In the age of BYOD, your work will likely involve editing PDF documents on various devices. Look for a tool that can sync annotations across all of your devices so you can continue working on the document from your laptop, tablet, and even your phone.

Text Editing

The ability to edit text within a PDF is the most essential feature that any PDF editor should have. This enables users to add new content to the page as well as edit text that is already there.

This is useful for highlighting information or redacting sensitive sections of documents. It also helps with creating forms that can be used to capture responses from employees and customers.

Most top editors offer a variety of text editing features, including multi-view editors, column-based editing, collapsing/expanding, auto-sizing, and highlighting. They also offer password protection, form creation, and image manipulation. 

Multiple Viewing Modes

The best PDF editor should offer multiple viewing modes for different requirements. This is especially important if you work on lengthy documents that require extensive proofreading. It is critical to be able to identify specific sections, clauses, and keywords in the document.

The reading mode hides toolbar buttons and task panes to maximize the view area on the screen. Basic reading controls are available in a floating toolbar at the bottom of the window.

When the reading mode is enabled, you can use a text overlay to enter page numbers to navigate the document and select pages from a scrolling list. You can also choose to apply text-smoothing or enhance thin lines so they are more visible when zoomed in. You can change these settings with the Viewer Options menu.

Image Editing

A PDF Editor should provide tools to modify and manipulate images in PDF documents. This can include resizing, copying, moving, deleting, and adding new images to a PDF document. It should also allow users to add and edit text, shapes, lines, and arrows.

Another feature that a good PDF Editor should have is the ability to identify text in an image file. This allows users to search long PDF documents.

It should also have file compression and security tools that protect sensitive information in PDF documents. This is essential in the BYOD, multi-device, and cloud storage world that we live in. A good PDF Editor should also allow users to password-protect a document. This ensures that even if the file is intercepted, it will only be visible to those with the decryption key.

Annotation

For design review procedures, the capability of adding comments and highlights to a PDF document is crucial. It’s also helpful when collaborating on a document with team members from different locations.

Whether it’s a new design for a website or a marketing poster, designs often go through multiple review stages before getting approval from the client or a chief stakeholder. PDF annotation is a great way to provide feedback and suggest revisions.

Security

Typically, PDF editors offer a range of security features, including encryption options and password/permission settings to ensure that only authorized individuals can access information within the document. When working with sensitive or confidential material, this can be extremely useful.

Digital signatures are another common feature offered by PDF editors. These provide a secure, tamper-evident seal that safeguards documents against unauthorized modifications throughout their lifespan. Using an electronic signature process also streamlines workflows and eliminates delays for greater productivity.

Most PDF editors enable users to customize the look and feel of their digital signatures based on personal or organizational branding guidelines. They can also choose from a range of sign styles and sizes to suit the needs of specific audiences. Finally, most PDF editors also allow for document tracking and auditing so that users can keep tabs on all changes made to a document over time.