Annotate PDF Online: Limitations & Versatile Annotators

In our daily office lives, we frequently encounter circumstances where our official files and papers require editing. There are numerous tools available on the digital market to assist you in editing your papers, but many people are unsure which one to use. For decades now, PDF annotating tools have dominated the market. There are numerous online PDF tools available that help you annotate PDF online, and this article will focus on their usefulness and how to use them.

The following article will be of great assistance to those who are unfamiliar with PDF annotation tools. For our reader's convenience, we've gone over the tools in-depth and included the necessary steps.

Part 1: How to Annotate PDF Online

Annotations are extremely helpful when you want to edit your documents. Many annotate PDF online tools are present across the internet, and in the section below, we have discussed two of them:

1. Annotate PDF Online Free with PDFescape

PDFescape is an online tool that has multiple purposes for file editing, but with that, it also provides the user with different annotation tools. PDFescpae works exceptionally great when you use the annotation tools while editing your file. It has great annotation functions like highlighting text, underlining, and sticky notes.

This annotate PDF online free tool also offers a strikeout tool if you want to cut false information. The highlighting tool can be used to highlight any important information. Here are a few steps that you can carry out in order to learn how to annotate a PDF online:

Step 1: Firstly, open the website of PDFescape and tap on "Free Online" written under the heading of PDFescape Online PDF Editor. Upload the PDF document by clicking on "Upload PDF to PDFescape."

Step 2: Once the document is uploaded, click the "Annotate" option to annotate the document. The annotate tool has multiple options like Highlight, Sticky Note, Strikeout, Text, and Shapes as well.

Step 3: If you are done annotating, now is the time to save the file. On the left side of your screen, you would see the "Save Document" and "Save and Download PDF." Click on either of them to save the annotated document.

2. Annotate PDF Online Using LightPDF

LightPDF is considered a secure online PDF editing platform that is preferred by most people and can be accessed from any device. This Annotate PDF tool is a great help for people who can't find a good tool. Suppose you are reading a course outline online, and you instantly need to highlight some important points; the LightPDF annotation tool is a great source for that. You can highlight the text with different colors, and different thoughts can be added by using the comment tool.

For your ease and understanding, you can add shapes to draw diagrams, and an arrow tool can be used to label and indicate any important point. Listed below are the steps that can be utilized by the user to annotate PDF online free by using LightPDF:

Step 1: First, you have to access the website. Upon opening the website, you will see a "Plus" sign; tap on the "Plus" sign to upload the file.

Step 2: The document will show on the screen as soon as you upload it. Choose from the options given above like Circle, Rectangle, Highlighter, and Pencil to annotate your document.

Step 3: To save the document, tap the "Save" option, which is located at the top right side of the screen. The tool will save the annotated PDF document, and then you can download it.

Part 2: Limitations to Annotate PDF Online

Online annotation tools may provide the best and most smooth editing experience, but there can be a few problems that a user has to face. Suppose you were in the middle of annotating on PDF online using any of the above online annotation PDF tools, and the power went off. This little problem can be the major source for you in losing the data you were editing.

Either this or, let's say, the speed of your internet device is lagging, or the browser is working slow; it would cause a problem. You will find it really hard to edit your documents using these online tools. The slow-speed internet will also disturb the uploading of files that are large in size. Some online annotation tools have file upload size or page restrictions, so it nearly becomes impossible to edit a large size file.

These specific limitations generally bring the offline annotation tools under the limelight. There's no need for internet in offline tools, and this results in faster and more efficient services. You can edit the file, save, and print it out instantly or whenever you want.

Part 3: How to Annotate PDF on Desktop

As we have discussed a few limitations of online PDF annotators and what issues a user might face while he/she annotates PDF online, now let's discuss an alternative. The best alternatives for an online PDF annotator are offline PDF annotators because of their easier accessibility. Offline PDF annotators are exceptionally good and helpful for people who can't wait to edit their important documents due to their demanding jobs.

In this section, we will introduce you to an offline PDF annotator that works wonderfully for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android users. If you want to annotate PDF on the desktop, then you should try UPDF for editing your PDF documents.

UPDF is an easy-to-use tool for its users and has an advanced interface design that attracts most people. People prefer using UPDF because of the easy accessibility; they do not need any internet connection once the tool is downloaded.

You can use highlighters to highlight the important texts, and a pencil tool can be used to write essential points. It provides a secure platform to the users with amazing features like managing and organizing PDF pages.

The annotation tool of UPDF has a wide variety of different tools that can be used to make your document look presentable. It has various shapes like squares, rectangles, ovals, etc.

Here are a few steps that you can follow to annotate your documents by using UPDF:

Step 1: Open PDF Document

Download the tool on your device and click on the icon of "UPDF" to open it. Now, click on the "Open File" button to select and upload your PDF document from the files to open and annotate it.

Step 2: Click the Comment Button

To annotate a PDF file, click on the "Comment" button that is present right on the top of the screen. The annotation tools will appear on the toolbar of the UPDF.

Step 3: Annotate PDF File

UPDF has a great variety of annotation tools. You can click on the "Highlight" button to highlight the written text or add different points and notes by using the "Sticky notes" feature. Text can be underlined and struck out too by using the "Underline" or "Strikeout" feature.

You can also add various stickers to PDF using UPDF for Mac. Here are many stickers in PDF that you can use as reviews. It will make your annotations more attractive.

Video Tutorial on How to Annotate PDF on Windows

Wrapping Up

A variety of online and offline PDF tools are extensively used across the internet and on Mac. We've gone through two online PDF tools in this article, along with the processes that will assist a user in modifying a file. On the other hand, for desktop customers, we recommend the offline software UPDF. It is an advanced PDF editor and annotator without limitations.