User-Friendly PDF Editing in Photoshop: Step-by-Step Tutorial

We know Adobe Photoshop to be the industry-standard graphics editing software for manipulating all forms of visual content, including photos, 3D, and even videos. However, can you edit PDFs in Photoshop?

In this article, you will find the answer as well as a Photoshop PDF editor which offers a better PDF editing experience.

Can You Edit a PDF in Photoshop?

You can edit PDFs in Photoshop, however, there are many limitations as it is a graphic editor, not a professional PDF editor. You can only add new elements to the PDF document, such as text, shapes, etc. And you can't add new pages to your PDF.

According to Mylenium from the Adobe community:

"PDFs are generally not meant for editing and thus quite limited even in Acrobat. The only way to "edit" them in PS is to import the file and let it be rasterized. You cannot create multi-page PDFs with PS.Mylenium"

How to Edit a PDF in Photoshop in 3 Steps

Photoshop can perform some editing functions on your PDF document. These are the steps to take to edit your PDF in this Photoshop PDF editor:

Step 1: Import the PDF into Photoshop

Open the PDF on Photoshop by going to the "File > Open" section at the uppermost left of the page. Locate the PDF document and click on it.

Step 2: Set the PDF Up for Editing

You will come across a "Select" button that requires you to choose between editing the PDF file in "Pages" or "Images" format. If you choose the "Pages", you will need to edit each page individually. If you wish to edit multiple images at a go, you need to hold down the "Control" (for Windows PC) or "Command" (for Macs) and select each page you wish to edit.

On the other hand, clicking on the "Images" option means you only get to edit the images in the PDF and not the text.

Step 3: Start Editing the PDF in Photoshop

Whichever you choose, the next page that opens is the proper editing page. Here, you can add shapes, images, annotations, and adjustment layers.

Note that you cannot, however, remove any texts or images from the PDF. If you wish to remove anything, you may need to hide it behind a white shape layer. Then you can append the words or images on the new white surface.

The Best Alternative to the Photoshop PDF Editor

Considering the above limitations of the Photoshop PDF editor, one would agree that there is a need to seek an alternative to Photoshop, and the choice should fill all the shortcomings of the Photoshop PDF editor. After conducting thorough research, we concluded that the best alternative for you is UPDF.

Available for both Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS, the UPDF - PDF Editor enables users to carry out all editing functions they wish on a PDF document. It enables users to edit, read, annotate, convert, share, protect, and organize PDF pages effortlessly. You can try it for free through the button below and enjoy the smooth editing experience.

In case you receive a PDF file and want to make modifications to it, the editing features on the UPDF provide ample opportunity to alter the document as you wish. In addition, it has strong text alteration features to add, delete, and replace words. The search function is also very helpful when you want to search and locate a specific word before editing it.

Although not as sophisticated as the Photoshop PDF editor, the UPDF also does a lot in enabling image editing in PDF. Users can add or replace images and crop and rotate them. If you want to use the image elsewhere in another part of the document or other files, you can activate the "Extract" button to get that done.

There is also the ability to annotate PDF documents with provisions for highlighting sections of a document, underlining them, and striking out selected parts. You can also make additional notes, which can come in handy if you are studying the text.

Then, if the document was a form or a contract, the signature tool allows users to include their signature. First, you can do that electronically by drawing your signature within the document with the help of UPDF's PDF signer. Alternatively, you may append the signature on a hardcopy surface (preferably paper) and then scan it for uploading into the PDF file.

If you wish to alter the structure of the PDF document, the UPDF app makes it possible to extract an entire page and place it somewhere else. You can also insert new pages in any part of the PDF document or replace existing ones.

Other functions include converting PDF documents to other formats, recognizing text in scanned PDF documents, etc.

How to Edit PDF in Photoshop PDF Editor Alternative - UPDF

With the above, you will agree that the UPDF is a must-have. So, we have provided a guide to follow whenever you need to edit PDFs on UPDF.

Step 1: Activate the Editing Mode

Upon launching the app and opening the document you wish to edit, put the document in editing mode.

You will find the "Edit PDF" button sign in the middle of the menu bar which is placed at the left of the page. Clicking the button makes the PDF document editable.

Step 2: Perform Editing Functions in the Document

Oftentimes, the editing may require changing the words and images in the document, a feature that is normally allowed in the PDF file format. However, UPDF presents Word-like editing capabilities that enable you to write in the documents freely.

You can perform such editing functions as changing the font configurations in PDF on the app, including the size, type, and color. You can also bold and italicize the words and change the page formatting.

UPDF also allows you to add and edit links. The added links can be linked to the specific page in the PDF file or to a webpage by entering the address. Editing PDFs in UPDF is a simple and fast task, and try it now!

If you want to learn more about this PDF editor, please watch the video below, and we will introduce the detailed steps on how to edit a PDF:

Comparing Photoshop PDF Editor and UPDF

FAQs about Editing PDFs in Photoshop

1. Can a PDF be edited in Photoshop?

You can technically edit a PDF using Photoshop but there are some limitations on what you can do. You can open the PDF in Photoshop but it will only open as an image, not a document. This means that while you will be able to add annotations to the PDF, you will not be able to edit existing elements like text or images. The only way to remove an element from the document for instance is to cover it using a clone stamp tool. If you need to add high-quality images to your PDF file, you can speed up your workflow by using FixThePhoto for enhancing your pics.

2. Can Photoshop open a PDF?

Yes. You can open a PDF document using Photoshop in much the same way as you would open any other project on the program. To open the file, just choose "File > Open" and select the PDF document.

3. What is the best choice if you want to edit a PDF?

Photoshop is meant to edit image files and not PDF documents and so there are some limits if you choose to use it. UPDF on the other hand is designed to help you edit all aspects of the PDF document easily and more effectively. If your goal is to edit a PDF, you are better served by UPDF than any other tool.

Conclusion

While the Photoshop PDF editor can perform several editing functions, it is mostly limited. The major downside is that Photoshop is largely limited to editing image-based PDFs. This is where the UPDF comes in, as it features all of these and more. Should you need to edit your PDF in UPDF, download it from the button below and follow the guidelines provided above.