How to edit text in a PDF without changing the font

A PDF isn't a word-processor file. Each line is a set of characters placed at exact positions, drawn with a font that is usually embedded inside the file, and often only as a subset: just the letters the document used. Many editors can't reuse that subset, so they paint a white box over the old line and type a new one in Arial or Times on top.

That shows up as a slightly different typeface, a different weight, a line that sits a little higher or lower, or a white patch on coloured backgrounds. The old words are also still in the file underneath.

1. 1Open the PDF editor and choose your PDF.
2. 2Pick Edit text. Every line you can change gets a dashed outline.
3. 3Click a line and type your change. The panel on the right shows the font, size and colour it found.
4. 4Press Esc, check the result, and download the PDF.

If a line mixes styles (a bold label followed by normal text, or a blue link inside a sentence) each part keeps its own font and colour.

• Keep changes close to the original length. A much longer line can run into whatever sits to its right.
• Use letters the document already contains where you can. A missing letter falls back to a standard font, which may stand out in a decorative typeface.
• Change one line at a time: each line is edited separately, which keeps paragraph spacing intact.

Scanned pages are pictures of text, so there is no font to reuse. You can still type on top of them, or run OCR PDF first to make the words searchable.

For adding text boxes, images, signatures and highlights, see How to edit a PDF.