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PDF Editors for Linux

If you are a Linux user utilizing Linux distributions to manage your files, you may occasionally find yourself in need of a suitable Linux PDF editor. While many Linux distributions include a PDF viewer, not all of them come equipped with a built-in PDF editor.

Fortunately, there are several exceptional options available that stand out in their own distinct ways. In this discussion, we will explore some of the leading PDF editors that you can utilize on Linux. Before we start, check the table below to see the PDF software at a glance.

Software	Cost	User Interface	Features	Compatibility	Performance
PDFgear	Free	User-friendly	PDF editing, conversion, and compression	Windows, Mac, Linux, Web	Fast and efficient
Okular	Free	Simple and clean	PDF viewing and annotating	Windows, Mac, Linux	Fast and reliable
Inkscape	Free	Feature-rich and customizable	PDF editing and vector graphics creation	Windows, Mac, Linux	High performance
LibreOffice	Free	Simple and clean	PDF editing, creation, and conversion	Windows, Mac, Linux	Good performance
PDFSam	Freemium (Paid add-ons)	Intuitive and easy to use	PDF splitting, merging, and mixing	Windows, Mac, Linux	Good performance
Scribus	Free	Professional-looking interface	PDF creation and editing for desktop publishing	Windows, Mac, Linux	High performance
Master PDF Editor	Freemium (Paid features)	User-friendly	PDF editing, creation, and encryption	Windows, Mac, Linux	Good performance
PDF Studio	Freemium (Paid features)	Clean and intuitive	PDF editing, creation, and conversion	Windows, Mac, Linux	High performance
PDF Escape	Free and Paid	User-friendly	PDF editing, creation, and filling forms	Web-based	Average performance
Foxit	Freemium (Paid features)	User-friendly	PDF editing, creation, and collaboration	Windows, Mac, Linux	Good performance
PDF Arranger	Free	Simple and clean	PDF splitting, merging, and rearranging	Linux	Good performance
Xournal++	Free	Simple and intuitive	PDF annotation and note-taking	Windows, Mac, Linux	Good performance
PDFedit	Free	Simple and easy to use	PDF editing and conversion	Linux	Average performance
PDFtk	Free	Command-line interface	PDF splitting, merging, and encryption	Windows, Mac, Linux	Good performance
PDF Mix tool	Free	Simple and clean	PDF merging, splitting, and rearranging	Windows, Mac, Linux	Average performance

PDFgear

PDFgear is a powerful and user-friendly PDF editor that offers an intuitive interface. While the standalone software may not be compatible with Linux yet, Linux users can still benefit from the online PDF editor provided by PDFgear.

This incredible tool is not only feature-rich but also completely free of charge, making it a top choice among PDF editors. With PDFgear, you can effortlessly perform various tasks such as reading, editing, merging, converting, and signing your PDF files, all from one convenient platform.

The chatbot feature, integrated with the new ChatGPT-3.5, is a game changer. It allows you to chat with any PDF document and easily get some key information from PDF documents. This new technology will save you time when it comes to reading, especially when analyzing textbooks, legal contracts, and research papers.

PDFgear PDF Editor

Key features

Microsoft Partner Program
A powerful and discerning privacy policy
Supports wide format conversion
Varied compressions for your PDF files wherein you can go with the low, medium, and robust compression
Powerful PDF editing capabilities

CONS

Android version is yet to be launched

Okular

Okular offers a powerful ‘Annotation mode’ that allows you to enhance your PDFs. With just a few clicks, you can add inline and popup notes, highlight and underline the PDF text, or insert your own comments into the PDF.

With Okular, you can easily select and view text in PDFs. Copy and paste content smoothly. Use the ‘Magnifier mode’ for small text. Stay organized with the ‘Thumbnails panel’ and ‘Content panel’. Sign your PDFs with this application to take control.

Okular PDF Editor

Key features

The annotation feature on your PDF files
Support select and view any of the text to edit it
An easier option to navigate through your content
A high-end PDF signature support

CONS

You need to use several KDE libraries
Slower scrolling support

Inkscape

Inkscape is a popular open-source vector graphics editor that also functions as a PDF editor for Linux. It offers a wide range of features specifically designed for editing PDF documents. With Inkscape, you can import, edit, and export PDF files effortlessly.

This powerful tool allows you to add or remove text, modify graphics, and insert images or elements. You can even convert graphics to vector format, ensuring high quality and making it ideal for tasks like large format printing or precise image alterations.

