
Many – including Adobe's own Acrobat Reader – make it easy to highlight text or add your signature. Good PDF editors should offer helpful annotation tools like highlighting, sticky notes, comment boxes, message stamps (like “approved” or “confidential”), or even freehand notes. The ability to allow single or collaborative annotation and markup is paramount. They're designed to handle one specific format and perform a limited number of tasks within that format. PDF editors are a different beast than PDF readers or word processors.

You can use type, sketch, draw, use shapes, add notes, sign, and change the format for all.ħ Best PDF Annotator Software for Mac and Windows UsersĬreating or reading a PDF is simple enough, but if you want to edit or annotate a PDF without changing it to a different format (or disturbing its layout), you'll need to have a dedicated PDF editor on hand.Ĭonventional PDF readers don't make it easy to draw or write freehand onto documents. Use the selection and the markup tools annotate the PDF.

So, an annotation is important.Īnnotation is a fancy word for "marking a sentence, paragraph, page or anything else." There are various markup tools you can use to annotate what you are reading: underline a sentence, use a highlighter, add a comment with an arrow, flag with a symbol, draw a shape around it, tag a Post-It note on it, etc. When you mark up text, you are in fact having a conversation with what you are reading.

We'll go over the easiest ways to annotate a PDF on Windows and Mac OS. It's common during the development process, and may be required for you to sign or fill out a PDF as well.ĭon't worry if you don't have much experience annotating like this on a computer. Annotating PDFs refers to adding notes and important remarks to the PDF for other readers. If you're exchanging and creating PDFs with your peers or coworkers, chances are high you'll need do some notation. PDF files not only contain text, but they also have media such as audio and videos.

There isn't a single user who has not gone through these as they are ubiquitous. PDF files have been around for over two decades now. For example, many contracts and documents are signed virtually and saved as PDFs because the format tends to be more secure. PDF is short for Portable Document Format and it is a versatile file format for sharing documents online.
