PDF Almanac — A Seasonal Guide to PDF Editing Tools

Foreword

Why the format needs its own tools

A PDF is built to look identical regardless of the device opening it, which is exactly why editing one needs dedicated software rather than a standard word processor. The tools built for that job take different shapes — some browser-only, some installed locally, some a mix of both — which is what separates the three chapters that follow.

Three chapters

Tool by tool

Each chapter covers what the tool is, what it includes, and what's worth knowing before relying on it.

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Chapter I

PDF Gear

A PDF viewing, editing, and conversion tool available as both a downloadable desktop application and a browser-based interface, generally used for editing text and images directly, filling in forms, and converting files to formats such as Word or Excel.

Includes

Text and page-level editing tools
Optical character recognition for scanned pages
Batch conversion across several files

Worth knowing

Desktop build requires installation first
Some functions require account creation
Supported file formats follow a fixed list

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Chapter II

Sejda PDF

A PDF editing tool built around a task-first interface: a specific job — editing, merging, compressing, redacting — is picked first, then a file is uploaded to run it. Available online and as a desktop application for Windows, Mac, and Linux, with matching tools in both.

Includes

Text and image editing, plus a whiteout tool
Merging, splitting, and compression tools
A redaction tool for removing details such as account numbers
Direct file import from Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive

Worth knowing

Each task is limited to a set number of uses per day
File size and page count are capped per task
Tasks generally process one file at a time

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Chapter III

PDF24 Tools

A collection of PDF utilities available online and as a downloadable Windows application, including a virtual printer driver that generates PDFs directly from other software.

Includes

A virtual PDF printer driver
An offline desktop application for Windows
A broad set of individual conversion and editing utilities

Worth knowing

Desktop build is available for Windows only
The full tool list takes some time to navigate
Offline use depends on installing the software first

A shared table

Where the three overlap

Most PDF tools cover a similar core set of tasks. The table below is a quick reference for which of the three chapters address each one, based on their published feature lists. "Limited" means the function is addressed to some degree, with a narrower scope than a dedicated feature.

Function	PDF Gear	Sejda PDF	PDF24 Tools
View and read PDF files	Yes	Yes	Yes
Edit text and images	Yes	Yes	Yes
Merge or split documents	Yes	Yes	Yes
Convert to other file formats	Yes	Yes	Yes
Optical character recognition	Yes	Limited	Yes
Redaction of private data	Limited	Yes	Limited
Works without installation	Browser mode	Online mode	Online mode
Works without an internet connection	Desktop build only	Desktop build only	Desktop build only

Based on each provider's published information at the time of writing.

More chapters

Longer notes on document security, common editing mistakes, and how different workflows tend to favour different tool combinations.

Read the chapters →

Afterword

How to read this almanac

This page reflects publicly available information about what each tool generally offers, set out so it can be weighed against the task at hand. Features, platform support, and usage limits change over time — check each provider's own documentation for current specifics.