The Adobe Acrobat Pro DC alternatives for Mac is available here: Adobe Acrobat Pro DC alternatives - Mac
Changes to Adobe Acrobat Pro DC Licensing
The University of Waterloo has a site license for Acrobat Pro DC which allows all full-time employees to use the software free of charge. For more information see Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.
For non-full-time employees, the Adobe Acrobat Pro DC licensing model is a subscription-based model, which means University of Waterloo departments/units have to purchase a subscription for Acrobat Pro DC. Please review the Campus Adobe Options.
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Do I still need Adobe Acrobat Pro DC?
Many commonly used features of Adobe Acrobat Pro DC are available in other applications Waterloo UWaterloo employees already have access to (e.g. Microsoft Office365) or are freely available (e.g. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC). Alternate, less expensive applications may also be available for purchase. Please see the list of alternatives below.
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create and/or edit fillable PDF forms
make remediations for accessibility (i.e. adjust tags or reading order)
need to edit content directly in a PDF document (Note: edits can be made to some files using Microsoft Word)
PDF Studio
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2022 Professional
PDF Studio 2020 2022 Professional is a full-featured PDF editor that maintains full compatibility with the PDF Standard. It is available for purchase at a discounted rate for Waterloo UWaterloo employees via OnTheHub (limit of 10). To purchase more than 10 licenses, contact SHI (Canadian reseller). For feature lists and how-to’s, see the the PDF Studio User Guide and and Knowledge Base.
Note PDF Studio doesn’t have an auto-tag feature, like Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. Tags must be created in the original authoring application or manually in PDF Studio. If a PDF is required to be accessible and will be heavily edited, either to adjust the content or add fillable form fields, it is recommended to continue to use Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.
Alternative Methods for Basic PDF Editing
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Info The free version of PDF Architect (available from https://www.pdfforge.org/pdfarchitect) includes features to merge PDFs, and rotate, re-arrange and delete pages. Ignore the prompts to upgrade to a paid version, all instructions listed in the table below can be completed with the free version. You will need to login with your Microsoft 365 account to access the tools in the Convert tab. |
Requirement | Alternative | Instruction |
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Creating PDF documents | Microsoft Office | |
Office 365 program (e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and then save the file as a PDF. Save a copy of your file as the appropriate Microsoft
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Office |
| Microsoft Photos | |
Editing content in PDF documents | Microsoft Office (with original file) | If you have the original Microsoft Office file, open the file in the appropriate Microsoft Office program, make your changes, and then save the file as a PDF again.
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| Microsoft Office (without original file) | Open the PDF in Word, make your changes, and then save the file as a PDF again. Works best for files that are short, mostly text, with simple layouts. You will need to re-apply heading styles, re-add alt text to your images and tables, and re-set the header row(s) for your tables. You may need to reformat other aspects of your file as well; the more complex the file, the more reformatting you will need to do.
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| Adobe Acrobat Export PDF (purchase required) | An Adobe Acrobat Export PDF subscription will grant you access to the Export PDF tool in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC and your browser through Adobe's Document Cloud. Export the PDF file to Word or Excel, make your changes and save the file as a PDF again. Exporting a PDF produces a Word document that retains more formatting than simply opening the PDF in Word. This is a better option for files that are long or complex, of if you have many PDFs to edit. You will need to re-apply heading styles, re-add alt text to your images and tables, and re-set the header row(s) for your tables. You may need to reformat other aspects of your file as well; the more complex the file, the more reformatting you will need to do.
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Adding comments and marking up text in PDF documents | Adobe Acrobat Reader DC | To add comments to a PDF, use the annotation and drawing markup tools. You can also add sticky notes, text notes, text boxes, callouts, various shapes and free-form drawings. To mark up text in a PDF, use the text editing tools. You can highlight text, underline text and strikethrough text, as well as indicate text to be inserted or replaced.
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Filling and signing PDF forms | Adobe Acrobat Reader DC | All supported versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC allow you to fill, sign and save PDF forms. This functionality was added to Adobe Reader XI. Fillable/interactive forms Contain fields that are easy to fill in with text, select, or pick from a set of options. Simply click on the fields to fill in interactive forms. For these forms, the Fill & Sign tool displays only the Sign option.
Flat/static forms Do not have interactive fields you can fill in. You can use the Fill & Sign tool to fill out your PDF form electronically, instead of printing and filling out these forms by hand. The Fill & Sign tool lets you manually add text, select an option by adding a cross mark, checkmark or dot, and annotate the form with a circle or line.
Signing and initialing forms For fillable and flatforms, you can type, draw or insert an image of your handwritten signature or initials. Use the Fill & Sign tool to sign or initial your form.
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Deleting a page from a PDF document | PDF |
Architect Edit Module and Insert Module > Page Modify Page Feature > Delete
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Rearranging pages in a PDF document | PDF |
Architect Edit Module and Insert Module > Page Modify Page Feature > Move
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Combining multiple PDF documents into a single PDF document | PDF |
Architect the Create module.Select the 'File' tabthe Convert feature. Click on the person icon in the top right. Click the ‘SIGN IN’ button. Click the ‘Sign
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up in with Microsoft’ button. Log in using your University of
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Waterloo Office Waterloo Microsoft 365 account (e.g.
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userid@uwaterloousername@uwaterloo.ca -your username is your 8-character UWaterloo username, i.e. j25rober).
Use the Merge
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Files tool to combine the multiple PDF documents into a single PDF. For instructions: Open the PDF Architect User Guide Navigate to
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Create Module Files
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Replacing a signature page in a PDF document | PDF |
Architect Create moduleConvert feature. Click on the person icon in the top right.
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Select the 'File' tabClick the ‘SIGN IN’ button. Click ‘Sign up with Microsoft’ button. Log in using your University of
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Waterloo Office Waterloo Microsoft 365 account (e.g.
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userid@uwaterloousername@uwaterloo.ca -your username is your 8-character UWaterloo username, i.e. j25rober).
Use the Delete tool to remove the blank signature page from the original PDF document. For instructions: Open the PDF Architect User Guide Navigate to
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Edit Module and Insert Module > Page Modify Page Feature > Delete
Use the Merge
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Files tool to combine the open PDF document with the signed page (PDF or image file). For instructions: Open the PDF Architect User Guide Navigate to
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Create Module Files
If necessary, use the Move tool to place the signed page in the correct location. For instructions: Open the PDF Architect User Guide Navigate to
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Edit Module and Insert Module > Page Modify Related articles
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labels | acrobat adobe |
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