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11 July 2023  Amanda J. Brook  Senior Product Manager
 

Summary
Learn how to add annotations or texts to a PDF without an interactive form or from a shared document. Discover solutions for PDF writing issues and common editing tasks.



I. How to add comments/write to PDF

how to write on a pdf
PDF is a file format developed by Adobe in the 1990s that can contain text, images, hyperlinks, videos, comments, forms, and various other data formats. PDF was created to achieve two goals. One is to enable people to open the document on any device or operating system without using the application that created the document. The other is that no matter how the PDF file is opened, the layout of the document is always consistent.
With the gradual popularity of PDF files, more and more tools for creating, editing and converting PDFs have been released. However, there is no built-in PDF editor in Windows 10 yet. Therefore, if you need to add comments or write content to PDF files, you can install PDF editing software from the third-party software market. The following will introduce a variety of methods to add annotations to PDF.

Method 1: Renee PDF Aide

If you want to add notes or write content on a PDF file, you can convert it into an editable document such as Word or Excel before adding it. After converting into an editable document, it will be very easy to add comments or write new content, and you can also save it as a PDF format after editing. To convert PDF format, it is recommended that you useRenee PDF Aide Software, it can convert PDF to Word/Excel/PowerPoint/EPUB/Image/HTML/TXT and other common formats with a conversion speed up to 80 pages/min. In addition to converting PDF to Word and other formats, you can also perform operations such as splitting, merging, and extracting individual pages of PDF files through this software.
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The specific operation steps are as follows:
① After installing Renee PDF Aide , open it. Select “Convert PDF”.
Convert PDF
② Click “Word” in the top menu bar, and then select the save location of the target document.
Click Word
③ Click the “Add File” button to add the PDF file to be converted. After the file is successfully added, the information of the file to be converted will be displayed in the conversion list. Click the “Select Page” list to set the page for file conversion.
add files
④ If your PDF is created by a scanner, the converted PDF content will only be displayed as an image. Therefore, you need to select “Enable OCR” to recognize the scanned content in the PDF and then output it as a Word document. If it’s just a normal PDF file, please skip this step.
Enable OCR
Kind tips The software provides three text recognition modes, you can choose one of them:

  • A: Recognize the text in the image or PDF scan: This option defaults that the text on the PDF page is on the image/scanned image, and the program will directly use the OCR function (selecting the corresponding language will have a better effect) to recognize the text on the file Then switch to output.
  • B: Recognize built-in fonts (to avoid garbled characters): This option defaults to using embedded fonts for the text on the PDF page. The program will convert these fonts into pictures, and then use the OCR function (selecting the corresponding language will be better) to identify the file. Text conversion output.
  • A+B (slower): The program automatically recognizes whether the font in the file is a picture or a PDF embedded font, and then converts and outputs. But the recognition is time-consuming, and the conversion time will be longer.

⑤ Finally, click the “Convert” button to convert. When the prompt conversion is over, the software will display the total number of converted files and the number of successfully converted files. At this time, the PDF has been successfully converted into a Word document.
After converting to Word, you can annotate the PDF, write new content, create forms, and more. After editing, you can click “File” > “Save As” in Word to save it as a PDF.

Method 2: Adobe Acrobat Reader

Adobe Acrobat Reader is one of the most popular PDF readers on the market, which offers the ability to view, print and annotate PDF documents. It is the only PDF reader capable of opening and interacting with all types of PDF documents, including forms and multimedia content. If you need to further edit PDF files, you need to download other PDF editing software. Adobe Acrobat Reader does not provide advanced tools to edit PDF text, pictures and pages. Adobe Acrobat Reader provides some annotation features that you can use to add comments, notes, drawing marks, or highlighting text, etc. In this software, you can use different annotation tools to add your comments and marks in the PDF files received for review.
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① Click “File” in the upper left corner of the software, and then select “Open” from the drop-down menu to find the PDF file you want to add annotations to.
② Click the “Add note” icon in the toolbar at the top of the software.
add notes
③ Then click the left mouse button on the place where you want to add a comment, and a comment pattern will appear in the document. Next, please enter the specific content of the comment in the comment box, and press the Enter key after the input is complete. After the annotation is added, the content of the annotation will be displayed when the mouse moves over the annotation.
Enter a comment

