Using Adobe Reader, can I edit a PDF document?

You cannot edit PDF documents using Adobe Reader alone; the freely distributed Adobe Reader only allows you to view and print PDF documents. In order to edit a PDF document, you will need either one of Adobe's commercial Acrobat products or a similar third-party application. A list of Adobe Acrobat products and their features is available at the Adobe's Acrobat product comparison page.

You can often copy the contents of a PDF document to a word processor or text editor program (e.g., Microsoft Word or Notepad) and then edit them, but in this case you cannot resave the document as PDF (unless your word processor specifically has the ability to create PDF files). To copy the document's contents, from the Adobe Reader Edit menu, choose Save as Text. Alternatively, from the Edit menu, choose Select All; then, from the same menu, choose Copy, and then paste the text into your word processing program using that program's paste function.

Note: If users of Acrobat 8 Professional enable commenting in a PDF file, users of Adobe Reader 7 or 8 can now comment in PDF file reviews. In addition, users of Acrobat 8 Professional can enable form completion and digital signatures for users of Adobe Reader 8. Reader still cannot edit PDFs beyond commenting if commenting is enabled.

There are several free, Internet-based services that will convert word processor documents into PDF documents. These services usually limit the size and number of documents that they will convert; however, if your PDF editing needs are small, a Google search (e.g., on free pdf conversion) will probably provide you useful information on such services.

For more information on Adobe Acrobat, see Adobe's Acrobat page.

Also see:

• At IU, where can I find Adobe Acrobat?
• In Mac OS X, how do I convert a document to PDF?
• In an IU Windows STC, how can I convert a document to a PDF file?