It’s easy to highlight and note passages in a PDF, but what good are those notes if they are scattered over dozens of pages or on separate devices? Using a process called continuous digital ink capture, mark up your documents and search your notes using the Evernote app by clipping PDFs straight into Evernote. Here we will look at the top five apps that can be used to mark up PDFs.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Marking Up Pdfs
- PDFelement Pro (Windows & Mac)
PDFelement Pro is a great PDF markup software with different markup tools such as highlighting, lines, circles, comment boxes and more. In addition, it is also a complete PDF solution with many features for editing, converting, sharing and protecting PDF files. PDFelement is a very easy-to-use PDF markup software because it has a very simple interface, and you can access all functions from the main interface without the need for navigating elsewhere. There is a thumbnail block for navigating between pages and an adjustment panel that you can use to change functions such as thickness, color, opacity, style, and so on.
Pros:
It provides multiple PDF markup tools to annotate PDF files.
It has high-security features to protect your PDF document.
It comes with professional editing tools and an advanced OCR feature.
It is very easy to use for creating a fillable PDF form.
Cons:
You can try this PDF markup tool for free but files will be saved with watermark.
- Microsoft OneNote (Windows & Mac)
Microsoft OneNote is available on Windows and Mac, mobile devices, and the web. It is a free PDF markup software and features a lot of storage space. You can pull up your content from wherever you are very easily, even if you are offline. It is very close to Evernote when it comes to functionality.
Pros:
It’s good for taking basic notes and always be smooth and fast.
It is very reliable
All note content is treated as distinct pages
Cons:
Somtimes you will meet syncing issue.
Search in the web app is very poor
microsoft onenote
3: Foxit Reader (Windows & Mac)
Annotating and opening PDF files is easy with Foxit Reader markup tool. You can use it to open even large files in seconds. Other useful features include markup tools, the comment feature, striking through text, underlining, and so on. It works seamlessly with other software programs and services.
Pros:
It comes with a handy JavaScript security feature.
It allows you to create PDFs from scanned documents.
It has web-browser plugins.
Cons:
Its interface is quite cluttered.
Most of its features rely on other products.
foxit reader
4: Adobe Acrobat Reader (Windows & Mac)
With Adobe Acrobat Reader on your Mac or PC, you will be able to read, markup, navigate and enter information into PDF files very easily. The simplicity of its interface makes it very easy to use. Only essentials are shown on the interface, and it is faster and more reliable than most other free PDF markup tool.
Pros:
It supports full-screen reading.
It has very good accessibility options.
It features improved security.
Cons:
It takes up a lot of space on your PC or Mac.
Sometimes, it is very slow to check boxes or write in text fields.
adobe acrobat reader
5: Nitro Reader (Windows)
If you want to markup your PDF documents for free, this is the application for you. Nitro Reader is one of the best free PDF markup software that is very useful for all basic tasks that you perform every day with your PDF documents. You can also use it to create PDFs from scratch. The PDFs that are created are totally compatible with other PDF readers as well.
Pros:
It allows you to convert documents to PDF format.
It features a complete set of free PDF markup tools.
It has a nice interface.
Cons:
OCR does not work well on large documents
nitro reader
6: Qiqqa (Windows)
Qiqqa is a useful PDF markup tool if you have your PDF documents littered across multiple locations. It enables you to keep your PDF secure and organize them, making them instantly accessible as well as searchable across all devices. You will never have to waste time hunting for missing PDF documents again because of the automatic tagging, identification, and categorization that it features.
Pros:
Faster downloading of multiple PDF papers.
Ability to hide items with no PDF.
Ability to open PDF documents directly from the internet or email.
Cons:
Viewing and annotating PDFs can be difficult.
qiqqa
7: Preview (Mac)
Preview allows you to view and edit PDF files as well as images files. You can use it to view, markup PDF, combine as well as edit PDF files without any difficulties. When you are done editing the files, you can share them on a local area network or online very easily. Another thing that you will love about this free PDF markup software is the ability it gives you to add a digital signature to your PDF documents.
Pros:
It includes an icon previewer that allows you to view PDF files in their respective thumbnail icons.
It allows you to digitally sign your PDF files.
Apart from editing PDF files, you can also use it to edit images.
Cons:
Editing photos can be more complicated.
preview
8: PDF Expert (Mac)
PDF Expert is a free PDF markup tool that allows you to read and annotate PDFs easily on Mac operating systems. You can also use it to modify existing text and images. You can insert stamps and modify document outlines and annotations created either from PDF Expert. It is very fast and reliable.
Pros:
Great support service team.
It features the ability to edit text and images
It makes modifying document outlines very easy
Cons:
Free download but need pay for advance features.
expert pdf reader
9: PDFescape (Online)
There is a lot you can do with PDFescape. You can use it to edit PDF files, fill out PDF forms, annotate PDF documents, password protect PDF files, create basic PDF forms and so on. It is easily installed as a Google Chrome extension and accessing it is very simple. You just need to click on the link that you would like to view.
