How to Easily Edit, Annotate, Sign, and Stamp PDFs on Mac

BY Parth Shah

Published 19 Jul 2020

Work from home is the new norm these days. A majority of office-going folks are trying to be productive while working from home. While you can create a close to perfect office environment at home, you might not have access to some of the essential hardware such as a printer or scanner at home. And here is where software solutions come in. With a capable PDF editor on your Mac, you can create, edit, and export documents on the go. You can also sign NDA documents or the latest lease agreement using a PDF editor on Mac.

Without a PDF editor, you have to take out the physical copy, make changes, and then scan it using the document scanner to send to colleagues. A solid PDF editor on the Mac simplifies the process and allows you to get things done quickly and efficiently. In this post, we will cover how to edit PDFs on the Mac. The PDF editing experience is best-served on the desktop and not on mobile.

There are many PDF editors for the Mac platform. Some companies also offer a PDF editor on the web. For this post, we are going to use the PDF Expert by Readdle. PDF Expert offers a complete PDF editing experience on the Mac. The software allows you to rotate, delete PDF pages, highlight words, add text, and comment on a document. You can also integrate some built-in stamps and add your signature to the document.

How to Add Text and Image to a PDF on Mac

Follow the steps below to learn how to add text and image to a PDF document.

Step #1: Download and install the PDF Expert software for Mac.

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Step #2: Open the document that you want to edit.

Step #3: You will find a bunch of annotation options at the top.

Step #4: Go to the Edit option from the menu bar.

Step #5: You will find the Text, Image, Link, and Redact option.

Step #6: Tap on the Text icon and now you can add text anywhere in a PDF. From the Side menu, users can play with different font styles, sizes, and colors for better formatting.

Step #7: The Image option allows you to import any picture to a document. You can crop the imported image and even rotate it.

Redact option my favorite one. You can Blackout any text or image using the option. Users can also use the Eraser tool to remove any text from the document.

How to Edit PDF on Mac

PDF Expert also allows you to edit the existing text and image in the PDF. Follow the steps below to make the changes to a PDF.

Step #1: Open the PDF that you want to edit in the PDF Expert software.

Step #2: Double-tap on any text that you want to edit and the software will open the text editor.

From the side menu, you can change the text style, size, and position as well. Similarly, you can double-tap on the image and make changes.

How to Annotate a PDF on Mac

PDF Expert offers several options to annotate PDFs. I like how the software offers several colors, underline styles to choose from. I mostly use the highlighter tool while reading an ebook. You can also opt for the free-style Pen tool to do some doodling on a document.

Step #1: Open the PDF in PDF Expert app, go to Annotate Menu.

Step #2: Choose from the three options. You can either use Highlighter, Underline, and Strikeout tool to annotate PDF. Tap on the relevant option at the above menu bar.

Step #3: You can select from the available color options from the side menu.

Shapes Tool

PDF Expert allows you to add several shapes such as Round, Rectangle, Line, and Arrow to the document. You can change the stroke width, change opacity, color, and even fill the shapes with colors. I don’t use the function frequently but you might find it useful.

Step #1: Open the PDF that you want to edit and go to the Annotate section.

Step #2: Tap on the shapes menu in the menu bar and drag and drop shapes from the sidebar to the PDF.

Add Comments

I mostly prefer the comment option compared to the text menu. You can create a note and add it to any part of the document. It is represented by a small note icon and doesn’t take much space in a document.

Step #1: Open the PDF in the PDF Expert app and go to the Annotate menu.

Step #2: Tap on the Notes icon and select any space on the PDF to attach the note.

Stamps Menu

This one mostly useful if you are working in a government department. From the Annotate menu, go to Stamps and choose from the multiple stamps such as VOID, FINAL, APPROVED, and many more. PDF Expert also allows you to create stamps with custom text and background. Follow the steps below to add stamps to a PDF on Mac.

Step #1: Drag and drop any PDF to the PDF Expert app.

Step #2: Navigate to the Annotate menu and select Stamps from the menu bar.

Step #3: On the right side, you will see a bunch of ready-to-go stamps to choose from. Simply drag and drop a stamp to the PDF.

How to Add a Signature to a PDF on Mac

This one has saved me a lot of time. You can add a signature to a document using the built-in sign tool. PDF Expert allows you to create a signature using the keyboard, touchpad, and image. Go through the steps below to add your signature to a PDF.

Step #1: Open the PDF in PDF Expert software and go to the Annotate menu.

Step #2: Select Sign icon and tap on the Add Signature from the side menu.

Step #3: Users can create a signature using Keyboard, Trackpad, or an image. Hit Done and place the sign on a PDF.

When it comes to exporting, you can save the edited PDF file in multiple formats. The company is offering 7-days of free trial and after that, you will have to purchase the software for $80.

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PDF Editor a must-have software for those dealing with PDFs on a regular basis. Go ahead and download the PDF Expert software to start the free trial. Which feature do you require the most for PDF editing? Sound off in the comments section below.

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