4 Best Open Source PDF Editors for Mac

Audrey Goodwin

2024-04-12 10:55:47 • Filed to: Open PDFs on Mac • Proven solutions

It can sometimes be difficult to edit PDF files or documents on Mac, leaving users frustrated. If you are looking for open source PDF editors for Mac, then there are plenty of free PDF editor Mac tools that will allow you to modify your files quickly and easily. Here, we've listed the top 5 Open Source PDF Editor Mac (macOS 11 compatible) currently on the market that you can use to convert, edit or work with PDF documents. This list will help you figure out which tool is best for you.

An open-source PDF editor is not always reliable, especially for those that haven't been updated for a long time. If you need a powerful and reliable PDF editor for Mac, PDFelement is an excellent choice. It can edit text, image, link to PDF, add comments to PDF, organize PDFs and do more. Free download it to have a try.

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The Best Open Source PDF Editor Mac

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

Formulate Pro for Mac is one of the best open source PDF editors for Mac users. It is a stable program with great features. This PDF editing tool lets you redact PDF files, and provides cloud services for more space to store documents. You can also merge and combine PDF files. You can also use it for creating, signing, and analyzing PDF forms, and for the protection of PDF files.

Features:

This tool will convert PDFs to other output formats and vice versa
You can add, delete and modify the text, improve images, and rearrange pages
It supports OCR technology in multiple languages
It has password protection abilities

Pros:

Includes a wide variety of tools that can be used to create excellent PDF files and presentations.
Has a tremendous PDF conversion program that can convert PDF documents into different file formats
This software is very easy to use

Cons:

It does not convert documents to EPUB formats

2. PDFpenPro (Mac PDF Editor Open Source)

PDFpenPro includes many features for simple PDF editing. You can export PDF content, markup and edit text, and digitally sign PDF files using a hand-written signature. This program lets you handle PDFs easily.

Features:

Export PDF content to Microsoft Word documents
Correct typos in PDF text
Sign PDF files with handwritten signatures
Make text in image-based PDF files editable by performing OCR
Store PDF files in the Cloud
Create PDF forms

Pros:

PDFpenPRo supports adding signatures to encrypt your PDF documents
You can use PDFpen to edit PDF documents
OCR technology is embedded in PDFpenPro, which allows you to work with scanned PDF files for better editing and printing

Cons:

Pen pad is not supported by PDFpenPRo
It is difficult to write when a mouse is used

3. Skim (Open Source PDF Editor for Mac)

This free note taker and PDF editor are made for macOS. It functions similarly to Preview. This program lets you review PDFs with comment features allowing you to make snapshots for easy reference, highlight important text, and navigate pages easily using a table of contents with a visual history.

Features:

Views PDFs
Add and edit notes
Highlight important text, including one-swipe highlight mode
Makes snapshots for easy reference
Give powerful presentations using built-in transitions
Use smart cropping tools

Pros:

There are many options available to annotate PDFs
You can choose from over five text colors
Great for reading and editing PDFs
Easily highlight text, navigate with TOCs, and more
Integration with LaRex, PDFSync

Cons:

Not as advanced as Adobe Acrobat X
Some of the basic features are not as intuitive as they should be

4. Preview (Built-in Open Source PDF Editor for Mac)

Preview is the default PDF viewer and editor for Mac and one of the top Open Source PDF Editor tools for Mac on the market. It functions more like a PDF viewer that allows users to annotate PDF files as well. Preview is acceptable for reading and signing PDF documents. It is basically a limited PDF editor that is available to all Mac users for free. There is no download required. This simple PDF editor for Mac enables you to create, merge, and split PDF files as well.

Features:

Transfer web pages and images as PDF format
Split your PDF file by dragging thumbnails
Merge multiple documents by dragging thumbnails together
Rotate PDF pages
Annotate PDF files with different tools

Pros:

Add and Edit hyperlinks in a PDF file
View and edit PDF metadata

Cons:

No multicolor highlighting is available from the toolbar
Inserting new pages is sometimes difficult

Shortcomings of Open Source PDF Editor for Mac

Many open source programs face problems in opening PDF on Mac. There are varieties of reasons for this, including the ones below:

1. The web browser needs updating: This is a common problem. Try updating your browser before trying anything else.
2. Your browser is not compatible: This is an issue when your OS is not working properly. If your browser is not compatible with your OS try using a different browser.
3. Check the Adobe Reader plug-in: Try using Adobe Reader as stand-alone program, rather than running it through your browser or a plug-in. It can be reinstalled easily if necessary.

Best Solutions for Open Source PDF Editor for Mac

Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor is a professional tool that is affordable, easy to use, and one of the best open source PDF editor tools for Mac on the market. It provides full editing features for Mac users that allow them to create, edit, and convert PDF documents, as well as fill out PDF forms on Mac. This tool is fully compatible with macOS, including the latest macOS 11. It is compatible with macOS which supports over 20 languages.

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