Have you ever needed to fill out a PDF form? Maybe you were signing an important document, applying for a job, or applying for a loan.
You get a sense of dread as you think “oh great, I need to spend money on software that will let me edit the PDF”, or “oh great, I will have to print it out and fill it in by hand, which will look unprofessional.”
But Mac users needn’t worry. According to Statcounter, Macs account for 19.84% of computer users in the US. This is for you guys!
Keep reading to check out our guide on how to edit a PDF on a Mac.
Why Do People Prefer to Use PDFs?
Portable Document Files (PDFs) are used by businesses worldwide because they offer a secure way to send files.
According to Legalscans.com, an electronic document can only be admissible in a court of law, if it is in a file format that can’t be altered without leaving an electronic footprint.
Other advantages of PDFs include that they can have a smaller file size than other documents, and can be compressed to save space too.
PDF documents can also be opened on almost all computers. Whereas, if you create a Word document, some people might not have Microsoft Word.
So, as you can see PDFs are very important and they’re certainly not designed to make your life more difficult.
How to Edit a PDF on a Mac Using QuickLook
Depending on your version of MacOS, you might have the ability to make use of the built-in feature that is QuickLook.
QuickLook is ideal for opening a preview of anything on your Mac, without needing to open the software itself. Previewing documents in this way can be done by clicking on the file and pressing the spacebar.
So, how do you use this Mac PDF editor?
Step 1: Find the PDF you want to edit.
Step 2: Select it and press the spacebar to view a preview of the document.
Step 3: Press the pencil icon, in the top right of the preview and click on it.
Step 4: There are a variety of editing tools available, such as a drawing tool, shapes, and a text box tool. Choose the one that you want, often you’ll just want to add text boxes to your PDF.
Step 5: Position the text box on your screen and type the text that you want to add to your PDF. You can move it around by clicking inside the box and then dragging it to where you want it.
Step 6: Once you are happy with your document, click on done to save the changes.
Add Your Signature
Similarly, you can also add your signature on QuickLook. To do this you need to:
Step 1: Find the signature icon in the menu and select create a signature.
Step 2: You can sign your name on a piece of paper and hold it up to the camera. Or you can use your touchpad to sign your name.
Step 3: Click on your signature and it will be added to your document. Then you can drag it to where you want to include your signature.
Ticking a Box
When filling out a form you might come across boxes that you need to tick or put a cross in.
If you want to put a cross in a box, you can simply type ‘x’ into the box.
Putting a tick in a box is a little more tricky. Sometimes, the PDF might be set up so that a tick will appear if you click on the box twice, however, if it isn’t here is what you need to do:
Step 1: Click on the text box and move it onto where you want to tick.
Step 2: Hold down the Option/Alt + V keys. This is how you type a tick on a Mac keyboard.
Step 3: Adjust the font style and size, until you are happy with the appearance of the tick.
Step 4: Finally, copy and paste the tick throughout the document as needed.
How to Save a Photo as a PDF
To save a photo as a PDF on your Mac, follow the below steps:
Step 1: Open your photo file (presumably JPG) using preview, and select the image, or images, in the sidebar.
Step 2: Click on File, and then select Print Selected Images. A new tab will open and you need to click on the dropdown menu (in the left-hand corner), then select the option that says save as PDF.
Step 3: Name your file and then save it in the appropriate folder.
If you have a Mac OS X computer, then there is also an easier way in which you can save your photos as a PDFs – this is especially helpful if you want to convert a lot of images.
Built-in to your computer, you’ll find an application called Automator, which allows you to create PDF files in bulk.
Launch Automator and select Choose Finder Items, then click on New PDF from images. Simply choose the images you wish to be converted, and voila!
Looking to convert an image into a PDF? Now you can easily convert your files for free.
Become a Mac PDF Editor Pro
Our simple guide on how to edit a PDF on a Mac should enable you to quickly and efficiently edit any PDF documents that you have with ease.
There are a number of different ways and step-by-step guides available, but as you can see, if you just want to quickly edit a PDF document then you don’t need to pay money for the software to do it.
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