Editing PDFs in the macOS environment can be done in a few clicks using the View app available on our Macs and MacBooks. Here we explain how to do it… and you’ll see it’s not rocket science.
The app «Review» is probably one of Apple’s most underrated apps. Apart from the many file types it can open, this application has the advantage of allowing you to edit PDF with just a few clicks.
If it does not allow us to modify existing content (for this we have to turn to third-party solutions such as Adobe Acrobat, in particular), “Review» allows you to add a signature very easily annotate it, add text, sketches, drawings and other shapes, or even edit certain elements that you don’t want to appear in the final rendering.
Therefore, for many users, this solution is enough, since it already offers an interesting range of modifications available in just a few clicks. Today we explain to you how to take advantage of it.
How to edit PDF on Mac?
- Start by opening a PDF file with the View application.
- By default, this is what macOS uses for PDF files; if this is no longer the case for you, right-click the PDF file you want to open, then go to “Opened with» to finally select “Review» in the list that appears.
- At the top of the View application window, you can see on the left the icon to access the PDF element markup tool
- Next to it, on the right, the annotation icon allows you to open the editing tools menu
- Click on it
- You will then see the bar below appear
- Through these different icons you can, from left to right: select and copy text, select an entire area of ​​the document to copy it, edit sentences, add sketches, drawings and figures, add text, add a signature or add a note to the document.
Note that any change made to the PDF document can be easily removed or reverted using the “Command + Z» and «Shift + Command + Z“. To delete an item you have added that is no longer useful, it is also possible to select it by clicking on it, then remove it with “Command + suppression» (the backspace key above the enter key).
Finally, saving changes to your PDF is done in two ways. By going to File > Save or File > Export to PDF format, you’ll be able to later touch up the changes you made by going back to the file.
If, on the contrary, you want these modifications to be “carved in marble» and therefore impossible to change later, go to File > Print, then select the “Save as PDF” option. A somewhat baroque way of achieving your goals, of course, but it is effective.