Method 3: Microsoft Edge browser

If you are using the Windows operating system, you can also try the Microsoft Edge browser Make simple edits and add comments to PDF files. Because the Microsoft Edge browser is not a professional PDF editing tool, it can only provide simple annotation tools.
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① Right-click the PDF file to be opened, and select “Open With” > “Microsoft Edge”.
② After opening the PDF file, you will see some editing options in the upper menu bar, please click “Add Note”. You now have the option to add notes and highlight text. After editing, click the “Save” button.
Click to add a note

Method 4: Smallpdf PDF online editor

In addition to the above methods of PDF editing software and browsers, you can also try to use Smallpdf online PDF editor . With online editing tools, you don’t need to install additional software to complete the operation, and it can be used on Windows, Mac or Linux operating systems. However, there is a risk of data leakage when using the Smallpdf tool, and the speed of uploading and downloading files will be affected by the speed of the network connection. Also, Smallpdf only offers a 14-day free trial.
Smallpdf online editing link: https://smallpdf.com/edit-pdf
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① After opening the Smallpdf website, click “Choose File” to upload the PDF file.
Select a document
② Click “Add Text”, click where you want to add a note, and then enter the note in the input box. You can also choose the font, color and size of the text. Alternatively, you can choose to Add a Picture, Add a Shape, or Draw.
add text
③ After adding annotations, click “Finish” > “Download” to save the PDF file to your computer.
Comparison of the four methods:
Renee PDF AideAdobe ReaderMicrosoft Edge browserSmallpdf
system compatibilityWindowsWindows, MacWindowsWindows, Mac
costfree trialfreefree14 days free trial
OCR function√xxx
PDF editingConvert, split, merge, delete, select and add watermark, etc.Add sticky notes, highlight text, add text annotations, and strikethroughAdd notes, highlight textAdd text, fill out PDF forms, add images
PDF conversion function√xx√
PDF encryption/decryption function√xx√

II. Reasons and solutions for the error that PDF cannot be written

Sometimes when you want to edit a PDF file, you find that the file cannot be written or opened normally. When encountering this kind of problem, you can first analyze the cause of the problem. Two common reasons are that the PDF file is encrypted and the PDF file is damaged. In order to solve the PDF cannot be written error, you can try the solutions described below.

Reason 1: Forget the PDF encryption password

For important file protection or file copyright and other security considerations, encrypting PDF files is the safest choice. If you password protect a PDF file, you can restrict other users from copying, editing, or accessing the document, and in some cases prevent users from printing the file. Sometimes we forget the password or the PDF downloaded from the Internet is password-protected. In order to open it, in addition to entering the correct password, you can also use some tools to crack the PDF password.
solution:

Renee PDF Aide is a professional software that integrates multi-functional PDF tools and PDF conversion. It can help you quickly decrypt, edit and convert PDF files.

The specific operation steps are as follows:
① Download and open Renee PDF Aide, click “PDF Toolset”.
PDF toolset
② Click “Add File” to import one or more PDF files.
③ Click the “Encrypt & Decrypt” tool in the upper menu bar, and then select “Decrypt PDF File”. You can optionally click “Modify” to enter possible password characters.
Decrypt PDF files
④ Finally, after selecting the file output location and other output settings, click “Convert”.

Reason 2: The PDF file is damaged

Sometimes improper operation or some unexpected situations can cause damage to PDF files, such as PDF files containing damaged data, or being suddenly interrupted during network transmission. To confirm whether the PDF is damaged, you can try to open another PDF file, if it can be opened, it means that the PDF file is damaged.
solution:
If the PDF file cannot be written normally, you can also use Renee PDF Aide to repair it.
① After opening the software, click “PDF Toolset” > “Repair” > “Add File” to import the PDF file.
repair PDF
② Select the recovery mode, “Mode 1″ or “Mode 2″.
● Mode 1: Provide high-efficiency damage repair, suitable for customers who require fast repair.
● Mode 2: Repair files more accurately and deeply, and the repair time will be longer.
③ Click “Convert” to export the repaired file.

