Top 10 Free and Open-Source PDF Editor Software for 2021 If you’re looking to edit PDF files, you might be surprised how difficult it can be to find good software on the web that isn’t paid for. Fortunately, there are several free and open-source PDF editor software options available that will help you accomplish this task in no time at all.
A good PDF editor will allow you to add text, images and perform other functions on the files so that you can make changes when necessary before sharing them with others or archiving them for safekeeping. Having the right tools can make all the difference when it comes to working on projects and tasks. Numerous PDF editor software solutions are available for free that can help streamline your workflow, regardless of what operating system you’re running, whether it’s Windows, macOS, or Linux. So, in this blog today, I have come up with the ten best and free PDF editor software tools that will help you complete your business objectives. Now let’s discuss each of them with their pros and cons.
10 Best Free PDF Editor Tools in 2021 [Online or Download] 1. LibreOffice Draw PDF editor LibreOffice is a powerful, open-source office suite with support for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It includes Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector graphics editor), Base (database) — as well as three more programs. This powerful combination of programs makes LibreOffice one of the best free and open-source alternatives to Microsoft Office in general. It offers plenty of advanced editing features and also comes with several valuable add-ons. Pros: ● It allows you for easy editing of multiple PDF files. ● One can add or eliminate pages. ● It will enable you to edit text and images. ● It provides file conversion support. ● Provide for exporting and importing. ● A digital signing feature is available.
Cons:
● It does not have a user-friendly interface. ● It does not have cloud options. ● It does not allow for direct email to windows live mail.
2. PDFedit PDFedit is free and open-source software that can help you edit Adobe Acrobat document files. It provides you with many features such as: add new pages, delete pages, rotate pages, move pages up or down in a page tree, save documents in different formats including HTML, XML, etc., merge several documents into one file by adding an index.txt file to each document, etc. These functions significantly reduce your workload for modifying pdf documents without having to use Adobe Acrobat software. Pros: ● It is lightweight for installation. ● It supports multi-platform. ● It includes tools for personalization. ● It allows you to convert files. ● Password protection is also available.
Cons:
● Some PDFedit tools have technical difficulties. ● Some features either do not work or show error messages. ● It is still in beta.
3. Inkscape Inkscape is one of the best PDF editor software similar to Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw. It supports many advanced SVG features (markers, clones, alpha blending, etc.) and has a streamlined designing interface. Moreover, It is effortless to edit nodes, perform complex path operations, trace bitmaps, and much more. Pros: ● Inkscape comprises a friendly user interface. ● It can edit every PDF file part, including adding and removing images, text, and links. ● It is a lightweight software that doesn’t use up much space during installation.
Cons: ● Sometimes it saves PDF files as blank pages after you edit and save them. ● Inkscape does not have all the necessary tools.
4. PDFSam Basic PDFSam Basic is a free, easy-to-use PDF editor that doesn’t need installation. You can use it right from your browser. The tool has some basic editing features, such as adding new pages, appending them to existing ones, or deleting them entirely. It also lets you merge documents and even protect them with passwords if you want to hide content from unauthorized users. Pros: ● PDFSam Basic will allow you to organize your PDF pages visually. ● It will enable you to change the order of the PDF pages. ● You can quickly mix and merge PDF pages, split and extract PDF pages. ● You can also rotate and save single or multiple pages.
Cons: ● PDFSam Basic needs Java to run. ● It holds a steep learning curve and is a little challenging to learn for beginners.
5. PDF Architect Free
Unlike some of its competitors, PDF Architect Free does not try to hide its premium version. It’s simply a free tool with no functionality limitations. Its step-by-step interface makes it easy for beginners to get started right away. You can create, edit, annotate, OCR-enable, encrypt, password-protect, and even digitally sign your PDF documents. Furthermore, you can convert images to other document formats or send files by email. Pros: ● PDF Architect Free is best known to have exceptional editing features. ● It can use OCR to make scanned pages editable so that one can save them as PDF. ● It enables you to add a digital signature to all of your PDF files. ● It can merge various PDF files into one. ● PDF Architect Free lets you edit the metadata of the PDF file to give security.
Cons: ● The free version of PDF Architect Free will drop a watermark on your work. You will have to buy a license to remove the watermark.
6. Apache Open Office Draw
Apache Open Office Draw is a free PDFeditor tool that supports advanced drawing features. This powerful tool allows you to create anything from organizational charts, flowcharts, or mind maps to logos, icons, and more. Moreover, The application also features an extensive selection of styles and effects to make your work stand out. Pros: ● Apache Open Office Draw works on various platforms. ● It has numerous editing features available. ● It provides excellent support for adding graphics to a PDF file.
Cons: ● It has a drawback. When you are loading a large PDF file, it operates slowly. ● Some functions will deter your workflow, such as the Excel feature.
7. Okular Okular is a lightweight open-source PDF editing software that allows you to open, view, and print PDF files. Moreover, It works on various platforms, like Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Unix/BSD. Okular is an excellent tool for preparing documents for online viewing or printing.
The interface is easy to use and highly customizable, with themes that match your taste. It supports tagging of files, so they are easy to find later if you need them. Pros: ● Okular can edit text and other parts of your PDF file with ease. ● It supports creating custom markers. ● It comes with all basic PDF editing features.
Cons: ● No search results overview. You have to navigate to the next/previous hit one by one. ● Okular Needs many KDE libraries.
8. Skim The Skim PDF editor is a free, open-source program that allows you to edit existing documents. Although it doesn’t include a wide range of features like Acrobat or Word, it does give you simple tools to add annotations, shapes, text boxes, and more. It also provides you previews of internal links, so you don’t need to open them to know what they link to. Pros:
● Skim enables you to highlight valuable content, which includes a one-swipe highlight mode ● It comes with intelligent cropping tools. ● It lets you make snapshots for quick reference.
Cons: ● It is compatible with Mac only.
9. Gonitro An advanced document conversion tool, Gonitro helps you convert documents into formats like HTML5, ePub, and even plain text. Apart from that, it offers a simple drag-and-drop interface to organize your documents in any way you want. Gonitro features an OCR scanner so that you can effortlessly search through your scanned texts without having to edit them by hand. It is free software that runs on Windows as well as Mac OS X. Pros: ● It has eSigning tools. ● Multiple work windows. ● It has tools for collaboration.
Cons: ● It frequently leads to program collisions. ● In the conversion process, some traits, such as form fields, are not converted.
10. PDFelement The open-source PDFelement is a full-featured editing application that can view, create, edit, sign, encrypt, watermark, and print out PDF files. You can also generate form fields with ease. All these features are available in a well-designed user interface. Pros: ● It allows the correct separation of text and images. ● Conversion of the pdf to other formats.
Cons: ● A simple signature is not possible as there is no function to put a signature behind the text. ● Commenting is very slow as it keeps refreshing and changing when someone writes.
Also Read: Top 10 Most Used Publishing Software in 2021 for Business Growth
Wrapping Up! That’s all on the top 10 open source pdf editors for multiple operating systems. All the PDF editors mentioned above are open source and free to use. And each one has its specialty. So, why delay now? Pick any of them that can help meet your unique PDF editing requirements.