on macOS. While you may know the built-in Preview in Mac is a great PDF viewer and annotator, it’s not designed for PDF editing. The most common choice for many is to convert PDF to Microsoft office formats such as Word, and a more convenient way we recommend, is to use a Mac PDF editor software.
The best PDF editor allows you to make changes to the original content, recognize text in scanned documents and let you edit text and images. So here we will show you our list of the best PDF editors for Mac in 2021, both free and paid versions that you will find powerful and helpful.
1. Best PDF Editor: Adobe Acrobat Pro
2. Best Adobe Acrobat Alternative: PDF Reader Pro
3. The Most User-friendly PDF Editor: PDF Expert
4. Powerful PDF Editing Software: PDFpen
5. Best Professional PDF Editor: PDFelement Pro
6. All-in-one PDF Editor: Foxit PhantomPDF
7. Best Online PDF Editor: PDF Filler
1. Adobe Acrobat Pro
Adobe Acrobat Pro is most people’s go-to option when talking about PDF software. Adobe first introduced the PDF format nearly 30 years ago, and Acrobat Pro DC is the current industry standard for editing PDF files. It has an array of text-editing options, and can instantly convert and save scanned documents to PDF.
Pros:
- Fix typos and easily change text or images in your PDF documents
- The built-in OCR function is handy and perfect
- Offer cloud-based storage and document access through the web
- The ability to redact private information
Cons:
- The rich feature set can be overwhelming for new users
- It has many hidden features that run underground in your RAM
Price: Monthly Plan - US$24.99/mo
Annual Plan - US$14.99/mo; US$179.88/yr
2. PDF Reader Pro
PDF Reader Pro is the most well-priced PDF editing suite on our list. It enables you to change original text without leaving your PDF. You can add, delete, move and modify texts on your PDF files, changing the font size and style attributes are also supported. The included OCR technology can turn paper documents into searchable, selectable and editable PDFs in more than 50 languages.
Pros:
- Easily edit, add, delete, cut, paste and insert texts
- Analyze text in any image files or scanned PDFs with OCR
- Support the recognition of different texts in more than 50 languages
- Extract data with no quality and format loss and export them to PDF or TXT
- Various features to edit your PDF files and PDF pages with ease
Price: $59.99 for a permanent license for up to six family members with family sharing
3. PDF Expert
PDF Expert makes PDF editing simple by automatically detecting the opacity, font, and size of the original text. A single click opens a set of tools to edit the contents. And it is compatible with any Apple device, iPhone, iPad, and Mac, so you can transfer files between devices seamlessly.
Pros:
- Modify the text, images, or links without difficulty
- Find and redact specific words in PDF
- The interface is clean and intuitive
- Work across Apple devices
Cons:
- It takes up to 1GB of RAM
- The OCR function needs to improve
Price: $79.99 for a license for 3 Macs
4. PDFpen
PDFpen allows you to correct texts, move, copy, and resize images as you wish. And you can copy and paste rich text from PDFs while retaining fonts and formatting including columns. Also, it is embedded with OCR technology to turn the pictures of scanned text into words, then you can proofread them for accuracy.
Pros:
- Correct text in original PDF with editable text blocks
- Move, resize, copy and delete images in original PDF
- Viewable OCR text layer for proofing OCR text from scanned pages
- Redact or erase text, including OCR text
Cons:
- Text sometimes doesn’t come out with the right font
- Crashes happens irregularly so you will have to save progress frequently
Price: $81.55 for a single user
5. PDFelement Pro
Wondershare PDFelement Pro for Mac gives you full control over your PDF content. It allows you to perform all desired modifications without affecting the formatting of your documents. And its up-to-date text editor supports intelligent paragraph recognition which matches different fonts and styles.
Pros:
- Edit text and images in PDF files
- Perform partial OCR on specific user-defined fields
- Complete support for batch processing
- The interface is literally a no-brainer
Cons:
- It is a heavy software and PDF loading takes time
- The software crashes multiple times
Perpetual License - US$119
6. Foxit PhantomPDF
Foxit PhantomPDF is one of the smoothest PDF editors on the market. With this editor, you can edit PDF text, columns, images, objects, and object shading. Link, join, or split text blocks to connect text, or set text to flow throughout the entire document, for more powerful PDF editing.
Pros:
- Edit PDF text in paragraphs and content in tables
- Link, join, or split text blocks to connect text
- Edit PDF images, objects, and object shading
- Embed images and videos in your PDF
Cons:
- Multitasking is not easy when running in background
- The interface is not easy to use for new users
Price: Monthly Plan - US$14.99/mo
Perpetual License - US$139
7. PDF Filler
PDF Filler is a web-based platform that is fully compatible with Mac because it works directly from your browser. You can use any browser you prefer- Chrome, Mozilla, Safari, etc. With this online service, you can edit PDFs in the simplest way with no need to download and install any PDF software.
Pros:
- No downloads and installation
- Replace PDF text online
- Redact & review PDFs online
Cons:
- Convenient for one-time use but not for long-time use
- Lack of advanced features such as OCR, edit image
Price: Monthly Plan - US$20/mo
Annual Plan - US$8/mo
After reading this list, I believe you will be able to find out the most cost-effective and useful Mac PDF editor for you. Plus, if PDF Reader Pro interests you, here is the good news, PDF Reader Pro provides a special educational offer for all students and faculty with 50% off. Also, for individuals and businesses, all of you can enjoy a 7-day free trial and a volume purchase program. Just give it a try and you will love it.
