Best Free 10 PDF Editor for Mac (including macOS 11)
2023-08-25 18:55:14 • Filed to: PDF Software for macOS • Proven solutions
You are wondering how to access a free PDF editor Mac, or how to choose the right Mac PDF editor? Below, we'll cover 10 commonly used PDF editor Mac, all of which are compatible with macOS 11 Big Sur. By reading this list, you will be able to determine the most cost-effective Mac PDF editing software that also best meets your business needs.
- Free PDF Editor Mac For Desktop
- #1: PDFelement
- #2: Acrobat for Mac
- #3: PDF Expert
- #4: PDFpenPro
- #5: Preview
- #6: Skim
- #7: PDF Nomad
- #8: Master PDF Editor for Mac
- #9: Scribus for Mac
- #10: PDF Buddy
- Free PDF Editor Mac Online
- #1: HiPDF
- #2: Smallpdf
- #3: SodaPDF
- #4: PDFescape
Top 10 PDF Editor Mac
1. PDFelement
PDFelement for Mac is a PDF solution that integrates with a variety of convenient and practical features for editing, conversion, annotation, OCR, form processing, and digital signatures. This well-rounded PDF editor is popular among users and has a step up above the competition due to its excellent form field recognition and data extraction technology. Regarding the editing feature, you can edit PDF files on Mac with ease, including editing the text and images.
Unique Features:
- Fully compatible with macOS 11 Big Sur.
- Powerful PDF editing and annotation tools that allow for a smooth editing experience.
- It has robust PDF creation and conversion features.
- It allows you to fill and sign PDF forms easily.
Pros:
Pros of this program include clear function classification, a complete set of PDF tools, OCR and batch processing, high compatibility with all operating systems, simple user experience, and interface, and the ability for document conversions.
Cons:
Because of its focus on simplicity, it has fewer advanced features than programs like Adobe Acrobat. You can download a free trial version to test and purchase the full version after testing.
Supported Systems: Mac, Windows, iOS, Android
Price: $79.99/yr
Operation Steps: Click on the Edit button, and edit the elements, such as text, image, link, watermark, background, header and footer, and bates numbering as you need.

Other Benefits:
- A smooth and simple interface design
The full functionalities can be enjoyed by both Windows and Mac users. - Intelligent and smooth editing features
A better PDF editing experience lets you keep the fonts and formatting of your original file while converting it. - A better experience with PDF forms
The automatic form recognition feature enables you to create an editable form with just one click. - Extract PDF data
You can export data from paper or electronic forms into an editable Excel form. - PDF converter
It can convert standard PDF file format to longer-lasting PDF / A format for a longer archiving period or convert PDFs to other document formats. - PDF editing tools
You can edit PDF files or add texts and images in PDF as needed.
2. Acrobat for Mac
Acrobat is also a powerful PDF editor. As the world's best desktop PDF solution, the brand new look of Acrobat will blow your mind. It also includes a mobile version that lets you fill in, sign, and share PDFs on any device at any location. However, Adobe Acrobat XI has ended support, meaning you might need to turn to an Acrobat alternative if you are looking for dedicated support. Click here to discover the best Acrobat alternative options.

Pros:
- Fast document comparison.
- It supports operational procedures for review and approval.
- Automatic form field recognition.
- Create a PDF from Office formats quickly and easily.
Cons:
It has a lot of advanced features that are complicated and difficult to use for beginners. Plus, the bloated features mean it comes at a higher cost, and you need to pay in order to use the full version.
Supported Systems: Windows, Mac, iOS
Price: $179.88 / Year
3. PDF Expert
PDF Expert is one of Readdle's premium Apps. It has been the leading producer of PDF processing software on the iOS platform for quite some time. Since the launch of PDF Expert on the Mac platform in 2015, it has become the best application on the Mac App Store 2015 and has been recommended by Apple editors.

