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10 Best Free PDF Creators for macOS 12

Audrey Goodwin

2024-04-18 11:56:27 • Filed to: macOS Tips and Tricks • Proven solutions

If you wish to create PDF on macOS 12, it is important to get a good application for the task. However, which PDF maker is best for macOS 12? In this article, you will find the best PDF creator app for macOS 12. You will also learn about the most recommended.

Best PDF Creator App for macOS 12

1. PDFelement

PDFelement for Mac is the best PDF creator app for macOS 12 because it makes the process diverse and quite easy for beginners and new users. Although it creates PDFs from scratch and actually provides free templates, it also generates from other files like Microsoft Office documents and images.

Additionally, it merges various PDFs to create new PDF files. It can also annotate PDF, convert PDFs, or do any changes on PDF pages by rotating, merging, and cropping.

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Pros

It has an admirable user interface with a clean layout and easy navigation.
It does PDF creation effortlessly from a number of sources, including image files, Office documents
It runs a batch process to convert multiple formats into PDF at the same time.
It has superior security features
It provides advanced sharing capabilities by email and cloud storage services

Cons

The free trial version has conversion limitations.

Price

Standard version retails at $69 yearly.
Pro version retails at $79 yearly.

System support

It is available for macOS 10.12and later

Download it at https://apps.apple.com/app/id1470732135

2. PDFWriter for Mac

Are you still asking “which is the best PDF creator software for macOS 12?” If so, it time for you to explore PDFwriter for Mac, since it qualifies as one of the best free PDF creators for macOS 12. This is a unique product that uses it capabilities to create new PDFs.

Since it can split and merge PDFs, it can divide PDF files into new documents that can be merged together to form more meaningful PDF files.

Pros

It creates PDFs in various ways like merging and splitting PDFs
It allows customization of settings in the software’s interface
It can print to PDF, since it is essentially a print driver through CUPS-PDF,
It can create PDFs from multiple formats using the module's conversion feature.

Cons

It has limited functionalities

Price

As an open source utility, it is free for use

System support

It functions in macOS 10.12 and higher

Download it at https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/49721/pdfwriter

3. PDFsam

PDFsam is among the best free PDF creators for macOS 12 because it has various ways of creating PDF files. It can create by merging various PDF documents to construct new types of files, or splitting to divide PDF files according to certain aspects such as topics. Aside from creating PDFs on macOS 12, this tool can also extract pages, as well as rotate them for better display of information. It also inserts bookmarks into PDFs.

Pros

It is efficient and fast.
It extracts new PDF file containing only the pages you need.
It can split, merge, and rotate PDF pages.

Cons

It has limited functions
You can't edit PDF with PDFsam.

Price

It is absolutely free as an open source program

System support

Requires macOS 10.10 or later

Download it at https://mac.filehorse.com/download-pdfsam-basic/

4. PdfIt

PdfIt, the best free PDF creator for macOS 12, is an add-on provided by the Mozilla browser. The extension of PdfIt facilitates PDF creation through the conversion of the web page the user is viewing into a PDF file. PdfIt extension also allows user to convert current page to image file, and during the page to image conversion process, user can apply some image filters such as rotation and reflection.

Pros

It can convert all the common types of image files into PDFs.
It can converts a web page into PDF files, which is a new PDF creation means
It can edit the PDF file with features like reflection, rotation.

Cons

Editing changes in the entire page take long.
It only functions on the Mozilla browser of macOS.

Price

It is the best free PDF creator for macOS 12

System support

The Pdf It! extension is designed for Firefox and runs on any macOS

PdfIt extension cannot be downloaded. However, it is a menu item that can be installed at Browser-->Tools menu as well as context menu

5. iPubsoft PDF Creator for Mac

iPubsoft PDF Creator for Mac is also reliable for people that are asking “which is the best PDF creator software for macOS 12?” This great PDF creator for Mac may not create PDFs from scratch, but is still valuable because it generates PDF files from other files such as texts and images. What’s more, the different PDF created can be merged into single PDFs, which are more useful in school or in the office.

Pros

It create PDF files, while preserving their exact formatting.
It can merge imported files into a single document.
It merges PDFs
It supports so many formats like PNG, JPG, TIF, GIF, ICO, BMP, CUR, and PCX

Cons

The software does not edit PDFs.
It can't encrypt PDF files.

Price

It goes for about $49.95

System support

It is usable only on macOS 10.4 and higher

Download it at https://macdownload.informer.com/ipubsoft-pdf-creator/download/

6. iStonsoft PDF Creator for Mac

The iStonsoft PDF Creator for Mac, as the name suggests, is one of the best PDF creator apps for macOS 12 that you should try if you are still wondering “which is the best PDF creator software for macOS 12?” The application changes common text and image formats into PDF files, easily, making conversion is primary way of creating PDFs on macOS 12. Consequently, it supports numerous formats.

