You can edit a PDF on your Mac without expensive software. The Preview app, on every Mac, does more than you think: add text and comments, place a signature, fill in forms, delete or merge pages, and make a PDF smaller or protect it with a password. This article explains step by step how that works on your MacBook.
Blue Apple repairs MacBooks in Amsterdam. With practical guides like this you get more out of the apps already on your Mac.
Opening a PDF in Preview
Double-click a PDF; it usually opens in Preview. If it opens in another app, right-click and choose Open With, Preview.
Adding text, highlights and shapes
Click the pen icon (Markup) in the toolbar. An extra bar appears with:
- Text: a text box to add something.
- Highlight: make text yellow, underline or strike through.
- Shapes: arrows, rectangles and circles.
- Note: a sticky note with comments.
Preview cannot change existing text in a PDF. For that you need a PDF editor, or you open the original (for example the Word or Pages document) and make a new PDF.
Signing a PDF
- Click the signature symbol in the Markup bar.
- Create a signature: with your finger on the trackpad, by holding a signature on paper up to the camera, or with your iPhone or iPad.
- Choose the signature and drag it into place. Resize it with the corners.
The signature is saved, so next time you can choose it right away. Through iCloud it is also available on your other Apple devices, so you can sign on your iPhone or iPad too.
Filling in a form
If the PDF has form fields, click in a field and type. If it has none, use the text box from the Markup bar.
Deleting, rotating and moving pages
Choose View, Thumbnails. On the left you see all pages. Select a page and press Delete to remove it, drag it to change the order, or rotate it with the rotate button.
Merging PDFs
Open the first PDF with thumbnails showing. Drag a second PDF from the Finder onto the thumbnails, where it should go. Then save with File, Save or Export as PDF.
Making a PDF smaller
Choose File, Export. Under Quartz Filter choose the option to reduce file size. Note: images become less sharp. Save it as a new file, so you keep the original.
Protecting a PDF with a password
Choose File, Export and tick the option to encrypt. Enter a password twice. Without that password nobody can open the PDF, so keep it safe.
Scanning a document to PDF
With an iPhone nearby, choose File, Import from iPhone, Scan Documents in Preview. You scan with your phone and the PDF appears on your Mac. You can make a PDF from any other program via File, Print, then the PDF button at the bottom left. Also see adding a printer.
Handy shortcuts
Command + Shift + A opens the Markup bar, Command + plus and minus zoom in and out. See handy shortcuts.
What we do at Blue Apple in Amsterdam
If your trackpad does not work well for signatures, or apps behave oddly, we test your MacBook. More on our page about MacBook repair in Amsterdam.
Frequently asked questions
Is a signature in Preview legally valid?
For many everyday documents it is accepted. Official documents may need a qualified digital signature.
Why can I not change the text?
Preview can only add things, not change the original text.
Do my markups disappear when I share the PDF?
No, they are saved in the PDF and visible on other computers too, including Windows PCs.
