In my graduate year, in order to prepare my diploma work, I had to bury myself in a mountain of books and folders of PDF files as well. Books were quite easy to handle, as I could make notes, add content, cross out words and do any changes with a single pen. However, PDF files were a real headache. They looked frozen in front of my screen, thus I could do nothing other than looking at it. To print them out was not the right choice as I’ve got too many of them.

This was the first time when I realized that I needed some tool to edit PDF. After loads of Internet searching and tests, I concluded two methods to edit PDF on Mac using some handy PDF tools for Mac.

Method 1: PDF Editor for Mac

This is the most efficient way to edit PDF. I tried a PDF editor for Mac. The editor such as Adobe Acrobat enables users to edit PDF directly. I could write and delete as if I worked in a Word document. I could also insert images, links and add comments to the file. In those days, another thing bothered me was that I got many forms in PDF to fill for one reason or another—to apply for a school, for a job, and other procedures requiring a PDF application. With a PDF editor at hand, I could fill out those forms in the least time-consuming way.

Method 2: PDF Converter for Mac

Later I found a PDF editor is not the only choice; some alternatives were available. I was surprised to find that in some cases, an integrated PDF Converter was even better than a PDF editor. With its help, I could convert PDF to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML, Text, and EPUB. The three kinds of conversions below are the most common ones for me.

PDF to Word

I am used to typing in MS Word. Therefore, when I met a PDF file and want to make some changes on it, I had an urge to turn it an editable Word document. I did the same thing to many of the PDF references. After conversion, I deleted those unrelated pages and combined useful information in one single file. This saved me hours to sort out all these materials. To create PDF from Word document is also easy as blinking. Take me as an example, I use Microsoft Save as PDF Add-in to recreate PDF file. Of course, you can find your own tool.

PDF to Excel

I prefer to use a familiar Excel spreadsheet to arrange and calculate data. Therefore, when I met statistics in table, the first thing I did was PDF to Excel conversion. After I did all the calculation and arrangements, I could even generate another PDF table.

PDF to PowerPoint

I found some PDFs were created from PowerPoint files and sometimes in order to edit them, I had to convert them back to PowerPoint files. In PowerPoint, I could change templates, alter images and correct transpositions due to previous conversion easily. Moreover, the converted PowerPoint file is more suitable for presentations. Thanks to the converter, I saved a lot of time copying and pasting from the PDF references to the PowerPoint slides in preparing my oral defense.

These are the two methods I always refer to. They fit different situations. Choose any one you like and explore your own way!