How To Make A Pdf Editable On Mac

2020-10-27 20:47:47 • Filed to: PDFelement for Mac How-Tos • Proven solutions

• How To Edit An Editable Pdf
• How To Make A Pdf Editable On Mac Free
• How To Create Editable Pdf Files
• Convert Pdf To Editable Pdf

The left three buttons make an arrow, a circle or a rectangle. The fourth button along allows you to add text to the pdf. If you click on the text box button – the 4th button across, you can then go up to your document and add in a text box like this: If you click on the text button you can add a text box to the pdf document like this. PDFelement for Mac is an awesome PDF form maker for Mac. You can use it to create your own professional form from a select of free form templates, or options to create a form from scratch using text fields, buttons, lists and more. On top of being a form creator, this program is also a form filler and editor. You'll be able to fill out PDF forms and edit items as you want.

Apple's Preview program has been equipped Preview with many PDF features: the ability to review PDF files, mark up PDFs with tools, delete & merge PDF pages, and more. However, one feature it does not have is the ability to create PDF forms on Mac, including macOS 10.15 Catalina, 10.14 Mojave, 10.13 High Sierra, and 10.12 Sierra. You might be wondering how to create a fillable PDF on Mac. To accomplish the task, you should never rely on Preview, but a professional PDF form creator for Mac. Read on to discover a great solution - PDFelement to help you create PDF forms on Mac.

Steps for Creating Fillable PDF Forms on Mac

PDFelement for Mac is fully compatible with macOS 10.15 (Catalina), 10.14 (Mojave), 10.13 (High Sierra), 10.12 (Sierra). Download and install the package for the Mac PDF form creating tool. Follow the steps below to learn how to make PDF forms on Mac.

Step 1. Download a PDF Form Template

One way to make it efficient to create forms in Mac is to start with PDF form templates, rather than starting from scratch. You can download PDF form templates from our template page or online. Then launch the software and click 'Open File' to import the templates you downloaded.

Step 2. Create a PDF Form from Template

After opening the form, you can click 'Form' on the left column and this will review the form toolbar. Click the last icon and choose 'Form Field Recognition' in the drop-down menu. This will make all interactive fields editable. You can then fill the content.

If you want to modify the items, you can click the tools to edit them or choose an option to add a new item to your form.

Step 3. Build PDF Form from Scratch

If you'd rather start from scratch, you can go to 'File > Create > Blank Document' to open a blank page. Then click the 'Form' button on the left column to show all the form elements like checkboxes, radio buttons, text fields and so on. Click one of the elements on the floating menu. Move the cursor to a blank area of the document to draw checkboxes, radio buttons, list box, etc.

• Create Multiple Copies: You can create duplicates of all selected fields at once.
• Show Tab Numbers: You'll be able to see the default field order when you use the Tab key to enter. This will be the same as the creation order and you can change the order manually if you'd like.
• Form Field Recognition: This will help you create a fillable PDF form automatically. This prevents you from having to add fields or boxes manually one by one.

Step 4. Edit Fields Properties

After adding an element, you can set the properties for the interactive field by double-clicking on it. To align added interactive fields, Click the 'Align' button and select one of the alignment options. To modify an existing field, click on the field to select it, then press the Delete key to delete it, or move your cursor to adjust its size. After drawing forms, you can then type in text.

Double-click the field or box to open the Properties window. You can then set the appearance, actions, options, and calculations, etc.

Video on Creating Fillable PDF Forms on Mac

PDFelement for Mac is an awesome PDF form maker for Mac. You can use it to create your own professional form from a select of free form templates, or options to create a form from scratch using text fields, buttons, lists and more. On top of being a form creator, this program is also a form filler and editor. You'll be able to fill out PDF forms and edit items as you want.

PDFelement for Mac can convert all of your PDF editing, creating and converting needs. You can make changes to PDF text, images and pages, just like you would with a Word processor. The advanced OCR technology even lets you turn scanned PDF documents into editable text. You can also convert PDF from or to various other document formats. Moreover, it supports the new macOS Mojave, so you don't have to worry about compatibility issues.

