impressive. But among its many handy highlighting and annotating features, which are all solid, its ability to fill out forms is especially impressive. This may seem like a mundane thing, but when you get to the signature line it is hard to eschew at least a little reverence. Preview (in Lion) has a feature where you can sign a piece of paper, hold it up to your computer's webcam, and it'll turn it into a high-quality signature you can place in a form. It can also save multiple signatures so you don't have to continuously repeat this process. Preview is solid all-around, but it's those sorts of features that make it amazing.

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Where It Falls Short

As incredible as Preview's webcam signature feature is, it seems kind of strange that there is no ability to sign with your trackpad as well. After all, Apple Stores let you sign for purchases with your finger on an iPod touch. Additionally, Preview wasn't exactly perfect prior to Lion and Lion isn't exactly perfect on its own. It's hard to justify upgrading to OS X 10.7 if Preview is the only draw. If you're sticking with Snow Leopard, your version of Preview isn't bad but it's certainly not the best PDF editor/viewer you can find. Apple fixed a lot of quirks in Lion, which make it a pleasure to use, but if you're not running Lion you're pretty much out of luck.

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The Competition

PDFPen costs $60 but is pretty great. If you need more features than Preview can provide, it'll get the job done. PDFPen makes page rearrangement, editing, multi-document assembly, and more very easy. While it's on the expensive side, consider it a cheaper alternative to Adobe Acrobat ($200). We've never loved Acrobat and it likely provides more features than you're going to need.

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Wondershare PDF Editor ($50) is another pricey option, but it has the ability to convert PDFs to Microsoft Word documents. We're not sure how well this works, but you might want to give it a try if that's something you need. Wondershare placed a false claim on their PDF Editor software that we considered it the best. They even created a fake Lifehacker approval image to act as if we provided them with an official award. We listed it as an alternative here, but as Wondershare has opted to falsely market their product with a seal of approval from us that we never provided, we ask that you do not buy from them.

Skim is a great choice if your primary focus is annotation as that's what it was design to do. It has an impressively long list of features to make annotation easy.

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Got any other favorite PDF editor/viewer apps for Mac that you love? Share 'em in the comments.

Lifehacker's App Directory is a new and growing directory of recommendations for the best applications and tools in a number of given categories.

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Aug 28,2019 • Filed to: Choose Right Mac Software • Proven solutions

Wondering how to access a free Mac PDF editor, or how to choose the right PDF editor for Mac? Below, we'll cover 10 commonly used PDF editor for Mac, all of which are compatible with macOS 10.14 Mojave. By reading this list, you will be able to determine the most cost-effective Mac PDF editing software that also best meets your business needs.

Top 10 PDF Editor for Mac

1. PDFelement

PDFelement is a PDF solution integrate with a variety of convenient and practical features for editing, conversion, annotation, OCR, form processing and digital signatures.

This well-rounded PDF editing software is popular among users and has a step up above the competition due its excellent form field recognition and data extraction technology.

Unique Features:

• Fully compatible with macOS 10.14 Mojave.
• Powerful PDF editing and annotation tools that allow for a smooth editing experience.
• Robust PDF creation and conversion features.
• The ability to fill and sign PDF forms easily.

Pros:

Pdf File Editor Freeware

Pros of this program include clear function classification, a complete set of PDF tools, OCR and batch processing, high compatibility with all operating systems, a simple user experience and interface, and the ability for document conversions.

Cons:

Because of its focus on simplicity, it has less advanced features than programs like Adobe Acrobat.

Supported Systems: Mac, Windows, iOS, Android

Other Benefits:

• A smooth and simple interface design
  The full functionalities can be enjoyed by both Windows and Mac users.
• Better experience with PDF forms
  The automatic form recognition feature enables you to create an editable form with just one click.
• PDF editing tools
  You can export data from paper or electronic forms into an editable Excel form.
• Intelligent and smooth editing features.
  A better PDF editing experience lets you keep the fonts and formatting of your original file while converting it.
• It can convert standard PDF file format to longer-lasting PDF / A format for purpose of a longer archiving period.

2. Acrobat for Mac

Acrobat is also a powerful tool. As the world's best desktop PDF solution, the brand new look of Acrobat will blow your mind. It also includes a mobile version that lets you fill in, sign and share PDFs on any device at any location. However, Adobe Acrobat XI has ended support, meaning you might need to turn to an Acrobat alternative if you are looking for dedicated support. Click here to discover the best Acrobat alternative options.

Unique Features:

• Fast document comparison.
• Supports operational procedures for review and approval.
• Automatic form field recognition.
• Create a PDF from Office formats quickly and easily.

Pros:

Stable functionalities, high efficiency, and high compatibility.

Cons:

It has a lot of advanced features that are complicated and difficult to use for beginners. Plus, the bloated features mean it comes at a higher cost.

Supported Systems: Windows, Mac, iOS

Price: $179.88 / Year

More Introduction:

• An attractive user interface that supports touch functionality
  Fully compatible with mobile devices and supports touch functionality, with a user-friendly interface.
• Work anytime, anywhere
  Acrobat has all the tools needed for converting, editing and signing a PDF anytime and anywhere. You can start a document at work, modify it during the transit ride home, and then send it for approval from the comfort of your living room.
• Edit any file any time
  You won't need to spend your valuable time re-creating new documents. Simply export or convert your file into an easily editable format.

3. PDF Expert

PDF Expert is one of Readdle's premium Apps. It has been the leading product of PDF processing software on iOS platform for quite some time. Since the launch of PDF Expert on the Mac platform in 2015, it has become the best application on Mac App Store in 2015 and has been recommended by Apple editors.