Inkscape PDF Editor

Key features

It has been a great tool for removing and adding text to a PDF file
A powerful vector graphics editor
Best suited for graphic design professionals and architects
A host of flexible drawing tools

CONS

A little complicated
May crash at times

LibreOffice

LibreOffice is a free office program with a built-in PDF editor called LibreOffice Draw. It lets you modify, edit, save, and create PDF files at no cost. With LibreOffice Draw, you can easily add texts, images, and text boxes to your PDF files for simple edits that satisfy most users.

When you open a PDF in LibreOffice Draw, it treats it as an image file, allowing you to modify it block-by-block and save it as a PDF. It’s a great option for those who need PDF editing but don’t want to pay for a commercial editor.

LibreOffice PDF Editor

Key features

Handles and edits spreadsheets, slideshows, databases, diagrams, and drawings
A good choice for filling the PDF forms
A decent set of PDF editing tools
Built-in functionality to edit PDF files

CONS

PDF editing capabilities are limited
Cannot handle scanned PDFs

PDFSam

PDFsam Basic is a PDF editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It lets you merge, split, extract pages, rotate, and merge your PDF files easily. It has been free and open-source since 2006, offering reliable PDF editing capabilities.

PDFsam Enhanced provides advanced features. It allows you to edit, convert, insert, review, sign, and secure your PDF files. You can also view and create PDFs from over 300 file formats.

PDFSam PDF Editor

Key features

The high-end privacy to take care of your files
You can choose between the enhanced or basic version as per your preferences
Provides you a good functionality to edit, convert, insert, review, sign, and secure your PDF files

CONS

Has been observed to crash at times
Needs Java support

Scribus

Scribus is a publishing app for Mac, Windows, and Linux that creates PDF files and imports PDF pages as images. Users can design various documents, images, and flyers. It supports basic PDF editing, although it’s primarily a desktop publishing software.

Scribus is a free and effective tool for designing brochures, flyers, or newsletters for non-profit organizations. While it may not have Adobe’s power, it surpasses Microsoft Word or Google Docs. With Scribus, users can easily manipulate text, images, shapes, and more to create visually appealing documents.

Scribus PDF Editor

Key features

You can add text boxes and other elements to the PDF file
The open-source feature helps you create advertisements and even books
It is built for Linux and other UNIX-based systems such as Solaris, FreeBSD, and NetBSD

CONS

You will not be able to edit the existing text
GUI should have been better

Master PDF Editor

Master PDF Editor is a powerful tool for editing PDFs. It works on Windows, MacOS, and Linux. You can format, style, align, and adjust line spacing with ease. It lets you add annotations, comments, and highlight or strike out PDF text. Digital signing ensures authenticity and security.

In addition to text editing, Master PDF Editor has features for PDF forms. Create and edit forms, fill in values, and perform real-time calculations. Manipulating pages is easy with drag-and-drop. Customize watermarks, headers, and footers by adding your logo or initials effortlessly.

Master PDF Editor

Key features

Support for creating creation, editing, and filling of PDF forms
It can edit scanned documents and documents that contain images
The support for the digital signature is yet another added advantage
OCR recognition capability

CONS

Not as comprehensive as some of the more advanced editing software
The interface can be a bit confusing for first-time users
Compatibility issues with certain operating systems or fonts

PDF Studio

PDF Studio is a powerful and affordable PDF editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Use it to create, review, and edit PDFs on any platform. The standard version lets you create, scan, OCR, and annotate PDFs. It also supports advanced PDF splitting and merging. Add headers, footers, and watermarks to your documents.

The pro version allows you to process multiple PDFs, and convert to/from Microsoft files and HTML. It supports PDF/A, PDF/X, and PDF/UA standards. Enjoy print and pre-press features and extra tools for enhanced editing.

PDF Studio PDF Editor

Key features

You can add sticky notes, text boxes, and freehand annotations to your PDF file
Multiple advanced features such as comparing two PDFs side by side, rulers, and grid views.
Cross-platform functionality
You can easily digitally sign the PDF file

CONS

The program comes at a steep price
The interface can be frustrating due to its cluttered and challenging navigation.

PDF Escape

PDF Escape is a great one to help you edit PDF files online and also for adding text. The online mode makes it truly easy to use across multiple platforms. You can add more content to the existing PDF file. The tool can undertake a host of PDF management features that include drawing on the PDF, redacting private information, add sticky notes.

PDFescape PDF Editor

Key features

create and manage your own PDF with ease
The tool can be used even without any need for registration
It also comes with a desktop version which is not free

CONS

You cannot edit the existing text or content
The desktop version is not available for free

Foxit

Foxit PDF Reader is available on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, the web, and Linux, it is for viewing, annotating, and editing PDF files. You can edit text, graphics, and add watermarks. You can also manage pages and images.

