PDFs are the clear choice when you want to share information safely over the internet. Companies and governments both heavily rely on them and most people have a general idea what PDFs are. This article isn’t about why you should use PDFs, we’re going to show you how to edit PDF documents.
Editing a PDF means making changes to the document. This can be modifying the existing content of a page or adding something new entirely. Since PDF pages are open templates, knowing how to edit PDF documents will have you adding your own personal flair to any file.
Each file format requires a software to handle editing tasks. An example is how Microsoft Word is used to create and work with DOC files. Similarly, Soda PDF can be used to easily learn how to edit PDF documents.
Table of Contents
- Get to know your Modes: The control switch for editing PDF documents
- Edit Feature – Use these editing tools to customize your PDF
- Whole Pages – The last step in how to edit PDF documents
Get to know your Modes: The control switch for editing PDF documents
Before covering how editing works, it’s key to look at the modes that dictate how you use your PDF editor. All applications will have their own twist on how they organize their functionality, Soda PDF 12 has three usability modes:
- Edit Mode – Use Edit Mode when you want to make changes to your PDF. Think of it like document construction mode.
- View Mode – Here you can access your PDF the way any reader would. It’s used to test out your document, interacting with each page to make sure it’s set up correctly.
- Select Text Mode – When working with PDFs some pieces that make up your document may block text. This mode bypasses everything letting you select the text.
Each mode is always available in the top-left corner of Soda PDF.
- Click on a mode to cycle between them.
To better illustrate how each mode behaves, the sample document used has a black-bordered link placed over the text.
While in Edit Mode, clicking on the link will select the link itself, not the text behind it.
- You can resize your link by clicking on any of the corners of the frame:
- Or you can move your link to another area of the document simply by dragging:
- You can also open the Properties tab to the right of the application to configure your link:
While using View Mode when you click on your link, you will trigger the action of opening Google (the link will perform the programmed action).
With Select Text Mode you can instead select the text behind the link.
- Hold down the left mouse button next to your text.
- Drag the cursor until you’ve highlighted the text you want to access.
- Right-click on the highlight and choose the action that best applies.
Edit Feature – Use these editing tools to customize your PDF
A great example of a document element is the link used in the sample screenshots above.
The text you see behind the link is housed inside another type of document element, a text box. Everything you see in a PDF that is not the background of the page is an element that was added to your document.
Using the EDIT feature tab, you can make changes to any page elements found in your PDF. Here’s a look at the tools included with EDIT:
Text Boxes are blue in Soda PDF. Once a text box has been added to a document, that section of your page will behave like a standard text editor.
To use the Type Text tool, simply:
- Click into any text box.
- Type away!
You can also insert imaged directly into your PDF using the Insert Image tool.
Images will always have a red border to help you distinguish them from other elements. This is particularly designed to help you identify text that is part of an image.
There are a few other kinds of elements. Each of them will have a purple outline, as shown above when using the Link tool within EDIT. this is our “other” category. Included in this are form fields, annotations and signature fields.
You can move any element, regardless of type, with the same instructions.
- Hold down your left mouse button on the border of your element.
- Drag your cursor.
As you can see above, the blue box will follow your cursor as you select a new placement within your document for the text.
- When you release the mouse button your element will move.
You can also resize your element with ease. Hold down your left mouse button over one of the circles on the element border, then:
- Drag your cursor and the outline will update to preview the new size.
- Release the mouse button to set the new size.
Each element will have its own properties based on the type of element it is. Since the element that is being resized in the screenshot above is an image, the border box is red.
Whole Pages – The last step in how to edit PDF documents
What if you want to rearrange the order of pages in your document? Perhaps you need to delete a page from your document. Soda PDF has a page management hub that combines most functionality into the same place, the Page Preview Pane.
- Click the icon below to open it.
- The Page Preview pane will remain open until you click on the icon once more.
While it’s open, you can rearrange the order of your pages.
- Hold down the left mouse button over your page.
- You can also select multiple pages.
- Drag your cursor to place the page in the new location.
- Release the mouse button and your page will move.
By right-clicking on your page(s) you can choose to apply different actions.
- Choose an action from the list.
You can find all of these tools within the new PAGE tab. PAGE is a feature that was added specificially to Soda 12 to give users a more streamlined way of organizing the pages in your document. (OCR will be in its tab).
We’ve nearly touched on everything! There is one more thing to cover while explaining how to edit pdf documents. We’ll show you how to insert new pages into your document.
Insert New Page Using PAGE
To insert a new page, or a range of pages, to your PDF:
- Open the PAGE tab
- Choose the Insert tool
We’re only going to show new blank pages here. Click here to learn more about adding pages to your PDF.
- Choose From Blank Page.
- Enter the number of pages you’d like to add.
- Select what kind of page sizing you wish to add
- Choose where in your document to insert the page(s).
Then, click Insert. Your newly added blank page will appear with a blue border around it. You will also see a green banner at the bottom of the application letting you know the page has been added:
With your new pages added to your document, you can edit them right away. Follow the editing steps we showed you above and enjoy!
There are plenty of other ways you can edit your PDF file. Our Knowledge Base contains the instructions for most of Soda PDF’s functionality. Don’t hesitate to download the app and try it out.