Pros:
- Fast speed for page organization and functionalities
- Fluent in adding annotations and editing
- Simple text and image editing functions
Cons:
It has fewer features than other PDF editors, and PDF compatibility could be improved.
Supported Systems: Mac, iOS
Price: $79.99
4. PDFpenPro
PDFpenPro is a professional program heavily influenced by Preview. It is fully compatible with macOS X for PDF documents. It keeps the original operation processing feature of Preview, which fits more users' operating habits and is more convenient for a beginner user. There are also functional enhancements. You can add signatures, text, and images, as well as make changes, correct typos, and perform OCR on scanned documents. It allows you to fill and create fillable forms, as well as convert PDF to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint formats.
Unique Features:
- Simple form field creation
- Intuitive annotation properties
Pros:
It meets basic PDF editing needs, and the operating experience is similar to that of Preview.
Cons:
Not all languages are supported, such as Chinese. It also has weak text and page editing capabilities compared to other programs.
Unique Features: Mac, iOS
Price: $124.95

5. Preview
As a built-in PDF software on Mac, Preview allows for the limited ability to read and browse PDF formats, as well as make simple annotations. It can meet your primary requirement of reading and editing PDFs. But if you have more advanced PDF editing needs, Preview will not be suitable.
Pros:
Build-in system, more preview formats, and read files fluently.
Cons:
Poor compatibility, lack of professional functions, and PDF content can only be edited in the most basic ways.
Supported Systems: Mac
Price: Free
More Introduction:
- Quick annotation
- You can quickly arrange pages by dragging and dropping thumbnails
- The camera is able to recognize handwritten signatures quickly.
Learn more about Preview here >>

6. Skim
Skim is a free Mac PDF editor. It functions like Preview, offering markup tools that help highlight important PDF content. You can also add and edit notes, crop PDF files, and more.
- View PDF files.
- Add and edit notes.
- Highlight text.
- Take snapshots of PDF files.
- Give presentations with built-in transitions.

7. PDF Nomad
PDF Nomad is unique editing software that provides a number of editing tools. The software supports the editing of images and texts in PDFs. It also allows you to arrange, split, and merge PDF pages in a document. Some of the tools in this software also make it easier for you to rotate, scale, and crop PDF files.
Pros:
- It can be used to edit all aspects of PDF files, including images.
- It comes with an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature that makes editing scanned PDFs very easy.
- You can use it to annotate a PDF document.
Cons:
- The free version lacks many features, and at $75 the pro version is somewhat expensive compared to others.

8. Master PDF Editor for Mac
Master PDF Editor is PDF editing software for Mac that comes with loads of features allowing you to convert PDF to numerous other file types and edit just about any aspect of your PDF document.
Pros:
- It can be used to edit both text and images.
- You can convert PDFs to other formats, including Word and Excel.
- It works with Linux.
Cons:
- The complex interface makes it difficult to use for beginners.
- The free version has limited capabilities.

9. Scribus for Mac
Scribus is a free PDF editing software for Mac that can be used to open PDFs and even edit certain aspects of the PDF document. It is one of the easiest programs to use because the user interface is simple and clean. You can also use it to annotate PDF documents if you want to highlight and edit sections of the document you consider important.
Pros:
- It is very easy to use.
- It can be used to edit both text and images.
Cons:
- It can't be used to convert PDFs.

10. PDF Buddy
This is another online tool that can be very useful when you want to edit PDF documents. This PDF editing software for Mac comes with a lot of features that can be used to manipulate a PDF document in many ways. You can add text, add and remove images and even split and merge PDF files. It can also be used to add signatures to your PDF document.
Pros:
- It is free to use.
- It lets you make numerous edits to your PDF files.
- There is no limit to the size of the PDF file you can work with.
Cons:
- It sometimes fails to download the file after editing.