Foxit Reader is good for small changes like fixing typos or adding comments to PDF. For complex changes, you’ll need a more robust PDF editing tool. It’s free for personal use, but businesses need a license for Foxit PhantomPDF.

Foxit PDF Editor

Key features

Completely free to use
Fully featured and widely used software
Offers a comprehensive set of PDF management
Multiplatform PDF viewer and editor
You can even scan and print the PDF files

CONS

Less intuitive than other PDF editing tools
Some advanced features, such as redaction and OCR, are only available in the more expensive versions of the software

PDF Arranger

PDF Arranger is one of the most powerful, simple-to-use, and open-source tools for rearranging PDF files more effectively. The tool can be used for merging, splitting, and rotating PDF files. The tool does not come with advanced features, but for most of the basic requirements, this tool should be effective.

PDF Arranger is an application designed to assist users in efficiently merging or splitting PDF documents. While it lacks advanced features, it is effective for basic needs. It also offers the functionality to rotate, crop, and rearrange the pages, all presented through a user-friendly graphical interface that is interactive and intuitive to navigate.

PDF Arranger

Key features

A small Python GTK application
Support a wide range of PDF management tools
An interactive and intuitive graphical interface

CONS

Only do simple PDF editing tasks like merging and cropping
The program crashed or froze when editing specific documents

Xournal++

Xournal++ is a Linux PDF editor that enables PDF annotation. It lets you use a PDF as the journal background for interactive annotation. When using a PDF background, Xournal++ provides navigation through the “Outline” tab. If the PDF has a table of contents, you can click on entries to quickly navigate to the relevant page.

You can also search for text within the PDF background in this application. It offers two text selection options: “Linear PDF Text” for direct line selection and “PDF Text in Rectangle” for selecting text with a rectangular cursor.

Xournal++ PDF Editor

Key features

Lets you have vertical spaces between layers and annotations
An all-in-one PDF management software
A high degree of flexibility

CONS

Requires more effort to master the app due to its wide range of features and customizations
Limits accessibility for users who prefer working on mobile devices

PDFedit

PDFedit is a free PDF editor that allows you to fully edit your PDF documents. You have the option to make changes to the raw PDF objects if you’re an advanced user or use the user-friendly GUI functions for editing. The functionality of PDFedit can also be extended using ECMAScript, a scripting language.

PDFedit PDF Editor

Key features

Offers multiple functionalities that include Text editing, Text rotation, scaling, skewing, Graphics editing, and text extraction.
Ease of extending the functionality
Complete editing capability

CONS

Technical issues likely
Some features fail to work occasionally

PDFtk

PDFtk provides tools for working with PDF documents. PDFtk Free is a user-friendly tool for merging and splitting PDFs, and it’s free to use without any time restrictions. For more advanced features, there’s PDFtk Pro. It allows you to split, merge, rotate, watermark, stamp, and secure PDFs.

If you need server-side processing or PDF manipulation in your software, consider PDFtk Server. It’s a command-line tool used by software publishers for PDF tasks.

PDFtk PDF Editor

Key features

It can also handle a host of functions that include highlighting texts, adding annotations, deleting, and adding texts
A faster quicker merging and splitting functions
The free version comes with the CLI version, but the GUI version is available only on the GUI version

CONS

PDFtk does not support editing of the actual content within a PDF file
The free version of PDFtk has limited features

PDF Mix tool

PDF Mix Tool is a lightweight application available for free on most Linux distributions. With this tool, you can easily split, join, rotate, and mix PDF files. Whether you want to work with a single file or multiple files, PDF Mix Tool has got you covered.

A standout feature of PDF Mix Tool is the ability to copy pages from a document. This lets you create new files with specific pages, giving you more control over your PDFs. With its user-friendly interface, PDF Mix Tool makes PDF editing simple.

PDF Mix Tool

Key features

It can edit the layout of the pages
Features include splitting, extracting, deleting, and adding pages
A dedicated PDF viewer and editor
It can work on any system and does not hog your resources

CONS

The user can only merge PDFs with up to five pages in the free version
There’s no option to modify the text in the document

To Sum it Up

Those were a few of the best tools that let you handle PDF editors more efficiently. While some options here may be best suited for power users, others may be quite easy and work well with beginners. Analyze which type of user you are and go with the best PDF editor for Linux that you would be comfortable with.

In our view, after analyzing all those alternatives, we found PDFgear to be a highly powerful one to go with. The ease of use and advanced features offered by the tool make it stand well ahead in the race.

PDFgear PDF Editing Tutorial Center

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