Edit PDF
Edit PDFs in your browser — add text, draw freehand, insert shapes and images on any page, then export. No upload, no signup, completely free and private.
Add text to a PDF by clicking where you want it. Pick a page from the thumbnail grid, type, place, and repeat — then save once. Ideal for filling in scanned forms that have no interactive fields. Runs entirely in your browser: no upload, no sign-up, no watermark.
What this tool is, and what it is not
Worth settling immediately, because "edit PDF" promises more than any browser tool delivers. Thisadds new text on top of a page. It does not change the text already in the document.
| What you want to do | Use |
|---|---|
| Type into a scanned or flat form | This tool |
| Add a note, date or label to a page | This tool |
| Fill a form with real interactive fields | PDF forms |
| Rewrite existing paragraphs | PDF to Word, then edit |
| Add a signature | Sign PDF |
| Stamp every page | Add watermark |
| Remove sensitive content | Redact PDF |
| Draw arrows, boxes or highlights | Screenshot annotator |
There is also no drawing of any kind here — no shapes, arrows, highlighter or image placement. Text is the whole feature set, which is why it is quick to use for the one job it does.
Filling in a scanned form
This is where it earns its place. A scanned paper form has no interactive fields forPDF forms to detect and no editable text to change — it is a picture of a page. So the only way to complete it digitally is to type over the lines, which is exactly what this does.
- Pick the page from the thumbnail grid. Pages with edits pending get a marker, so you can keep track across a multi-page form.
- Type your entry, set a size, and pick a colour — charcoal reads like print, and a colour makes it obvious what was added afterwards.
- Click on the preview where it should go, or use the X and Y sliders for fine positioning.
- Repeat for every field, checking the queue as you go, then save once at the end.
Everything you add sits in a list with its page number and a remove button, so a mistake costs nothing before you save. After saving, the text is part of the page — keep the original file if you might want to start over.
Placement is close, not exact
One honest quirk to expect, and it saves confusion on the first attempt. There are two small offsets between the preview marker and the saved result:
- Horizontally, the marker is centred on your click, but the saved text starts there and runs rightwards. The longer the string, the more noticeable this is — click slightly left of where you want a long entry to appear centred.
- Vertically, PDF text sits on a baseline, so it renders a little higher than the marker suggests — roughly half the font size.
The reliable method is therefore: place it, save, open the file, and nudge with the sliders if it is off. For a form with many fields, get one right first to learn the offset, then place the rest with that in mind.
Fonts, colours and the character limitation
Text is drawn in Helvetica at 8 to 48 points (default 16), in one of five colours: charcoal, crimson, royal blue, emerald and amber. There is no custom colour picker and no font choice. That is a deliberate trade — standard fonts need no embedding, so the file stays small and opens identically in every reader.
The cost is character coverage. Latin text and common accents are fine, butCyrillic, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, CJK and Indic scripts cannot be encoded by the standard font and saving will fail. There is no workaround within this tool; for non-Latin text you need software that embeds a full Unicode font.
Why local editing matters for forms
Consider what actually gets typed into a PDF form: a name and address, a date of birth, a national insurance or social security number, bank details, a signature block, medical information. Uploading a part-completed form to a free web service means handing over a filled dossier, not just a document.
Here the PDF is parsed and rewritten inside the browser tab, so your entries exist only in the page's memory and in the file you download. Nothing is transmitted, stored or logged, and the page keeps working offline once loaded. One thing to note: a password-protected file cannot be opened, and a file with permission restrictions but no open password will save as an unencrypted copy.
Related PDF tools
PDF forms is faster when the document has real interactive fields, andsign PDF adds a signature image. For a stamp on every page useadd watermark, and redact PDF removes content properly rather than covering it. If the form arrived as paper, photograph it withscan to PDF first; if it has no text layer,OCR PDF adds one. To combine a completed form with supporting documents usemerge PDF, and compress PDF if a portal caps the file size.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I add text to a PDF for free?
Choose a PDF, pick the page you want from the thumbnail grid, type your text, then click on the page preview to place it — or set the position with the X and Y sliders. Add as many pieces of text as you need, then save. Nothing is uploaded.Can I edit the text that is already in the PDF?
No, and this is the key limitation. This tool adds new text on top of the page; it cannot change, delete or reflow the words already there. Editing existing text needs the original document — or convert to Word, edit, and export back to PDF.What can I add besides text?
Nothing — text only. There is no drawing, no shapes, no arrows, no image placement and no highlighting. For a signature use the sign PDF tool, for a stamp across every page use add watermark, and for annotating a screenshot the screenshot annotator has drawing tools.Why does the text land slightly differently from where I clicked?
Two small offsets. The marker in the preview is centred on your click, but the saved text starts at that point and runs rightwards, and it sits on a baseline so it appears a little higher than the marker. Place it, save, check, and nudge with the sliders if it matters.Which colours and sizes are available?
Five colours — charcoal, crimson, royal blue, emerald and amber — and a font size slider from 8 to 48 points, defaulting to 16. There is no custom colour picker and one typeface, Helvetica, which is deliberate: standard fonts keep the file small and open reliably everywhere.Can I type accented or non-Latin characters?
Latin text with common accents works. Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indic scripts do not, because the standard Helvetica font cannot encode them and saving will fail. That is a limitation of the built-in fonts rather than of your document.Can I remove something I added?
Yes, before saving. Every addition is listed in a queue with its page number and a remove button, and pages with pending edits are marked in the thumbnail grid. Once saved, the text is part of the page — keep the original file if you might need to start over.Will it work on a scanned PDF?
Yes, and this is one of its best uses. A scan has no interactive fields and no editable text, so filling in a scanned paper form by typing over the lines is exactly what this tool is for. Use the thumbnails to find the right page and place each entry.