How to Edit PDF in Photoshop in 2023 [Full Guide]

For graphic designers with document management requirements, there is an easy-overlooked fact that the photo processing flagship Photoshop has native support for PDF editing, which is kind of a surprise since PDF editing is a pro-level feature that even rarely appears in many PDF reader applications like Adobe Reader. Come to think of it, it’s actually not that surprising, considering PDF and Photoshop are both from Adobe.

In this post, you’ll learn from the step-by-step instructions on how to edit PDFs in Photoshop and a free Photoshop alternative. And there is additional information that helps with your PDF editing journey, don’t forget to take a look.

For editing purposes of beginners and professionals, our post of The 12 Best Free PDF Editors for Windows has the helpful information you need.

How to Edit PDF in Photoshop: Fast Check

It’s technically doable to edit PDFs in Photoshop yet not professionally recommended. Photoshop helps edit image-based content in PDFs but nothing else. Now edit your PDF with the free Photoshop online alternative PDFgear.

How to Edit PDF in Photoshop: Step by Step

This part of the content shows you how to edit PDFs in Photoshop, using the Photoshop Patch tool. The method has been well-tested on the latest version of Photoshop 24.1 on desktop, and it works with earlier versions including Photoshop CS2, Photoshop CS6, etc.

Please note that it’s not recommended to edit PDFs in Photoshop, however, since it could result in unreadable texts or corrupted files. During editing in Photoshop, Vector graphics in PDF will be converted into raster graphics that are hard to be edited. Many free and practical PDF editors are available over the internet, and you can certainly find some worthy choices from our post of the 17 Best open-source PDF editors to edit PDFs for free on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Step 1. Open the Photoshop program on your computer.

Step 2. Go to the upper-left File tab, and select Open from the dropdown.

Step 3. From the Explorer window, open the PDF you need to edit.

Step 4. From the Import PDF window, select the thumbnails to import multiple pages of PDF if needed.

Step 5. Use the layer panel in the lower-right corner to change PDF page layers.

Step 6. Go to the toolbar to the right, and click on the Text button to insert or erase text.

Step 7. Click on the rectangle button to find Marquee tools that work like the select tools in PDF editors.

Step 8. The Lasso button below will allow you to add shapes to your PDF pages.

Step 9. Move down a bit and use the eyedropper tool to pick colors and fill in shapes.

What we’ve introduced here only covers some editing tools in Adobe Photoshop, other PDF editor tools are still left for you to explore. However, as you can see from the tutorial above, it’s indeed troublesome, to edit PDFs with Photoshop, so is there a workaround? There is.

How to Edit PDF in Photoshop Free Alternative

Adobe products are all pricey, and so is Photoshop. But the US$239.88 annual subscription to Photoshop has been accepted by the photo editing market, for its mind-blowing performance in graphic design, light correction, subject edition, etc.

And if you are looking for a free and simple solution to PDF editing, the online PDF editor tool PDFgear is what you’re looking for. PDFgear is a web-based PDF editor that allows you to freely edit PDFs online, offering practical features such as PDF highlighting, PDF flattening, PDF merging & splitting, PDF page rearranging, inserting form fields, etc.

Additionally, PDFgear works with computers and mobile phones, so you can edit PDFs wherever you are. Now follow the steps below to edit PDF in Photoshop online using the alternative.

Step 1. Upload PDF to Photoshop Alternative

Go to the PDFgear Online PDF Editor tool, hit the Choose file button, or drag and drop the PDF to import the file.

Step 2. Edit PDF in Photoshop Alternative

Then you’ll be led to the PDF editor screen where there are options to select the text, edit text, highlight, add shapes, caliber, sign, markup, etc. in the upper menubar.

Step 3. Download Edited PDF

When you’re done editing, hit the upper-right Download or Print button to export or print your PDF.

How to Edit PDF in Photoshop: FAQs

How to edit the text in PDF in Photoshop?

To edit the text in PDF in Photoshop, you need to use the Text tool from the left-side toolbar, which allows you to select, insert, or erase text.

How to edit a PDF file in Photoshop online?

Adobe Photoshop doesn’t have an online version, unlike Adobe’s video editing tools, so you can’t edit a PDF in Photoshop online. Alternatively, you can go with a free Photoshop alternative like PDFgear to edit PDFs online for free.

How to edit PDFs in Photoshop without losing quality?

To edit PDFs in Photoshop without losing quality, you need to make sure that minimal adjustments have been made to the file, and make sure not to overdo text and image editing. In file exporting, Adobe Photoshop will maintain the original visual quality of your imported PDFs, but not so much for heavily edited PDFs.

Where is the edit PDF tool in Photoshop?

The PDF editing tools can be found in the menubar to the left, once you have imported PDF or PDF pages into Adobe Photoshop. While bearing different names, the PDF editing tools in the Photoshop editing toolbar do have features like selection, text editing, shape inserting, etc.

The Conclusion

If we are to adjust photo compositions, enhance photo visual quality, and make photo edits, then Photoshop is always a smart choice. But when it comes to PDF editing, the features that Photoshop has to offer naturally fall short.

So that’s why PDFgear is offered as a great Photoshop alternative for editing PDF documents, so if you have related demands, don’t forget to hit the download button and try it! Additionally, don’t forget to miss out on the PDFgear online PSD to PDF converter tool that will make your Photoshop edits much easier.