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24 February 2021  Jennifer Thatcher  Technology Manager of Test Dept.
Last update by Olivia Brown at 24 February 2021

Summary
PDF is not strange for us, and widely used in our work. Now, lots of online information is saved as PDF. How if we can’t edit PDF? In this article, we will explain this situation and tell you how to edit PDF files.



Part 1: Why We Can’t Edit PDF?

PDF is the portable document format. It is usually used to record books and product instructions. The PDF files are divided into two types:
The first type is the editable PDF file. This file is created with the PDF editing software and Office Word/Excel. The contents in these files can be edited.
The second type is the scanned PDF file. The document is scanned by the scanner, or the PDF file is converted from an image. You merely view the PDF files, not to edit.
why you can't edit pdf

Part 2: How to Edit PDF?

From the above contents, we cannot edit some PDF files. How if we can’t edit the PDF file? In fact, we can convert PDF to the other editable format. For example, we can draw support from the professional PDF converter. Here are two recommendations to you.

1. Use Renee PDF Aide

Many people want to convert PDF files with the PDF software because it is not affected by the network. You can convert files offline, without need to upload files to the online server. That ensures the file security and easy operation. Renee PDF Aide is such a useful PDF converter that can easily convert PDF to the other formats.
What is Renee PDF Aide?
Renee PDF Aide is the professional PDF converter that can convert PDF to Word/Excel/EPUB and the other formats. With the advanced OCR technology, it can greatly improve the character recognition. Besides, it can repair/optimize/merge/encrypt/decrypt/add watermark. Next, we will show you more details.
Renee PDF Aide - Powerful PDF Converting/Editing Tool (100 FREE Quota)

Convert to Editable Word/Excel/PPT/Text/Image/Html/Epub

Multifunctional Encrypt/decrypt/split/merge/add watermark

OCR Support Extract Text from Scanned PDFs, Images & Embedded Fonts

Quick Convert dozens of PDF files in batch

Compatible Support Windows 11/10/8/8.1/Vista/7/XP/2K

Convert to Editable Word/Excel/PPT/Text/Image/Html/Epub

OCR Support Extract Text from Scanned PDFs, Images & Embedded

Support Windows 11/10/8/8.1/Vista/7/XP/2K

Free TrialFree TrialNow 800 people have obtained the free version!
a. Download and install Renee PDF Aide.
press to the download button
b. Open the software and click on [Convert PDF].
select to convert pdf with renee pdf converter
c. Click on [Add Files] to select the PDF file.
add pdf files to renee pdf aide
d. After that, select the output format. We select Word in this case.
convert pdf to the others with renee pdf aide
e. Select [Enable OCR] and the related text language to improve the character recognition.
enable ocr with renee pdf aide
f. In [Custom Settings], select a folder to save and finally click on [Convert].
how to convert pdf with renee pdf converter
g. Navigate to the converted file and check.
Note: When you can’t edit the PDF file, the function [Enable OCR] is a way of recognition improvement. Besides, you should select the format according to the contents. For example, when the contents are some tables, you can convert PDF to Excel. When the file is about text, you should save PDF as Word.

2. Use cleverPDF

Besides, you can convert the PDF file online. Next, we will show you how to convert PDF on cleverPDF.
a. Get access to the website (link: https://www.cleverPDF.com/PDF-to-Excel).
b. Click on [Choose file] to select the PDF file.
start conversion between pdf and excel in cleverpdf
c. Convert PDF to Excel and finally download the converted file.
download the conveted excel from cleverpdf
With the online converter, you can quickly convert PDF to the other formats. But the online converter is not safe enough, with many ads. Besides, the websites are easily affected by the network environment. You may wait for a long time if the network is bad.

Part 3: Conclusions

If you want to edit PDF files, you shall convert PDF to the other formats beforehand. As for the scanned PDF files, you can enable the OCR function within Renee PDF Aide to improve the character recognition. Of course, you can use the online converter. But the uploaded file may be under the potential risk of data leak.