How to Edit a PDF in Google Docs [Step-by-Step Guide]

Google Docs, a free and web-based word processor, allows you to create and edit online documents. It is usually recognized as an online alternative to Microsoft Word. But, it has an array of features to handle more types of documents. For example, it is available to edit PDF. It utilizes OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to extract text from images so that you can convert PDF to an editable document and make further changes.

How to edit PDF in Google Docs? Can you edit a PDF in Google Docs without losing formatting? Is there a better way to edit PDF for free? All questions can be answered here. Keep scanning to get comprehensive solutions.

As a matter of fact, you can’t directly edit PDF documents with Google Docs. Generally speaking, Google Docs is mainly for editing Word documents. And other document formats, including Sheets, Slides, and Forms, can also be directly opened and edited in Google Drive. But to edit PDF files in Google Docs, you should convert PDF to a Google Docs format, make editing, and then download the edited file to PDF. Google Docs can OCR the PDF document and make it editable. However, you must pay attention that the document’s original formatting may be transformed in the recognition process. In the following, let’s get how to edit PDF in Google Docs step by step.

Step 1. Upload PDF to Google Drive

Go to Google Drive online webpage. Log in with your Google account. Press the “+ New” button in the top left corner, then click File Upload to import your PDF file to Google Drive.

Step 2. Open PDF with Google Docs

Double-click the uploaded PDF file in Google Drive and choose to open it with Google Docs.

Step 3. Edit PDF in Google Docs

Google Docs will automatically OCR the PDF file and change it into an editable one. Select the editing tool in the top right corner, and then you can edit PDF with Google Docs.

Step 4. Export the Document to PDF

After editing, press “File> Print.” Select “Save as PDF” as the destination type. Then paste the print button to output the edited PDF file.

Also Read: How to Edit PDF in Word >>

As you can see, it is easy and fast to edit PDF with Google Docs, and it allows you to edit PDF documents without installing a PDF editor. However, we’d like to notify you that there are several limitations and drawbacks to editing a PDF in Google Docs.

• In the first place, it is hardly possible to edit PDF in Google Docs without losing formatting, especially for files with images and forms. During the OCR course, the PDF document's images, forms, and document formatting may be lost. You have to add those materials again and export the edited file as a PDF. Or you can ask other professional PDF editors for help.

• In the second place, Google Docs may cause a failure to handle large-sized PDF files. The large PDF document is sometimes a hassle to deal with in Google Drive. It has a limit on previewing large files. To edit PDF on Google Docs, the maximum file you can preview is 50 MB. Therefore, if you need to edit a large PDF file, Google Docs may not be the best option.

• In addition, The OCR feature provided by Google Docs brings different results for different types of PDFs. Actually, it doesn’t work for all PDFs. For example, it can’t recognize words on the image inserted in the PDF.

In a word, there are several limits to editing PDF in Google Docs. So, how to edit PDF in Google Docs without losing formatting? And how to successfully edit large-size PDFs? To solve these issues, you can refer to the alternative solution below.

If you want to edit a heavy-formatting or large-sized PDF with no trouble, you’d better try a pro PDF editor. iTop PDF is a new rising free PDF manager that offers an array of tools to edit PDFs easily and smartly. It is an all-featured PDF editing tool for Windows PC that can easily view, edit, convert, combine, compress and organize PDFs within a few steps.

What makes iTop PDF a must-have software?

• Edit PDF smoothly without hassle
• Convert PDF to any format in high quality
• Split and Merge PDF files easily and quickly
• Add e-signature effortlessly to your PDF

Free Download

By the way, it is one of the best PDF editors for beginners. With its intuitive user interface, you can navigate the feature you need in seconds. To edit a PDF document, it can:

• Edit Text, Change Font Style/Size/Color, etc.: With the inbuilt OCR feature in iTop PDF, you are able to edit the existing content in your PDF document, such as adding, deleting, and replacing text, changing text style, etc.

• Add Images and Links: As easy as editing a Word file, you can directly insert images and add links to the current editing PDF document.

• Remove Objects, Text, Images, Forms, etc.: Apart from changing content in a PDF, you can also delete unnecessary parts from the PDF file, such as text, images, forms, and other objects.

• Annotate and Highlight the Text: It is more than a PDF editor, but is also a PDF highlighter and annotator. Using its default lines, arrows, etc., you can effortlessly annotate the crucial content in your PDF document.

How to Edit PDF with iTop PDF

After having a basic learning of the iTop PDF, let’s figure out how to edit PDF in Google Docs without losing formatting using its alternative, iTop PDF. Here is the step-by-step tutorial for you.

Step 1. Download and Install iTop PDF

Step 2. Import Your PDF Document

Click Edit PDF on the dashboard and select your PDF file to input.

Step 3. Edit the PDF and Save It

Edit the PDF content or insert text/images, add bookmarks, crop pages, etc. Then press the save icon on the top menu bar to save the edited PDF file.

The Final Words

It is absolutely effortless to edit a PDF in Google Docs. You can perform the whole editing progress online with no downloads. However, it can’t handle heavy formatting and large-sized PDF documents well. And the document loading and editing speed are greatly influenced by network conditions. Alternatively, iTop PDF offers a free and easy to handle any types of PDF documents well. You can add, change and remove various objects from plain texts to images/forms in a PDF document as well as save all changes without losing format. If Google Docs can’t satisfy you, try this alternative PDF editor for PC.

What makes iTop PDF a must-have software?

• Edit PDF smoothly without hassle
• Convert PDF to any format in high quality
• Split and Merge PDF files easily and quickly
• Add e-signature effortlessly to your PDF

Free Download