# Is there a free, easy to use, pdf file editor floating around? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2026, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890 "2026-09-08T01:49:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/1 "2026-09-08T01:49:53Z")
It’s been a while since someone asked this question, and I’m hoping there is something new out there. I just need to cut out some sections of a .pdf document I created and don’t want to buy anything to do it. The program I used to create the file won’t let me cut what I want out, and I really hate dealing with Adobe. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/2 "2026-09-08T01:56:10Z")
If you’d like, send me the document and what you’re trying to do with it. Maybe someone can point you to a good, easy editor. But, in the meantime, I’ll knock out your task with Adobe’s stupid-expensive editor. bear dot nenno at gmail ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/3 "2026-09-08T01:57:35Z")
What OS do you use? Preview, which comes built in to every Mac, can do this. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/4 "2026-09-08T02:48:46Z")
There’s [Remove PDF Pages Online Free — Delete Pages from PDF | One Free PDF](https://onlypdf.vercel.app/remove-pages) if you just want to remove a few pages ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/5 "2026-09-08T02:52:22Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > if you just want to remove a few pages Can’t you already do that by “print to pdf” and select only the pages you want to keep? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/6 "2026-09-08T03:02:30Z")
Probably, but the print to PDF functionality can differ a lot between operating systems, the app doing the printing, etc. In some cases it may change the output quality by inadvertently rasterizing text (turning it into a picture) or recompressing images to a lower quality. It may be safer to manipulate the PDF directly than to just reprint it… but honestly it’s usually not a big deal and would likely work fine in most cases. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/7 "2026-09-08T03:19:59Z")
If you have Microsoft Office (at least 365 version) you can open a pdf file in word. It will convert it to Word format, but you can edit it and save it as pdf again. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/8 "2026-09-08T03:30:41Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I just need to cut out some sections of a .pdf document I created Try this one: [https://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-the-pdf-toolkit/pdftk\_free-2.02-win-setup.exe](https://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-the-pdf-toolkit/pdftk_free-2.02-win-setup.exe) ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/9 "2026-09-08T08:30:18Z")
I’m on MS Windows 11 at the moment… ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/10 "2026-09-08T08:33:01Z")
Can you explain step-by-step how this works? I’m writing a script and the app I am using (Movie Magic Version 6) appends a bunch of binary junk at the end of the scrip when I convert the output to pdf that I need to get rid of before I can give it out to someone to read. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/11 "2026-09-08T08:33:45Z")
Thanks DPRK. I’ll check it out. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/12 "2026-09-08T14:42:07Z")
Unfortunately, that won’t work for me. According to Google Chat "PDFtk does not edit text inside a PDF, but it is excellent for **modifying the structure** of the file (like merging, splitting, rotating, or securing pages). I need something that allows me to edit text inside a pdf file. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/13 "2026-09-08T15:21:53Z")
Apologies; I misunderstood and thought you only wanted to split off pages from a PDF document without editing the actual text. I do not have a glaring endorsement here, but if it is some simple editing you can attempt this old program: [https://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfedit/files/pdfedit-win32/](https://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfedit/files/pdfedit-win32/) ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/14 "2026-09-08T15:24:38Z")
@dolphinboy Any chance you can share a sample PDF output, even just a page or two with filler text and the binary blob at the end? I need to see what is actually inside — if it’s some sort of binary metadata, you need special tooling to get rid of it. Most consumer PDF software won’t do that, but there’s probably be a command-line open-source tool that could. If you can share a sample somewhere that would really help? (You can DM me if you want.) ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/15 "2026-09-08T16:17:35Z")
Here’s an online tool: > **[Edit PDF - 100% free & online](https://tools.pdf24.org/en/edit-pdf)** > > Free online PDF editor to edit PDF files. ✓ No limits and no watermarks. ✓ No installation or registration required. I use this and other tools on that site frequently. But I do worry that it may expose information. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/16 "2026-09-08T19:12:05Z")
I’ll DM you when I get home later. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/17 "2026-09-08T19:12:11Z")
Ask Adobe to do it? > **[PDF online: From the creator of PDFs | Adobe Acrobat](https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/online.html)** > > Do your best work online with Adobe Acrobat PDF online services. Use PDF tools in any browser. Scroll down and there are a few PDF edit tools. I usually use this with my browser in incognito mode so Adobe doesn’t register that I’ve used this free tool too many times… (Typically I use it to turn PDF into Excel for data analysis) The only limitation is it won’t work with book-sized PDF files, and I’ve met PDF files where the location and position of each word in the document is individually set, creating a ludicrously big file. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/18 "2026-09-08T19:19:34Z")
BTW, I know that Adobe developed pdf and owns the rights to it and I don’t blame them for forcing us to buy their products, but in the film writing industry, all documents must be in pdf format which gives a monopoly to Adobe, which I hate, but that’s life. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/19 "2026-09-08T19:43:21Z")
I believe that Adobe released the PDF file format years ago and it’s now an open standard. Adobe doesn’t own the rights to it any longer and you’re not forced to buy their products. I use the Foxit PDF Reader on my computer. (Although that one is Chinese-owned so it has its own issues.) ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890/20 "2026-09-08T19:56:40Z")
“Remove” forever, or can you “Remove” and save separately? Powerschool has a 5 MB file limit (a joke in this day and age), but some people scan all of their documents into one PDF that is over 5 MB. I would like to open and separate the 3 or 4 documents they scan together. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-free-easy-to-use-pdf-file-editor-floating-around/1032890.md?page=2)