How to Edit PDF in Google Docs Easily

Audrey Goodwin

2023-04-13 17:06:35 • Filed to: PDF Software Comparisons • Proven solutions

If you are a Google Docs user, you may wonder if you can edit PDF in Google Docs. This post will give you the correct answer to the answer whether you can edit PDF in Google Docs and then provide the detailed steps for you to edit PDF in Google Docs.

Regardless of this fact, there are certain limitations when editing a PDF in Google Docs. If you want to look for simple solutions to edit PDF in Google Drive, apart from looking into online solutions, users should look into Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor, a professional and all-in-one PDF editor for editing PDFs with ease.

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Part 1: Can You Edit a PDF in Google Docs
Part 2: Steps to Edit PDF in Google Docs
Part 3: Edit PDF in Google Docs without Changing Formatting
Part 4: The Comparison of Editing a PDF in Google Docs and PDFelement
Part 5: What's the Best Way to Edit a PDF?

Part 1: Can You Edit a PDF in Google Docs

Yes. You can edit PDF in Google Docs, however, there are more things you should know. You see, when you open a PDF file with Google Docs, Google has converted the PDF into a Google doc file with its built-in optical character recognition (OCR). So when you are editing PDF in Google Docs, actually you are editing the converted PDF in Google Docs format.

This is fine if you just need to edit text, some images in the PDF file, but if you want to change the PDF layout or the styling of the PDF is not compatible with

Google Docs, you will have some formatting issues.

If you just want to edit some texts or do some simple editing in the PDF files, go with Google Docs. However, you need to edit PDF without changing formats, such as filling out PDF forms, changing background and layout, use a professional PDF editor like Wondershare PDFelement.

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Part 2: Steps to Edit PDF in Google Docs

Step 1. Upload a PDF to Google Drive

Step 2. Open with Google Docs

Right-click the PDF file that you uploaded and select "Open with >　Google Docs".

Step 3. Edit PDF in Google Docs

Once the PDF file is opened, you are able to edit the text, image, or link now. After editing, you can click the "File"> "Download"> "PDF" to save it as a PDF file on your computer again.

Can I make a fillable PDF in Google Docs?

No. You can create a PDF file with Google Docs, however, you can't make a fillable PDF in Google Docs. If you want to create a PDF with fillable forms, you should use a professional PDF creator such as PDFelement.

How to change a Google doc to a PDF

Just open the Google doc file and click File > Download > PDF to save the Google doc to PDF. Or you can download the Google doc files in .doc, .docx and convert it to PDF with a doc to pdf converter.

Part 3: Edit PDF in Google Docs without Changing Formatting

PDFelement is a comprehensive solution for PDF creation, editing, conversion, form editing, and filling. It is a desktop PDF editing tool with a separate version for Windows PC and Mac. When you do not want to edit PDF online and require additional functions to manage your PDF documents, then PDFelement is your best alternative option.

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Step 1. Open a PDF in the PDF Editor

Open PDFelement on your computer. Drag and drop the PDF file you wish to edit into the program. Or click on "+" on the Home screen.

Step 2. Edit PDF

Go to the "Edit" tab. Here you'll see editing functions, such as "Add Text," "Add Image," and more. You can modify your PDF by changing the text, inserting an image to the PDF pages, or creating a link in your PDF pages. Here are more details about how to edit PDF text.

Step 3. Annotate PDF

In the "Comment" tab, you can make annotations to your PDF pages. Click on the "Comment" menu and select the tool you want to use. For example, you can add a note to your file or highlight important text. Here are more instructions about how to annotate PDF.

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Step 4. Edit PDF Pages

Would you like to make changes to your PDF pages? PDFelement offers many tools to do this. Go to the "Page" tab, and select the function you need. It only takes a few clicks and a few seconds to organize or re-format your pages and you're done! Here are detailed steps about how to rearrange PDF pages.

Part 4: The Comparison of Editing a PDF in Google Docs and PDFelement

It is quite clear that Google Docs and PDFelement are quite effective in covering the process of editing PDF files. However, there are certain differences in both platforms that help users figure out the best option for their requirements, which are discussed in the pros and cons for both tools separately.

Advantages of Editing PDF in Google Docs:

Users are not bound to download any software across their desktops. Google Docs provides them with the option to perform all editing functions across the browser.
Google Docs is directly integrated with Google Drive, which helps users save their files across the cloud service with ease.

Issues to Edit PDF in Google Docs:

You may not be able to open all PDF files with Google Docs.
Users are bound to import images less than 2MB in size across the documents.
Actually, you are not editing the original PDF file in Google Docs. Google Docs recognizes the text in your PDF file and copies it so that you are able to edit the text as a separate version.
The formatting and images of the PDF files are not retained.
Certain editing functions are missing in Google Docs, such as adding pages, deleting pages, and others. It only supports editing text.
It requires a stable internet connection.

Advantages of Editing PDF in PDFelement:

The platform provides users with the ability to perform edits as in any word processing software.
You can perform batch processing across the platform.
Convert your documents into any major file format for easy sharing.
Use the OCR technology of the platform to scan images into text with ease.
Protect your PDF files with passwords, information redaction, and digital signatures.

Issues to Edit PDF File within PDFelement:

The tool requires to be downloaded on the desktop for use.
Multiple users cannot edit a PDF document simultaneously, unlike Google Docs that provides such features.

Part 5: What's the Best Way to Edit a PDF?

Google Docs is surely an appreciative tool that features quite several features to edit a PDF. In contrast to Google Docs, PDFelement provides an extensive set of options in terms of features. Users can easily edit all kinds of PDF files with control over the document's text, images, and links. Furthermore, the files are easily convertible under the ambits of quality with the help of the conversion tool offered by the platform.

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PDFelement is the best way to edit a PDF document due to its easy and integrated user interface. Users can understand the platform with ease and use it as per their requirements. The tool is undoubtedly the best option to edit a PDF across the desktop. With all the necessary elements, PDFelement acts as a one-stop solution for managing PDF files with ease. Here are some of its main features:

Edit text, image, link, background, etc., in PDF like Word.
An OCR function that turns scanned PDFs into editable and searchable documents
Convert PDFs to or from multiple file formats, such as MS Office， Image, Text, HTML, PDF/A, etc.
Compare the difference between the two PDF files.
Protect PDF with passwords and digital signatures.
Combine and Split PDF files quickly and easily.
Batch create and print PDF documents.
Measure distance, perimeter, and area in PDF with ease.

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