You likely have a PDF that serves as your study material, an office document handed to you, or maybe you're reading a novel in PDF format. Whether it's for remembering key points, revisiting information, or suggesting improvements, annotating the document proves to be incredibly useful. In this guide, we will walk you through three common methods on how to annotate PDF files in Google Chrome.
How to Annotate PDF Files in Google Chrome?
Learning how to annotate PDFs in Chrome can offer various advantages, but the most common reasons why annotating PDFs can be helpful are:
Chrome is an exceptionally user-friendly and readily available browser, making it a top choice for many users. Its effectiveness contributes to simplicity and collaboration, especially when opening PDFs.
Now, why would anyone choose to annotate their PDFs using Chrome? Learning how to annotate PDFs in Chrome can offer various advantages, some of the most compelling reasons are:
There are various ways users can annotate PDFs in their Chrome browsers: through a Chrome PDF annotator extension, annotating in Google Drive, and using an online PDF editor. We will delve into each method to ensure you can choose the one you find easiest.
One of the best PDF annotator extensions is the WPS PDF Extension - a tool that empowers users to annotate, comment, and draw on their PDFs seamlessly within the Chrome browser. WPS is renowned for its robust solutions, and the WPS PDF Chrome extension lives up to this reputation, offering a comprehensive solution for individuals seeking to highlight crucial parts of PDFs, collaborate with others through comments, create personalized notes, and download PDFs locally for future use.
Let's explore how the WPS PDF Chrome extension can assist users in annotating their PDFs on Chrome:
Step 1: If you don't have the WPS PDF extension yet, you can easily install it by visiting the Chrome Web Store.
Download WPS PDF Extension from Chrome Webstore
Step 2: Once installed, the WPS PDF extension will be available on the Chrome toolbar and can be accessed by clicking on the extension icon.
Pro tip: If you want quick access to all PDF tools with just a single click, pin the WPS PDF extension to make it more accessible.
Chrome Extensions
Step 3: If your PDFs are still opening in the default Chrome PDF viewer, we need to change the setting. To do this, click on WPS PDF extension > Settings > Open PDFs in WPS PDF extension.
Enable WPS PDF Extension
Step 4: Now open any PDF on your browser to allow the WPS PDF extension to come into play. To annotate, find the "Highlight" icon in the hover menu on the left.
WPS PDF Extension Highlight option
Step 5: With the highlight option clicked, users can now easily annotate their PDFs.
WPS PDF Extension annotate PDFs in Chrome
Step 6: To save the annotated PDF documents, click on the "Save" icon on the toolbar located at the top left of the screen.
WPS PDF Extension Save edited PDFs
Pro tip: There are two save options available; the one on the right side of the screen will simply save the original PDF to your local files.
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WPS PDF Extension download original PDF
The WPS PDF extension is a valuable PDF tool to have in your Chrome browser- a simple and effective PDF annotator Chrome extension that allows users to edit and save their important tools but also provides advanced PDF tools just a click away.
If you are a user of Google Suite, the solution doesn't involve a PDF annotator extension for Chrome, as Google Drive only allows native extensions from the Google Workspace Marketplace. However, with its native Google Docs application, users can annotate their PDF files in Chrome without the need for an extension. Let's walk through the steps that need to be followed:
Step 1: So, we will visit Google Drive on our browser where we can open a PDF already saved in Google Drive. If you wish to upload a PDF document, simply click on the "New" button on the bar on the top left side of Google Drive.
Google Drive New files
Step 2: In the hover menu, users can click on "File upload" to upload their PDF to Google Drive.
Google Drive file upload
Step 3: Double-click on the PDF file, and the file will by default open in Google Docs, the native Google application.
Step 4: On the Google Docs interface, users can edit, annotate, and add comments to their PDF using the toolbar. Use your mouse to select any text, and then in the toolbar, click on the "Highlight color" icon and select the highlighter color you want.
Google Drive annotate and edit PDFs
Step 5: The document can now be downloaded as a PDF. Simply click on the File menu at the top left, and from the drop-down menu, click on Download.
Step 6: Click on "PDF Document" to download the file as a PDF. If you wish to save the file in some other format, you can do that from here as well.
Google Drive download PDF
The last method involves using a free online PDF editor, a third-party software, that allows users to upload their PDFs and annotate them while staying on Chrome. Let’s go through the steps of editing your PDF using Sejda Online PDF Editor:
Step 1: To start, we will visit the official Sejda website on our Chrome browser and access the online PDF Editing tool by clicking on the "All tools" tab in the menu bar.
Sejda All PDF Tools
Step 2: You will be redirected to the Sejda online PDF editing tool. Here, simply click on the "Upload PDF File" button to upload the PDF that you wish to annotate and edit.
Sejda upload PDF file
Step 3: Once the file is uploaded, Sejda will open the file in its built-in online PDF editor. Use the toolbar to edit your PDF. Some of the editing features include annotation, commenting, inserting shapes, and more.
Edit PDF using Sejda Online PDF Editing tool
Step 4: When your editing is complete, press "Apply changes" at the bottom of the screen. The PDF will be processed before it is available to download.
Sejda Apply changes
Step 5: Now, you can simply download the edited PDF by clicking on the “Download” button. Alternatively, you have other options such as printing, compressing, and more.
Sejda download edited PDF tool
Sejda PDF saves users the trouble of downloading a separate application to annotate and edit their PDFs while on Chrome and provides sufficient PDF editing tools as well.
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