Pros:
It is a great tool for making notes on PDF and filling out PDF forms.
It can be used without account registration.
It has a very intuitive interface.
Cons:
It is not a full-featured PDF editor.
To enjoy using most of its features, you have to buy the premium version.
pdfescape edit
10: PDFOnlineReader (Online)
With PDFOnlineReader, you can view and annotate your PDF files online without any difficulties. It allows you to add annotations to your PDF as textboxes and highlight sections of a PDF document by choosing the text that you would like to highlight. You can also use it to change the text in your PDF document into external or internal hyperlinks.
Pros:
It is a web-based PDF markup software that allows you to upload PDFs and annotate them online.
It allows you to change color, size and font in your PDF document.
It supports encrypted files.
Best pdf annotation app for ipad
Markup
iMore Safari capture in Markup
Source: iMore
Preview may not exist on the iPad just yet, but its excellent markup and annotation tools are available systemwide in iOS. The Instant Markup feature can be triggered by pressing either the Share button or new Markup button in certain apps — it looks like a pen tip with a circle around it. You can also tap an email attachment in Mail, or take a screenshot to activate the feature.
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In the Markup interface, you can add pen, highlighter, or pencil notation, along with basic shapes like squares, circles, arrows, and quote bubbles. Or you can drop a magnifier on the image or document and even add text or a signature. And the best part is that it is all integrated directly into iOS, so you don’t need any extra apps.
It’s pretty basic, sure, but sometimes basic is all you need.
PDF Viewer
PDF Viewer
Source: PSPDFKit GmbH
PDF Viewer has a clean, simplistic interface and powerful annotation tools. It is a perfect in-between for users who need a bit more than iOS’ Markup tool provides, but don’t need the power of apps like PDF Expert or LiquidText.
A PDF app’s interface can frequently appear daunting to the average user, thanks in part to the sheer number of annotation options developers try to shove inside of them, but PDF Viewer smartly simplifies this process. Taking a page from Apple’s own iWork suite, the app provides a series of nested views depending on which feature you’re using. For instance, if you’re looking at a document, you’ll be shown the tools for sharing, zooming, and browsing through annotations; tap the annotation button, and the app brings you into Annotation mode, with its various tools — still simplified into easy-to-understand icons.
PDF Viewer can even rearrange, delete, or insert blank pages within a PDF, though it doesn’t have some of the more advanced combination features (like merging multiple PDFs or adding existing PDF pages into a document).
Pdf Viewer Annotation Expert Icon
PDF Viewer – Annotation Expert
PDF Viewer is simple and streamlined enough to help you get all the basics done without much fuss.
Free with in-app purchases at App Store
PDF Expert
Pdf Expert Screens
Source: Readdle
When people ask for an all-purpose PDF markup and annotation app, I tend to send them to Readdle’s PDF Expert. The free download offers basic PDF reading, annotation, and digital signatures, but it really shines with the advanced tools that you can get via in-app purchases.
You can create customizable “stamps” for oft-used annotations (a friend to copy editors everywhere), edit the structure of the PDF, zip multiple documents together, password-protect your files, and sync with iCloud. The Pro upgrade takes those tools one step further and allows you to physically crack open a PDF and edit it on the spot. Have a spelling error in your ready-to-print proof? Even if you can’t jump back to InDesign on your iPad, you can fix it in the PDF.
You may never need the tools that PDF Expert provides, but I for one love that an app this complex and functional exists on iOS.
Pdf Expert Icon
PDF Expert: PDF Reader, Editor for iOS
Readdle’s PDF Expert is one of the best options for PDF viewing and editing. You get the basics for free, and more powerful features with a PRO subscription.
Free with in-app purchases at App Store
LiquidText
Liquidtext
Source: iMore
I’ve rewritten this intro to LiquidText about five times now, largely because the multitouch annotation app has this slippery way of defying description. A traditional sign-and-form-fill annotation app this is not — LiquidText is built for projects, novels, research papers, and dusty libraries. Lawyer and Mac enthusiast David Sparks describes it as being “engineered around the idea of reviewing long PDF documents better.” It looks at books filled with post-it notes and string-covered bulletin boards and laughs. There’s a better way to organize your research, and this app is it.
At its core, LiquidText focuses on the pain point of annotating lengthy documents, giving users a number of tools to do it in a way wholly unlike any other PDF app on the market. You can use multitouch gestures to pinch together large sections of a document. For instance, you could look at an introductory thesis statement next to its midpoint argument to see if it properly connects the dots. You can pull annotations out from the document they belong to — like clippings or post-its — and organize them together or even link them along the right side of the screen. And all of this is lightning fast and wholly enjoyable, thanks to LiquidText’s speedy and simple UI.