There you have it - the 10 Best Free PDF Editor Mac for macOS 11, macOS 10.15, and macOS 10.14. Now that you've had time to research the best free pdf editor for mac, don't hesitate to try out PDFelement now to see if it's right for you!
Try Free PDF Editor Online for Mac
There are many options available to macOS users that will allow you to modify your PDFs. There are desktop applications that can help you manage your PDFs very quickly, but to use them, you will need to install them on your computer. This is not an option in some cases as you may not have administrator privileges on your work computer. Fortunately, there are online alternatives that do not require any installation. Below I will tell you about some of them and show you how to use them step by step.
Solution 1. HiPDF
Step 1: Go to the HiPDF website.
To access the online HiPDF editing tool, you will first need to go to https://www.hipdf.com/. There you will find a list where the editing tools that HiPDF offers will be shown. Click the "Edit PDF" button.

Step 2: Click on "CHOOSE FILE"
Once you have accessed the application, you will see a box to attach your PDF. You can drag and drop your document into the box or click the "CHOOSE FILE" button.

Step 3: Choose the source file
If you clicked the "CHOOSE FILE" button, a window would appear where you can use your file explorer to navigate and select the file you want to edit. When you have selected it, click on "Choose" to confirm.

Features
With the HiPDF editing tool, you can add images, enter text, forms and even sign the document.

Solution 2. Smallpdf
Step 1: Go to the Smallpdf website
To access the Smallpdf online editing tool, you must go to https://smallpdf.com/. There you will find a welcome message to click on the "Explore All PDF Tools" button.

Step 2: Go to the "Edit PDF" option.
After clicking on "Explore All PDF Tools," you will find a list showing the editing tools that Smallpdf offers. Click the "Edit PDF" button.

Step 3: Click on "CHOOSE FILES"
Once you have accessed the Smallpdf editing tool, you will see a box to attach your PDF. You can drag and drop your document into the box or click the "CHOOSE FILE" button.

Step 4: Choose the source file
If you click the "CHOOSE FILE" button, a window would appear where you can use your file explorer to navigate and select the file you want to edit. When you have selected it, click on "Choose" to confirm.

Features
The Smallpdf editor will allow you to draw, highlight text, enter text, enter shapes, choose the color and font thickness.

Solution 3. SodaPDF Online
Step 1: Go to SodaPDF Online
SodaPDF is a company that develops specialized software for managing PDFs. It is essential that you go to their online tool website https://online.sodapdf.com/ and not their main website.

Step 2: Open your PDF
Once you have accessed the correct address, you will see some of the tools that this web application offers. Click "Open" to start.

Step 3: Choose your PDF file
You will now see a window to use your file browser to navigate and select the file you want to edit. When you have selected it, click on "Choose" to confirm.

Features
With SodaPDF's online editor, you can enter text, images, hyperlinks, and bookmarks and modify the text's font, color, and thickness.

Solution 4. PDFescape
Step 1: Visit the PDFescape website
To use PDFescape's online editing tool, go to its official website https://www.edit-pdf-online.com.

Step 2: Upload your PDF
Once you have accessed the PDFescape editing tool, you will see a box to attach your PDF. You can drag and drop your document into the box or click the "Browse for a Document on Your Computer" button.

Step 3: Choose PDF documents
If you clicked the "Browse for a Document on Your Computer" button, a window would appear where you can use your file browser to navigate and select the file you want to edit. When you have selected it, click on "Choose" to confirm.

Features
With this editor, you will be able to enter text, insert images, add some shapes, draw, highlight text, enter dates, initials and even sign your document.

Conclusion
As you can see, there are several online tools with which you can edit your PDFs without the need to install any software on your computer. Please note that all of these tools will require you to have an internet connection, and when you are done using them to modify your PDFs, you will need to download your modified document.
Free Download or Buy PDFelement right now!
Free Download or Buy PDFelement right now!
Buy PDFelement right now!
Buy PDFelement right now!
Audrey Goodwin
chief Editor
0 Comment(s)