Candy Reviews PDF | technological radar

Candy Reviews PDF | technological radar

PDF Candy (Opens in a new tab) is a free online PDF editor that offers tons of tools to, you guessed it, edit PDF files online for free. And by "rich" we mean 47 impressive tools, including editing, merging, compressing, rearranging, and protecting files. The service is wonderfully simple to use, but as with most free PDF editors, an upgrade is required to unlock its full potential.

PDF sweets: prices

PDF Candy Pricing Plans

(Image credit: Candy PDF)

The free online PDF editor and converter lets you use PDF Candy Web, and there are no restrictions on the tools you can use, although you can only complete one task per hour, making the free version ideal for minimal or irregular work (or lazy). PDF edition. At least it's more generous than SmallPDF's one-task-per-day restriction.

If you're trying to complete another task an hour from now, a helpful, if somewhat threatening, red countdown timer tells you how long you'll have to wait.

Removing this time lock requires a monthly or yearly subscription; this also increases file size limits.

Lifetime license, one time payment, opens PDF Candy, while providing a free download of a desktop PDF editor for Windows.

PDF Candy: interface and experience

Simple PD Candy interface

(Image credit: Candy PDF)

Using PDF Candy is child's play. Literally. The ability to grab a mouse and discern an icon is all you need to get started.

When you first access the home page, you'll find a bold "action" button to add files from your desktop or use third-party cloud storage services Dropbox and Google Drive. Depending on the tool you use, this will vary slightly, but the layout and workflow remains the same.

By default, the home page opens in the PDF converter, but below the action button are the 46 other PDF editing tools, including rearranging pages, converting images, and converting Office documents to PDF. Icons are big, bold, streamlined, and uniquely identifiable, so you can usually find what you need if you know what you're looking for.

If there is a flaw here, it is the lack of categorization. There is no clear basis for their default order; for example, it is not alphabetical. And you can't drag, drop and rearrange icons. But you can search or bookmark any tool, which greatly improves navigation.

This solid and simple interface expands once you dive into any of the tools. PDF Candy never leaves you in doubt about what to do and what to expect.

Sweets PDF: PDF Editing

Edit PDF files online for free with PDF Candy

(Image credit: Candy PDF)

Editing PDF files online is as easy as all the other features of PDF Candy. The key tools are found along the left sidebar and, as elsewhere, the icons leave no doubt as to what each button does.

Editing text in a PDF file is not a million miles of editing a word processor document. Open the PDF editor, highlight a word, line or paragraph, then you can replace it with your own content.

Alternatively, by clicking anywhere in the document, you can start typing in the text box, before dragging it into position. You'll also get a handful of controls over appearance, but that's pretty meager. You can't even change the font.

Whiteout is a useful tool for removing sensitive data from a PDF file, though we still prefer Foxit PDF Editor's redaction tool if you're concerned about compliance. Elsewhere, PDF Candy lets you upload images to files, draw lines and arrows, and write freely with the pen tool.

The included eSign software works very well and offers three options for adding signatures to documents: using text, uploading images, or drawing with the mouse. And you only need to create it once. Your signature will be saved to be used on other documents (and you can add others if needed).

PDF Candy: PDF Conversion

Convert files in a free online PDF editor PDF Candy in action

(Image credit: Candy PDF)

PDF Candy offers the possibility to convert documents with a single click. And in our experience, the platform delivers on that promise. The only (admittedly optional) exception is for converting images to PDF and vice versa, where you can also select the image quality.

After waiting 15 seconds for the tool to process the document, a quick conversion is performed. Once converted, you can immediately download or open the document in another tool for further editing, such as merging PDF files or compressing PDF files.

But the real draw here is the sheer number of PDF conversion options. There are 19 "PDF conversion" tools, including Word to PDF, Excel to PDF, and PowerPoint to PDF. There are also options to convert images and popular e-reader formats to PDF.

On the other hand, "convert from PDF" offers 10 conversion tools, such as PDF to Word, PDF to JPG, and PDF to Excel. If you find yourself regularly converting to and from PDF files, PDF Candy will come in handy.

PDF Candy: additional features

PDF encryption options in PDF Candy

(Image credit: Candy PDF)

So PDF Candy lays down the basics. Here's a platform that offers everything most PDF users will need to get the job done. But it does not stop there.

Beyond editing, converting, and modifying pages, the free online PDF editor also offers the ability to encrypt and password protect files, edit document metadata, and add watermarks to PDF files. And, unsurprisingly by now, everything is just as easy to use.

The PDF OCR was surprisingly accurate: it "read" the text in a PDF and exported it to a .TXT file. The format may not match what is on the page, but the content itself was accurate. Depending on how many "garbled" images you have in your document, wait times vary.

Also available is Image Candy, the company's free online image editor and converter. Like PDF Candy, it has a good selection of tools, such as background removal, watermarking, and even meme generation. Its use is as simple as its document management suite.

Candy PDF: Scorecard

PricingFree, with paid upgrades4Interface and experienceClean, easy and very easy to use5PDF editingGood set of editing tools suitable for most users4PDF conversionExtensive library of conversion tools5Additional featuresMany additional useful tools and dreads5

I should buy?

Screenshot of PDF Candy free online PDF editor in action

(Image credit: Candy PDF)

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