The Apple Pencil makes all of this even better, giving users specific gestures to highlight and pull out annotations as you review documents. For those who need this kind of workflow, there’s no better app than LiquidText out there — and possibly no better workflow.
Liquidtext Icon
LiquidText
LiquidText is a PDF app that is built for those who are working on lengthy research papers, novels, and other in-depth projects.
Free with in-app purchases at App Store
PDFPen 6
PDFPen 5
Source: SmileOnMyMac LLC
Smile Software brings us useful software like TextExpander and PDFPen. With PDFPen, you’re able to instantly view, draw, highlight, add comments, fill, and sign pretty much any document you need, all while on the go with your iPad and Apple Pencil, and even your current iPhone.
When adding highlights or freehand scribbles, the wrist/palm detection makes sure that you’re only marking up the selected area that you want, and nothing else. It works great and you can insert notes and comments as needed throughout the document. Images can be resized, moved, copied, or deleted from documents, and you can import new ones from your Photo Library.
PDFPen is packed with a ton of useful features, including iCloud syncing, as well as third-party service support like Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneNote, and more. Documents can be password protected and encrypted, and it also supports other styluses as well if you don’t have an Apple Pencil.
Plus, PDFPen 6 is just a one-time fee, with no additional in-app purchases.
Pdfpen 5 Icon
PDFPen 6
PDFPen 6 provides everything you need for PDF markup and annotation with your Apple Pencil. Plus, it’s just a one-time cost with no annoying in-app purchases.
$7 at App Store
iAnnotate 4
Iannotate 4 Screens
Source: Branchfire, Inc.
Want to maximize your productivity when it comes to PDFs and documents? Then iAnnotate is a great option to consider.
iAnnotate 4 does your basics, such as letting you open and view PDFs and documents, but you can do so much more with the app than you may think. The biggest draw with iAnnotate is the iPad Pro multitasking support, which allows you to view two documents side-by-side. It’ll automatically annotate when you use an Apple Pencil, and you can pan, zoom, and scroll with your fingers at will, no tool switching needed, making it a streamlined experience. There are even keyboard shortcuts if you want to maximize efficiency.
All markups on your documents can be saved directly, letting you view markups in external PDF readers. The Flatten feature compresses annotations onto the document to prevent modifications from being made. A situation that this is great for is when there needs to be multiple signatures on a document, as the Flatten feature prevents others from making unauthorized modifications or changes.
Like PDFPen, iAnnotate 4 is a one-time purchase with no in-app purchases to worry about.
Iannotate 4 Icon
iAnnotate 4 – PDFs & more
With iAnnotate 4, you’re getting Pro-level features for one flat rate price, with no in-app purchases to pester you.
$10 at App Store
Adobe Acrobat Reader for PDF
Adobe Acrobat Reader Screens
Source: Adobe, Inc.
You may already be familiar with Adobe Acrobat Reader, but did you know that it’s also available on iOS and supports Apple Pencil? That’s right!
With Adobe Acrobat Reader, you’re able to quickly open up and view PDF documents from anywhere, including with Adobe’s own Scan app. With these PDFs, you’re able to annotate them directly with your Apple Pencil, so that means highlighting, marking up, commenting, drawing on documents — you name it, Acrobat Reader can do it. It even allows you to fill out and sign forms hassle-free, which is probably one of the most popular reasons for having a PDF app on the iPad in the first place.
Adobe Acrobat Reader is free for the basics, but you’ll need to subscribe for more features like organizing and editing PDFs, export options, compression, merging, and more.
Adobe Acrobat Reader Icon
Adobe Acrobat Reader for PDF
Adobe Acrobat Reader provides users with basic functionality for free. If you want more features, you’ll need a Pro subscription.
Free with in-app purchases at App Store
PDFelement Lite
Pdfelement Screens
Source: Wondershare Software Co., Ltd
If you are looking for something that’s simple and gets the job done for free, then PDFelement is one to check out. All you need to do to use the app for free is to register for a Wondershare account.
With PDFelement, you’re able to view and edit PDFs right on your iPad, or even your best iPhone, with ease. The annotation and markup features include highlighting, underlining, strikethrough, text boxes, call-outs, stamps, and freehand drawing. It also does many other things, like fill and sign forms, convert PDFs to other file formats, create and combine PDF files, and much more.
PDFelement Lite will only work on native PDF files. This means you can’t use the app with scanned or raster PDFs.
Pdfelement Icon
PDFelement Lite – PDF Editor
PDFelement provides a lot of useful PDF markup and annotation features, and then some, all for free if you sign up for a free Wondershare account.
Free at App Store
Your iPad and Apple Pencil are all you need
As you can see, the iPad with an Apple Pencil makes for an excellent method when it comes to marking up and annotating PDFs. Since the combo works like pen and paper, it’s never been easier to sign and fill out forms on the go electronically, right from your best iPad. And if you’re really in a pinch, these apps will also work on your favorite iPhone, such as the iPhone 13.
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