Free Download or Buy PDFelement right now!

Free Download or Buy PDFelement right now!

Buy PDFelement right now!

Buy PDFelement right now!

In a digitized era, where practically all business is done online, it's hard to spend a day without encountering a PDF file. After all, it's the most popular digital document format — interactive, free to use and, crucially, able to preserve original formatting (including fonts, images, layouts, and more).

Developed by Adobe in the 90s, PDF made it possible to present identical documents using different applications and devices. Originally a proprietary invention that was promoted with Adobe software, PDF became an open format in 2008, which meant free use for all, without any lingering ties to Adobe.

Get selected PDF editors in one pack

After adding an element, you can set the properties for the interactive field by double-clicking on it. To align added interactive fields, Click the 'Align' button and select one of the alignment options. To modify an existing field, click on the field to select it, then press the Delete key to delete it, or move your cursor to adjust its size. After drawing forms, you can then type in text.

Double-click the field or box to open the Properties window. You can then set the appearance, actions, options, and calculations, etc.

Video on Creating Fillable PDF Forms on Mac

PDFelement for Mac is an awesome PDF form maker for Mac. You can use it to create your own professional form from a select of free form templates, or options to create a form from scratch using text fields, buttons, lists and more. On top of being a form creator, this program is also a form filler and editor. You'll be able to fill out PDF forms and edit items as you want.

PDFelement for Mac can convert all of your PDF editing, creating and converting needs. You can make changes to PDF text, images and pages, just like you would with a Word processor. The advanced OCR technology even lets you turn scanned PDF documents into editable text. You can also convert PDF from or to various other document formats. Moreover, it supports the new macOS Mojave, so you don't have to worry about compatibility issues.

Free Download or Buy PDFelement right now!

Free Download or Buy PDFelement right now!

Buy PDFelement right now!

Buy PDFelement right now!

In a digitized era, where practically all business is done online, it's hard to spend a day without encountering a PDF file. After all, it's the most popular digital document format — interactive, free to use and, crucially, able to preserve original formatting (including fonts, images, layouts, and more).

Developed by Adobe in the 90s, PDF made it possible to present identical documents using different applications and devices. Originally a proprietary invention that was promoted with Adobe software, PDF became an open format in 2008, which meant free use for all, without any lingering ties to Adobe.

Get selected PDF editors in one pack

Download Setapp and try the best PDF editors for Mac. From OCR recognition to flexible PDF search, it's all covered.

How To Edit An Editable Pdf

How To Choose The Best PDF Editor For Mac

How To Make A Pdf Editable On Mac Free

Today, there are dozens of applications that can read, modify, and edit PDFs. All are different: free PDF editors, PDF modifiers, costly Mac PDF editors, and even a default PDF reader for Mac that comes with your operating system.

If you need to edit a PDF on Mac, it's important to not go straight to Google looking for a 'free PDF editor download.' In the last decade, lots of bad players have been putting all kinds of malware in those free PDF downloads, hoping for people to be enticed enough by the proposition. So you should know exactly which PDF editor app is best for your needs — luckily you have the perfect guide below.

Apple Preview PDF reader for Mac

If you're looking for a free PDF editor for Mac, you should start with the one you already have — Preview — which is the default application for viewing any images and PDF files.

Although it can hardly be called a PDF editor app, Preview can perform most of the tasks most people need to do every day: looking through the documents, leaving comments, and signing contracts.

To configure Preview to your liking:

1. Launch the app from your Dock or Launchpad
2. Select View from the menu bar options
3. Set scroll, zoom, and toolbar to what you'd like to see

Then to actually use PDF modifier functions:

1. Choose Tools from the menu bar
2. Hover over Annotate
3. Select from shapes, signatures, notes (comments), and more

When you're done editing the document, don't forget to save it (⌘ + S) or export it to create a new file by going to File ➙ Export.

A hidden benefit of Preview that's not often talked about is its natural integration into the macOS. The app can be easily used within the Apple ecosystem and is quite swift as well.

