Adobe Acrobat is arguably one of the most popular apps for viewing and working with PDFs (Portable Document Format). Part of the reason it’s popular is that Adobe invented the PDF file format in the early 1990s. As such, it had a leg up over everyone else and managed to create one of the best PDF editors available. Not only is it easy to use, but it also offers robust functionality.
Like most people, I’ve used Acrobat as my primary PDF app for as long as I can remember, even when I was still a student. However, using Acrobat isn’t ideal because of the price. It currently costs a whopping $12.99 a month for the most affordable Acrobat Standard plan. That, to me, is too expensive for a PDF editor. That’s how I decided to explore alternatives, and I’m happy to have stumbled upon ILovePDF2 as it meets all my needs and is totally free—you don’t even have to sign up.
Why I gave ILovePDF2 a shot
Paying for Acrobat didn’t make sense anymore
As noted before, I’ve been an Adobe Acrobat user for quite a long time. It worked well for me, especially while at school, because I was working with PDFs on a regular basis. After finishing my studies, I don’t work with PDFs as much as I used to, and with Adobe’s subscription prices, it just didn’t make sense.
While at school, I leveraged the student pricing, which was massively discounted. Since I’m no longer eligible for that plan, it was time to look elsewhere. I considered a variety of PDF editing apps that other users recommended. Ultimately, I landed on ILovePDF2, which, besides being free, is packed with handy features that make paying for Acrobat unthinkable. It covers all the basics and advanced features that you’ll ever need from a PDF editor.
ILovePDF2 gets all the basics right
It has everything I need from a PDF editor
For a free app, ILovePDF2 is packed with features you typically expect to be locked behind a paywall on most PDF apps. Sure, it doesn’t have a reader, but you don’t need one, as there are many free PDF reading apps available. Besides, most, if not all, modern browsers have free PDF readers.
You use ILovePDF2 when you need to do more than just read PDFs. It has conversion tools that allow you to convert files to and from PDFs. You can convert PDFs to Word, PNG, Excel, JPG, JSON, XML, YAML, and PowerPoint, to name a few. On the flip side, you can convert several file types to PDF, including Word, JSON, PNG, and JPG. In addition to conversion, you can merge, compress, rotate, and split PDFs.
The app is packed with tons of PDF editing features
Document editing made simple
ILovePDF2 has several editing features that you can use once you upload a file to the site. First, you can add text, and the editor includes a template for a heading, subheading, and body text, which allows you to add text of different sizes without heavy lifting. And if you need custom text styles, you can use the properties on the right side of the interface to change the font type, size, and color. You can also bold, italicize, underline, or strike through your text in the text styling section.
When you need to add shapes to your PDF, you can do so through the Shapes section on the left-hand side of the editor. The image upload feature is perfect if you need to add a logo to the PDF. One of the coolest features of ILovePDF2 is that you can edit the text in a PDF file directly by simply clicking on it. This allows you to change the text on any PDF file without hassle.
The ability to edit text inline is heavily dependent on the document. If you convert an image with text to a PDF or have a scanned image in PDF format, for example, you won’t be able to click on the text and edit it directly.
How I got started with ILovePDF2
There’s no app to download or account to create
Unlike Adobe Acrobat, ILovePDF2 doesn’t have any apps that you can install for local use. However, it has a free browser extension that you can install in Chromium-based browsers (including Chrome and Opera) and Mozilla Firefox, but it functions more like a shortcut for the app’s website. That’s not an issue, however, and since this is a free app. Personally, I don’t use the extension, and you probably shouldn’t either. To get started, visit the app’s website, and once you land on the home page, click PDF Editor in the navigation bar.
This will take you to a page where you can upload any PDF file. Click Browse Files, select the file you’d like to edit, and click Open to upload it. Alternatively, you can drag and drop the file from your device to the website, although I was unable to get the drag-and-drop feature to work. Once the file has been uploaded, ILovePDF2 opens the editor with the file loaded. From there, you can edit the file using the various tools available on the site.
Once you’ve finished working on your document, you can click Download in the top right of the editor to export it. There are several options here, and you can export your document as a PDF, JPG, PNG, or SVG. What I love about ILovePDF2 is that you can choose whether to export only the current page or the entire PDF. This feature can be quite handy if you’re in a situation where you only need to share a specific page of a document.
My experience using ILovePDF2 as my go-to PDF editor
It doesn’t have every feature, but it’s perfect for my needs
One thing you should note about ILovePDF2 is that it doesn’t have every feature you’ll find in Adobe Acrobat. If that makes it a non-starter for you, this won’t be a good option. But, personally, there’s nothing else that I need that often that isn’t available in ILovePDF2. One of the key features I’ve missed since switching from Acrobat has been document signing. However, I’ve gotten around that by using the site’s text addition feature—and I haven’t heard anyone complain about it so far, which means my makeshift solution has been working flawlessly.
Despite some of its clear limitations, I’m hooked on ILovePDF2 because, most importantly, it’s simple and easy to use. Even with its robust PDF editing features, it’s free and doesn’t require you to open your wallet. That’s exactly what I wanted from an Adobe Acrobat alternative, because I wasn’t using it enough to justify a monthly subscription. It would have been nice to have mobile and desktop apps, but for a free PDF editor, a web app is more than enough. Besides, I haven’t run into a situation where I need to use the site, and it’s down—it has been quite reliable so far.
ILovePDF2 is the perfect Acrobat alternative
ILovePDF2 may not have a fancy interface or cross-platform mobile apps like Acrobat, but if you want a no-frills, free alternative, it’s one of the perfect choices. It’s completely free, and it doesn’t even require you to sign up because there’s no account functionality. You just upload your document, use one of the many features available, download your document, and you’re set. So, if you’re tired of paying Adobe $12.99/month or more to edit PDF files, it’s time you switch to ILovePDF2.
