CECO PDF

Can you edit a PDF in Word, Google Docs or Canva?

Yes, in a way: Word and Google Docs convert a PDF into a new document, and Canva imports it into its design editor, and Microsoft and Google both say the result may not look the same. To change a few words and keep the page as it was, CECO PDF corrects them in the PDF itself.

By CECO PDF · Published · Updated · Facts about other tools checked on , and

What each one makes of a PDF

None of the three edits the PDF itself. Each makes a document of its own from it, which you edit and then save as a PDF again. What changes on the way depends on the app and on the PDF.

What Word, Google Docs and Canva make of a PDF

AppWhat you editWhat may changeWorks best with
Microsoft WordA copy of the PDF, converted to a Word document; the PDF itself is not changed1Lines and pages may break in different places, and some elements convert badly1, 2PDFs that are mostly text1
Google DocsA Google Docs document, made from the text Google Drive reads off the pages3Lists, tables, columns, footnotes and endnotes are not likely to be detected3Files of 2 MB or smaller, in common fonts3
CanvaA design to work on in its editor4The page we read does not sayMaking a document “more visual and compelling”4
CECO PDFThe same PDF, with only the corrected words changedNothing outside the corrected words, which is checked before you can downloadA wrong word, date or number in a finished PDF or a scan

Can I edit a PDF in Word?

Yes. Microsoft says that to edit a PDF, you open it in Word, which tells you that it is going to make a copy of the PDF and convert its contents into a format Word can display; the original PDF is not changed at all1. When you are done, you save the result as a Word document or as a PDF1.

Microsoft is plain about the limits. Converting works best with files that are mostly text, such as business, legal or scientific documents, and PDFs of book chapters, or anything that looks like a manuscript from a copier, “won't be formatted well in Word”1, 2. The converted document might not match the original page for page: lines and pages may break at different places1. Microsoft lists elements known to convert badly, among them tables with cell spacing, page colours and borders, frames, footnotes that run over more than one page, endnotes, bookmarks and comments, and font effects such as glow or shadow, which become pictures2. A page made mostly of charts or other graphics may come in as one picture, and then its text cannot be edited2.

Word suits a document you mean to go on writing: a draft, a report or a letter that is mostly text. And if you still have the Word file the PDF was made from, edit that instead: it is the document, and the PDF is a print of it.

Can I edit a PDF in Google Docs?

Yes, by converting it. Google's help says that on a computer you right-click the file in Google Drive and choose Open with, then Google Docs3. Google describes this as converting image files to text: the file is converted, “but the format might not transfer”3. Bold, italics, font size, font type and line breaks are likely to be kept, while lists, tables, columns, footnotes and endnotes are not likely to be detected3. For the best results Google asks for a file of 2 MB or smaller, text at least 10 pixels high, pages the right way up, common fonts such as Arial or Times New Roman, and sharp images with even lighting3. The page does not say what becomes of the pictures in a PDF.

Google Docs suits taking the words out of a PDF, a scan or a photo, to reuse, quote or rewrite them. For a page whose layout matters, expect to rebuild the layout yourself.

Is Google Docs a free PDF editor?

Google presents it as one: its product page is titled “Google Docs: Online Document & PDF Editor”, and says you can “Import popular file types like Microsoft Word documents and PDF files and work with them in Docs”5. On cost, it says “Anyone with a Google Account can create in Docs”, and that some features are only on Google Workspace plans5.

What you edit there, though, is not the PDF. It is a Google Docs document made from the text Google Drive reads off the pages, and Google's help says the format might not transfer, as above3. Download it as a PDF again and you have a new document with a new layout. To change a few words and keep the page as it is, correct them in the PDF itself.

Can I edit a PDF in Canva?

Canva's own pages refused our reader on the day we read the others, so what follows rests on its PDF editor page as it was read the day before, the date listed under Sources. Canva describes its free PDF editor as transforming PDF documents “to make them more visual and compelling”, or making “that last minute tweak”4, and its page says you can import PDF files of up to 500 pages and 300 MB4. The page we read does not say whether a PDF's own fonts are kept, so neither do we.

Canva suits a PDF you mean to redesign: a flyer, a poster, a menu or slides. If you made the PDF in Canva, change the design there and download it again.

Will the fonts stay the same?

Not reliably, in any of them. A PDF often carries only the letters it uses of each typeface, and an app that opens it to edit needs the whole typeface to set new words; when it does not have it, it uses another. Microsoft says a converted document might not look exactly the way it looked as a PDF2. Google says the font type is likely to be kept, and asks for common fonts such as Arial or Times New Roman for the best results3.

CECO PDF's own PDF to Word is no different: it rebuilds plain prose as text you can edit, without the original layout and fonts, and turns any other document into pictures of its pages, and it says which it did.

When converting is fine

When to edit the PDF in place instead

Correcting in place, with CECO PDF

Select the words, type what they should say, and apply the correction. Where the page has real text, the new words are typed into it, in the document's own font. On a scan they are made from the page's own letters where it has them, or drawn to match the letters around them, and the result says which. Then the page is drawn again, before and after, a scan at 300 dots per inch and a page of real text at 150, and the two are compared pixel by pixel: the corrected file can be downloaded only once no pixel outside the corrected words has changed.

When the paper behind the words, a stamp across the line or the typeface cannot be matched, the correction is refused with its reason, and the document stays as it was. There is no replace-all: each correction is made where you point, and checked there. The corrected file carries a record of every change, and CECO PDF refuses identity documents at upload. Correct only documents that are yours, or that you are entitled to alter, as the terms say.

Corrections are free, up to 10 a day, on files of up to 15 MB and 50 pages without a credit or a plan. Signed in, your first corrected download each day costs nothing; after it, one takes a credit or a plan. One corrected document costs €0.99, and a pack of 10 costs €4.99; the Personal plan is €9.99 a month or €89.99 a year, and Business €24.99 a month or €224.99 a year. Prices include VAT, and the pricing page says what each allows.

Correct a PDF now — it opens the tool, with nothing to install.

What Word, Google Docs and Canva do better

How we checked

We read each maker's own pages, listed under Sources with the day each was read: prices, product pages, help pages and their questions and answers. Every statement about another tool comes from those pages, quoted where the exact words matter, and where they do not say something, neither do we. We did not upload files to any of these tools: this compares what each maker says its tool does, not our own tests of it. Word, Google Docs and Canva are the apps people most often ask about when they want to edit a PDF with something they already have. Canva's site refused our reader on every page on the day the others were read, so its facts come from its PDF editor page as read the day before; Canva's help pages may say more about fonts.

Prices are the ones each page showed us, in the currency it showed. They can differ by country, tax and offer, so check the maker's page before you buy. Facts about CECO PDF come from the service itself: its prices, limits and how long it keeps files are read from its own settings each time this page is served. If something here is out of date, the page is corrected and dated again.

Sources

Each page below was read on its maker's own website, on the day given beside it. A number in the text leads to the page the fact came from.

  1. Microsoft: Edit a PDF, in Word. support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/b2d1d729-6b79-499a-bcdb-233379c2f63a, read on
  2. Microsoft: Opening PDFs in Word. support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/opening-pdfs-in-word, read on
  3. Google: Convert PDF and photo files to text, in Google Drive Help. support.google.com/drive/answer/176692, read on
  4. Canva: Canva's free PDF editor. www.canva.com/pdf-editor, read on
  5. Google: Google Docs: Online Document & PDF Editor, its product page. workspace.google.com/products/docs, read on

More from the blog

Last updated