In Summary
- Working with a PDF file often means editing or modifying it to achieve your objective.
- However, unlike viewing, editing a PDF isn’t as simple and requires advanced programs, with certain operations requiring you to purchase an upgrade.
- LightPDF comes as an exception. It’s an all-in-one online PDF solution with 20+ PDF manipulation tools that you can use on any device to perform all sorts of operations on PDFs.
Working with a PDF file often means editing or modifying it to achieve your objective. However, as easy as it is to view a PDF file, the same can’t be said about performing other operations, as many PDF editors charge you for different functionalities, with features like signing and filling requiring you to spend more.
A notable exception to this is LightPDF. It’s an all-in-one PDF solution that offers a range of features to help you work with PDFs. And the best part is it gives you access to most of the useful PDF manipulation features for free.
Stick around as we check out LightPDF in detail and give you a breakdown of all the features it offers to simplify PDF manipulation.
Table of Contents
What Is LightPDF?
LightPDF is an online PDF solution for all your PDF manipulation needs. It includes over 20 different PDF tools, including those for editing, converting, compressing, merging, and annotating PDFs, among other things, to fulfill most of your PDF manipulation needs.
One of LightPDF’s highlights is the support for cloud and collaboration. Thanks to cloud support, you can easily and securely upload your PDFs to the cloud for later use or sharing. In addition, you can also collaborate on these files with your remote teammates in real-time and access them on any device from anywhere.
Key Features of LightPDF
Being an all-in-one PDF solution, LightPDF offers you the following features:
- Read and edit PDFs
- Watermark a PDF file
- Split a PDF file
- Combine multiple PDF files
- Sign a PDF
- Compress a PDF file
- Annotate a PDF
- Encrypt PDFs
- Unlock PDFs
- Convert a PDF to/from another image or file format
- Extract text from PDFs
Overview of All LightPDF PDF Tools
LightPDF offers over 20 PDF tools. Here’s a quick overview of everything you can do using them:
Edit a PDF File
LightPDF offers all the necessary editing features to simplify editing PDFs.
Once you upload a PDF file to LightPDF, you can alter it in a few different ways. For instance, you can highlight the text, add images to add visual flair, add a stamp, insert shapes, draw, switch page mode, and change transitions, among a few other things.
Convert PDFs to Other Image/Document Formats
At times, you may find yourself in a situation where you need to convert an image or document into a PDF or vice versa, perhaps due to size or compatibility limitations. LightPDF includes a bunch of editing tools that can come in handy in such situations.
Image Conversion:
- PNG to PDF
- JPG to PDF
- DWG to PDF
- PDF to PNG
- PDF to JPG
- DWG to PDF
Document Conversion:
- Word to PDF
- Excel to PDF
- PPT to PDF
- PDF to TXT
- PDF to Word
- PDF to Excel
- PDF to PPT
- TXT to PDF
Watermark a PDF File
Watermarking PDFs can be a task if you don’t have the right tool. LightPDF comes with a built-in watermarking tool that makes adding a watermark to a PDF file easy.
It supports both text and image watermarking, and you get a bunch of controls to adjust the appearance and other aspects of the watermark. And the best part is it helps you add the watermark to all the pages in your PDF, so you don’t have to do it for every single page individually.
Split a PDF
A PDF file generally comprises multiple pages. However, sometimes, you may want to split it into several single pages. With LightPDF, you can easily split a PDF file and extract all its pages.
Merge PDF Files
Much like splitting a PDF file, LightPDF also lets you merge multiple PDF documents into a single file. Simply upload your documents onto LightPDF, choose the order in which they appear in the resultant PDF file, and LightPDF will merge them for you.
Sign a PDF
Many PDF tools require a paid subscription or purchase before you can use them to sign a PDF. LightPDF is an exception, as it lets you sign PDF documents for free. Signing options include drawing out your signature manually or uploading an image of your signature.
Extract Text from Images Using OCR
OCR is a technology that lets you extract text from images and documents so you can use it elsewhere without having to type it out manually.
LightPDF features a built-in OCR reader, which works well. Using it, you can easily extract text from your PDF files to an editable format. Supported formats include Word, Excel, PPT, PDF, and plain text.
Compress a PDF File
Compressing a PDF file allows you to reduce its size, so you can conveniently send it across through email or any other app. However, most of the time, this compression comes at a cost: quality.
LightPDF ensures this doesn’t happen, so you can use it to compress PDF files easily while keeping their quality intact.
Encrypt PDF Files
Along with helping you edit and manipulate PDF files, LightPDF also lets you encrypt them. This comes in handy when you have a PDF file with sensitive/personal information that you don’t want others to see.
Simply upload your PDF file and set a password. LightPDF will encrypt it with this password and require it every time you/someone tries to open the file.
Unlock a PDF
Similar to securing a PDF file with a password, LightPDF also allows you to remove a password from a file. You must know the password used to encrypt it to be able to remove it, of course.
LightPDF Plans and Pricing
LightPDF is mostly free to use on the web. It lets you upload 30 files per day, stores all your files in the cloud for one year, and has no cap when it comes to uploading files.
But having said that, LightPDF limits access to certain features on the free plan. For instance, you don’t get the ability to add notes, print documents, and certain editing options (like strikethrough, underline, squiggly line, and a few shapes) on the free plan.
If you need these features, you’ll need to upgrade to the paid subscription, which costs $19.90 per month and $59.90 per year. This also lets you upload unlimited files in a day and unlocks access to LightPDF on other platforms, so you download its mobile app or desktop client on your smartphone or computer, respectively, and use it to manipulate your PDFs natively.
Manipulate PDFs Anytime, Anywhere, With Ease
When it comes to PDF manipulation, there are plenty of tools out there to help you. However, most of these are either paid or platform specific.
LightPDF, on the other hand, is free (for the most part) and available on the web, so you can use it on any device. It’s got a sleek interface, which makes using it easy. Plus, there’s support for the cloud, so you can store your files and collaborate with others when required.