III. Commonly used PDF editing operations

When modifying and editing PDF files, common operations are not only adding annotations, but also splitting, merging, rotating, and watermarking. The following will use the most simple and easy-to-use PDF editing software—— Renee PDF Aide , to describe how to do it.
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Multifunctional Encrypt/decrypt/split/merge/add watermark

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Quick Edit/convert dozens of PDF files in batch

Compatible Convert PDF to Excel/PowerPoint/Text, etc.

Easy Use with simple steps

Functional Encrypt/decrypt/split/merge/watermark

Safe Protect PDF with AES256 algorithms

Free TrialFree TrialNow 800 people have obtained the free version!

1. Split PDF files

Splitting a PDF file is to split a multi-page PDF into multiple small PDF files according to requirements; or to remove redundant pages and only split out specified pages. If your PDF file is too large or has unwanted content, you can split it. With Renee PDF Aide Converter software, you don’t need to convert it to other editable file formats and then split it.
Split mode:

  • Split into multiple smaller files.
  • Keep specified pages (remove unneeded ones).
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① After opening the software, click “PDF Toolset”.
PDF toolset
② Click “Split” > “Add File” to import the PDF file.
Split PDF
③ Then, select one of the split modes. You can choose to “Split into multiple smaller files” or “Keep specified pages”.
④ Finally, click “Convert” to export the file and save it to the specified location.

2. Merge PDF files

Merge PDF files, as the name suggests, is to merge multiple PDF files into one PDF. Before merging, you can choose to specify pages to be merged or to merge all pages directly.
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① After opening the software, click “PDF Toolset” > “Merge” > “Add File” to import the PDF file.
Merge PDFs
② In the drop-down box on the right of “Pages to Merge”, select “All” or “Use Generator”. After clicking “Use Generator”, you can manually select the pages to merge, or use the various automatic merge options provided by the software.
use generator
③ Finally, click “Convert” to export the file.

3. Rotate PDF files

If you find that the angle is incorrect after opening the PDF file, you can also adjust it through this software. Adjust the display angle of the PDF file, the angle options are 90, 180, 270.
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① Open Renee PDF Aide, click “PDF Toolset” > “Add Files” to import PDF files.
② Click “Rotate” and select the angle to convert, such as 90, 180 or 270 degrees. Also, you need to choose which pages to rotate, all pages or some pages.
Rotate PDF
③ Finally, click “Convert” to save it to the specified location.

4. Add watermark to PDF

In order to protect the PDF file from being stolen and used by others, and to protect the ownership of the file, you can add a personal watermark to the PDF. In Renee PDF Aide, you can add foreground/background watermarks to PDF files, and you can choose images or PDF files for watermarks.
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① Open Renee PDF Aide, click “PDF Toolset” > “Add Files” to import PDF files.
② Click “Watermark”, please select “Add Watermark (cover surface)” or “Add Background”. This means whether the watermark floats above the text, or is added to the bottom of the text.
Add watermark to PDF
③ Select the watermark file to add, click “…” in the “Watermark File” column to open the watermark file.
④ Select the page to be modified, all or part of it. Finally, click “Convert” to save it to a specified location.

5. Image to PDF

The “Image to PDF” function in the software refers to converting multiple or single images into one or more PDF files.
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① Open Renee PDF Aide, click “PDF Toolset” > “Add File”, and add the image to be converted. The image formats supported by the software are: BMP, PNG, JPG, GIF and TIFF.
② Click “Image to PDF”, please choose “Merge into one file” or “One image per PDF file”.
Image to PDF
tipsDescription of image conversion settings:

  • Merge into one file: Generate all added pictures into one PDF file, and one page of PDF will be generated for one picture.
  • One image, one PDF file: One image generates one PDF file.

③ After completing the output settings, click “Convert” to export.

6. Optimize PDF files

Sometimes when you encounter a large PDF file, it will take a relatively long time to open the file. To save time, you can use the “Optimize” function to compress large PDF files so that they can be opened quickly.
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① After opening the software, click “PDF Toolset” > “Optimize” > “Add File” to import the PDF file.
Optimize PDF
② Select optimization options:
● Online page loading speed (linearize): This optimization option is suitable for webpage PDFs, and the loading will be smoother after optimization.
● Compress images: Compress images in PDF files.
● Compress data stream: compress pdf file data stream. (PDF file capacity becomes smaller)
③ Finally, click “Convert”.