Pros

It can combine multiple images into one PDF.
The process of conversion to PDFs in batch mode from any format is fast.
It supports numerous formats such as PNG, JPG, TIF, GIF, ICO, BMP, CUR, PCX, XPM, XBM, PICT, PNM, TGA, and ANI

Cons

It is incompatible with any operating system lower than macOS 10.0.
It cannot perform PDF editing.

Price

It is worth $49.95

System support

macOS 10.0 and above

Download it at https://download.cnet.com/iStonsoft-PDF-Creator-for-Mac/3000-18497_4-75885975.html

7. Able2Extract Pro

Able2Extract professional can create exemplary PDFs on macOS 12 from scratch and through other means. For instance, you can use it to convert word documents, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Excel to PDFs, and thus make new kinds of PDFs. Aside from PDF conversion and creation, this tool can annotate and edit your PDFs.

You can also sign the PDFs while manipulating the numerous simple formatting options that include prefixes and suffixes, numbering sequences together with date-time stamps.

Pros

It create new PDFs
It allows digital signing
It has OCR technology and thus allows manipulation of scanned PDFs
It is simple and has an intuitive user interface.

Cons

The free version does not have advanced features.
It is extremely expensive

Price

It costs $149.95 but provides a free version

System support

It is available for macOS 10.0 and later

Download it at https://download.cnet.com/Able2Extract-Professional/3000-18497_4-75816825.html

8. CloudConvert

CloudConvert is the best free PDF creator for macOS 12 because it creates PDFs by converting any file into a PDF document. it’s one of the most popular format converters, boasting of over 10,000 customers and at least four files per second. CloudConvert supports numerous document, image and eBook formats and is a safe platform that uses SSL encryption.

Pros

It has a simple interface.
Conducts great conversion without issues such as corrupt file conversions.
It is extremely versatile in the formats it coverts.
It does not have ads

Cons

The interface design requires modernization.
The free version has limitations such as converting files up to 1GB file size and a maximum of 5 concurrent conversions

Price

It is free, but also goes for $8 monthly

System support

It is compatible with all Mac operating systems because it only requires a browser, and is accessible through https://cloudconvert.com/pdf-converter

9. NAPS2 (Not Another PDF Scanner 2)

NAPS2, is a tremendous software for creating PDFs on macOS 12. This free and open sources application specializes in PDF scanning, and thus creates PDFs from scanned documents. Having scanned any paper work, including magazines, this tool provides you with rotation and page arrangement tools, and allows cropping and adjustment of scanned images’ contrast and brightness. It also provides OCR technology.

Pros

NAPS2 supports several image formats, including JPG, PNG, and even TIFF.
PDF support is basic and straightforward
You can control the ordering of the pages via toolbar buttons,
It does let you rotate the page 90 degrees right or left

Cons

NAPS2 lacks image straightening and hence deforsm no matter your efforts in scaning pages while the paper is straight.

Price

It is an open source software and hence free

System support

It functions in Mac operating systems, since it only requires a browser and is accessible through https://www.naps2.com/

10. Formulate Pro for Mac (Best Open Source PDF Editor for Mac)

Formulate Pro for Mac is one of the best free PDF creators for macOS 12 because it is stable and provides amazing features. It allows creation of PDFs in various ways such as through conversion of other documents into PDFs, and merging of diverse PDF files. It has other interesting capabilities as well, such as PDF editing through adding, deleting and modification of the text and improvement of images.

What’s more, it signs and protects your PDFs through password and redaction, whereas analysing PDF forms and storing them in the cloud.

Pros

It has tremendous PDF conversion abilities and hence can convert PDF documents into different file formats
Includes a wide variety of tools that can be used to create excellent PDF files and presentations.
It has password protection abilities

Cons

It does not convert documents to EPUB formats

Price

It a free due to its open-source nature

System support

Available for macOS 10.0 and above

Download it at https://en.freedownloadmanager.org/Mac-OS/FormulatePro-FREE.html

What Is the Best Free PDF Creator Software for macOS 12

Among all the above tools that create PDF on macOS 12, PDFelement for Mac is the only professional solution and thus the best PDF creator app for macOS 12. It makes PDF creation a diversified process such that you can create a PDF from its readily available templates, from other types of files or by merging different PDF documents. This tool is the only reliable PDF creator that you should consider for your macOS 12, because it is also safe and affordable.

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PDFelement for Mac is considered the best PDF creator app for macOS 12 because it performs other functions on newly created PDFs, such as PDF editing. You can alter texts and images, and insert signatures. Additionally, you can use password protection if the information included is too sensitive. If you are doing a presentation, it can convert to PowerPoint files.

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