So beyond the features outlined here, let your personal preferences guide you in making your decision.

Ireal Pro Windows Alternative Free PDF Reader

Much of the time you can get by with a free PDF reader to review and comment on these files.

But inevitably, particularly in a business setting, youll need to edit a PDF file and that usually requires upgrading to a premium PDF editor.

That has given rise to a wealth of alternatives with varying features and costs.

We looked at several top PDF editors to see what they offer and how they stack up against each other.

See below for why we choose our top picks, and scroll to the bottom to see all of our PDF reviews.

Its rich combination of creation, editing, reviewing, and security features are what the best alternative options are built on, but we feel Acrobat still does it best.

Its recent interface redesign makes it much easier to navigate its robust toolset than the nested menus of yore, and its cloud subscription option puts its advanced features within reach of more individuals and small businesses.

Ireal Pro Windows Alternative Full Review Of

Read our full review of Adobe Acrobat Pro and see how it compares to the Adobe Acrobat Standard DC.) Runner-up.

Its now full integration with Nitro Cloudas part of Nitro Productivity Suitemakes collaborating on documents and securing signatures easier than ever.

Read our full review ).

But even the Professional edition, which has a near complete tool set, only costs 109.

You sacrifice little for that affordability, as it includes plenty of review, collaboration, and security features.

Read our full review.) A word about online PDF editors Why spend a chunk of change on a desktop editor when free online PDF editors abound The simple answer is because you get what you pay for.

Generally, free online editors will let you add text and comments, merge and split documents, and convert files to and from PDF.

With rare exception, however, they wont let you edit existing text and many have file-size and page-volume restrictions.

For these reasons, web PDF editors are best reserved for simple, fast editing jobs.

A good PDF editor should be able to transform a variety of file typesfrom Microsoft Office formats to images to HTMLand do so seamlessly, preserving the original formatting.

It should also include OCR technology to make the PDF text searchable and editable.

Likewise, a good PDF editor must be able to export PDFs into other editable formats such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, HTML, or plain text, maintaining the original files hyperlinks, images, and other elements.

A good one will perform these tasks as easily as in a text document or slide deck, allowing in-line editing, dragging-and dropping graphics, and adding or removing hyperlinks.

Common options include sticky notes, callout boxes, highlighting, freehand drawing tools, and stamps with messages like approved, revised, and confidential.

Look for a PDF editor that includes security features that allow access for authorized eyes only.

Good options will usually offer several levels of security, including password protection, permissions setting, and content redaction, which blacks out selected text and images.

Most PDF editors will also offer one or more ways to electronically sign documents.

While PDFs can typically be reviewed in any PDF reader or editor, regardless of which one they were created in, consider looking for an editor that has a dedicated mobile app, is optimized for mobile devices, or allows cloud access to features through a mobile browser.