Unique Features:

• Fast speed for page organization and functionalities
• Fluent in adding annotations and editing
• Simple text and image editing functions

Pros:

Good reading experience, simple operation and easy to use. Plus it has a nice user interface.

Cons:

It has less features than other PDF editors, and the PDF compatibility could be improved.

Supported Systems: Mac, iOS

Download Pdf Editor For Mac

Price: $59.99

More Introduction:

• Professional reading experience
  Smooth scrolling and a quick search function. Choose your favorite layout and complete any task quickly and easily.
• Editing PDFs is seamless
  PDF Expert for Mac helps you format text and paragraphs easily. It will automatically detect fonts, and editing a PDF document is as easy as using any other program to edit a document.
• Fill in and sign PDF forms effortlessly
  Fill PDF forms easily, such as application forms, tax reports, shopping lists, you name it. You can sign a contract by using a legally valid personal e-signature in just a few clicks.
• Integration, sharing, and collaboration
  Add notes or comments to easily collaborate with colleagues. You can also use a password to protect your sensitive files and documents.
• Compatibility with iPhone, iPad, and more
  PDF Expert is compatible with all Apple platform products: Mac, iPad and iPhone. It allows you to transfer documents across these devices seamlessly. Your work can be done anytime and anywhere.

Get the best PDF Expert alternative now - PDFelement.

4. PDFpenPro

PDFpenPro is a professional program heavily influenced by Preview. It is fully compatible with macOS X for PDF documents. It keeps the original operation processing feature of Preview, which fits more user's operating habits and is more convenient for a beginner user. There are also functional enhancements. You can add signatures, text and images, as well as make changes, correct typos, and perform OCR on scanned documents. It allows you to fill and create fillable forms, as well as convert PDF to Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats.

Unique Features:

• Simple form field creation
• Intuitive annotation properties

Pros:

It meets basic PDF editing needs and the operating experience is similar to that of Preview.

Cons:

Not all languages are supported, such as Chinese. It also has weak text and page editing capabilities compared to other programs.

Unique Features: Mac, iOS

Price: $124.95

More Introduction:

• Generic PDF editing tools
  You can use PDFpenPro to add text and signatures, amend text, and use OCR for scanned documents.
• Make interactive PDF forms for Mac and Windows
  You may create an interactive form by using check boxes, text boxes, radio buttons, and interactive signature fields.
• Exports MS Office formats to PDF
  It allows you to export a PDF to Excel, Word, PowerPoint and save as a PDF/A format.
• Store your PDF in the cloud
  You can edit your PDF at any time, and can use the PDFpen on an iPad or iPhone to edit a PDF seamlessly over iCloud or Dropbox.

5. Preview

As a built-in PDF software on Mac, Preview allows for the limited ability to read and browse PDF formats, as well as make simple annotations. It can meet your primary requirement of reading and editing PDFs. But if you have more advanced PDF editing needs, Preview will not be suitable.

Pros:

Build-in system, more preview formats, and read files fluently.

Cons:

Poor compatibility, lack of professional functions and PDF content can only be edited in the most basic ways.

Supported Systems: Mac

Price: Free

More Introduction:

• Quick annotation
• You can quickly arrange pages by dragging and dropping thumbnails
• The camera is able to recognize handwritten signatures quickly.

Learn more about Preview here >>

6. Skim

Skim is a free Mac PDF editor. It functions like Preview, offering markup tools that help highlight important PDF content. You can also add and edit notes, crop PDF files, and more.

• View PDF files.
• Add and edit notes.
• Highlight text.
• Take snapshots of PDF files.
• Give presentations with built-in transitions.

7. PDF Nomad

PDF Nomad is unique editing software that provides a number of editing tools. The software supports the editing of images and texts in PDFs. It also allows you to arrange, split, and merge PDF pages in a document. Some of the tools in this software also make it easier for you to rotate, scale, and crop PDF files.

Pros:

• It can be used to edit all aspects of PDF files including images.
• It comes with an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature that makes editing scanned PDFs very easy.
• You can use it to annotate a PDF document.

Cons:

• The free version lacks many features and at $75 the pro version is somewhat expensive compared to others.

8. Master PDF Editor for Mac

Master PDF Editor is PDF editing software for Mac that comes with loads of features allowing you to convert PDF to numerous other file types and edit just about any aspect of your PDF document.

Pros:

• It can be used to edit both text and images.
• You can convert PDFs to other formats including Word and Excel.
• Works with Linux.

Cons:

• The complex interface makes it difficult to use for beginners.
• The free version has limited capabilities.

9. Scribus for Mac

Scribus is a free PDF editing software for Mac that can be used to open PDFs and even edit certain aspects of the PDF document. It is one of the easiest programs to use because the user interface is simple and clean. You can also use it to annotate PDF documents if you want to highlight and edit sections of the document you consider important.

Pros:

• It is very easy to use.
• It can be used to edit both text and images.

Cons:

• It can't be used to convert PDFs.

10. PDF Buddy

This is another online tool that can be very useful when you want to edit PDF documents. This PDF editing software for Mac comes with a lot of features that can be used to manipulate a PDF document in many ways. You can add text, add and remove images and even split and merge PDF files. It can also be used to add signatures to your PDF document.

Pros:

• It is free to use.
• It lets you make numerous edits to your PDF files.
• There is no limit to the size of PDF file you can work with.

Cons:

• It sometimes fails to download the file after editing.

There you have it - the 10 Best Free PDF Editor Tools for Mac. Now that you've had time to research the best PDF editor for Mac, don't hesitate to try out PDFelement now to see if it's right for you!

Free DownloadFree Download or Buy PDFelementBuy PDFelement right now!