For quite a few years now, we have been told that printers are obsolete because they will be replaced by all-digital, especially thanks to PDFs. But when it comes to completing one of these files or annotating them, everything becomes complicated. Indeed, since PDF is a distribution format, it is not always easy to modify it. In general, you have to use an additional tool to do this. I have tested dozens of them in recent years, but did you know that it is possible to edit a PDF with Firefox using a basic tool, and that it works pretty well?
Firefox's Little-Known Tool
The story is always the same: you receive a PDF document. You have to fill in fields or change certain details. PDF, by definition, is designed not to be editable. So you curse in all directions until you find the right tool. And for that matter, there are a lot of tools available online like ILovePDF, UPDF, PDF4Me or AvePDF to name a few.
But what many people don't know is that Firefox has its own PDF editor! And even though Firefox is a web browser, the big advantage of this PDF editor is that it works offline!
How to edit a PDF with Firefox
And the good news is that it's really easy to edit a PDF with Firefox.
The first step is to drag your PDF file into the Firefox window. This will open the Firefox viewer. At the top right, you will see six icons:
- Highlight: to highlight important elements (several colors available)
- Text: With color and size options but no choice of Character font
- Draw: To add freehand elements or sign a document
- Image: to insert photos or illustrations and add descriptive text
- Save
So yes, we quickly realize that the editor does not allow you to modify the text already present. The main role of this PDF editor is the addition of annotations. But with a little creativity (for example, by adding an image with the same background color on the text that we want to erase), advanced modifications are quite possible.
Why is this function so little known?
It's quite surprising that so few people know about this handy feature for editing PDFs with Firefox. You might think that Mozilla would highlight this feature, but it seems that this is not the case. Mozilla is probably too focused on other aspects of the browser, such as security and speed, to promote this PDF editing feature. You might also think that Mozilla doesn't want to compete directly with more specialized PDF editors. After all, this is not its core business. But frankly, it's a shame because this option can really help a lot of people.
However, Mozilla still mentions this feature of its browser on a dedicated page !
So next time you need to edit PDF, think about Firefox!
Download Firefox: Click here