Adobe Acrobat Reader for Mac

Google search app mac. One of the first and hence now widely considered standard solutions for viewing and editing PDF files is Adobe Acrobat Reader. By all accounts, it's a solid and professional PDF editor for Mac.

There's, however, one caveat — you can hardly call Adobe Acrobat the best free PDF editor for Mac because to get all of its features you need to pay, a lot. If you subscribe for the whole year, it comes down to $15 a month. Otherwise, it's $25.

So if you download Adobe Reader for Mac from Adobe's website, it will only give you a limited number of tools, which are very similar to Apple Preview: comment and sign. To get more you'd need to sign up for the Adobe Acrobat Pro free trial. Can we install ms office in mac.

Anyway, in case you're satisfied with Acrobat PDF editor's limited functionality for the basic version, you can still work with all the PDFs you need:

1. Download and install Adobe Reader for Mac from adobe.com
2. Open the PDF file of your choice
3. To comment or sign the file, navigate to Tools in the top bar of the app
4. Choose the tool you want to use and then select a more specific one from the top bar once you're in the document itself

If you try to choose the tool that's not available in the free version of Acrobat Reader for Mac, the app will direct you to the website where you can subscribe to get access.

All in all, while the paid Adobe Acrobat Reader for Mac offers you a full toolkit of productivity, its free option is comparable to Apple Preview, with the latter being a bit more lightweight and fast due to its integration with macOS.

But what's a truly powerful Mac PDF editor?

PDFpen full-featured OCR editor

While the paid version of Adobe Acrobat Reader for Mac is costly and convoluted, PDFpen offers much more in one straightforward package.

Install PDFpen, best PDF editor for Mac

Make any PDF file editable with PDFpen. With in-built OCR support, nothing is carved in stone if you have PDFpen installed on your Mac.

PDFpen lets you edit PDFs by adding text and images, fixing typos, filling out forms, and covering sensitive information. What's more, the app features an OCR (optical character recognition) functionality, so you can scan printed documents directly into editable PDF files, and even export them to Microsoft Word later on.

Using PDFpen is as easy as Preview:

1. Open any PDF document
2. In the top bar, find the toggle which lets you switch between text and shapes. These are the tools you can use to enhance your documents. All of them can also be accessed from the Tools dropdown in the menu bar.

One of the most commonly used features with PDFs is highlighting, which is perfectly executed in PDFpen. Just select from the top bar and choose a color. The tool will then switch between a freehand highlighter when hovering over shapes and a structured one when it's over some text.

How To Create Editable Pdf Files

Finally, PDFpen's renowned OCR functionality doesn't require you to have any specific AI knowledge — it just works:

1. In PDFpen, go File ➙ Open (or ⌘ + O) and select your image
2. Check all languages that apply
3. Turn the image into either an OCR Page or OCR document
4. Now you can edit your image freely and export it later

Bonus: Professional PDF Search

When you're working with lots of PDFs everyday, some things are inevitably going to get lost. Especially, since lots of documents and reports are often dozens or even hundreds of pages long.

In this reality, you absolutely need a tool that will help you retain information at the tip of your fingers. Enter PDF Search. This app doesn't just search your PDF files for exact matches — it uses the power of AI to check relevant terms, multiple combinations, and even scan PDF files in bulk.

The first time you open PDF Search, it will ask you to index the folder with all your PDFs, which may take some time but will also speed up all future searches. After indexing is complete, simply enter the number or text you're looking for in the search field, press Return, and the results (including related ones) would instantly appear.

To recap, when you're looking for the best free PDF editor for Mac, your options might seem infinite, but it really comes down to what exactly you need to edit. If it's just viewing documents and making comments, Apple Preview can do the job just fine. But when you need some heavy-duty lifting, nothing beats PDFpen. In addition, PDF Search is recommended for anyone working with large number of PDFs on a daily basis.

Best of all, PDFpen and PDF Search are both available to you on a free 7-day trial from Setapp, a platform for over 150 indispensable Mac apps designed to take your productivity to the next level. All that's left to do now is just read and edit!

Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.

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