I run a five-person office and only need to edit invoices and the odd scanned contract, but per-seat subscriptions are too much. What affordable PDF editor are other small businesses using?
had the same thing last month with my shop invoices. tbh i just open the pdf in word and tweak it there then save as pdf again. for scanned stuff i retype the bits i need or print it out and mark it up, that works for my five person setup without extra seats.
For Windows, I’d look at PDF-XChange Editor’s perpetual licenses. The Plus version includes OCR for scanned contracts, so test it on one real scan first. I’d avoid free web editors for invoices or contracts because of privacy; not sure if the Mac options are comparable.
For five people, I would first check whether you really need full editing on every desk. PDF-XChange Editor is usually good value on Windows for text fixes, annotations, and OCR on scans; a couple of licences may cover the heavier work. LibreOffice Draw can handle simple invoice changes for free, though it gets unreliable with complex PDFs. For scanned contracts, make sure the editor includes OCR, otherwise the text is just an image.
Per-seat pricing drives me nuts too, we fight that battle at the campus help desk all the time. For a small office I’d try PDF-XChange Editor first, the free version covers basic edits and even OCR for your scanned contracts, it just watermarks some advanced stuff. PDF24 and PDFgear are also free and fine for invoices, so you probly wont need to pay anything.
I had the same issue updating menus and supplier invoices. PDF-XChange Editor has been good value for basic edits and OCR, and buying a license outright was easier for my tiny business than another monthly bill.
For basic invoice edits and scanned contracts, honestly check what’s already bundled with your office suite or Windows itself first, might save you the subscription entirely.
- Try editing a scanned contract with whatever you’ve got before buying anything, scanned stuff needs OCR and not every “editor” actually does that well.
- Avoid annual contracts until you’ve tested on your actual messy documents, not just a clean sample PDF.
Always keep the original scan backed up before you start editing, learnt that one the hard way.
Paying per seat is totally annoying for a small office just needing basic edits. I use pdfcap.com at my construction firm to handle our drawings and signed forms. You just upload your invoice, click the edit text tool to make your changes, and save. I also use it to shrink massive scanned contracts by hitting the compress button before downloading.
@amy_celtic Your backup point is the one I’d underline. I keep a dated copy of every original scan in a separate folder before touching it, then save my edits as a new file rather than overwriting. Testing on the messiest document first is right too. What are you editing on, Windows or Mac?
@ClumsyRed honestly doing it in word is what i do half the time at my clinic desk too, it saves so much hassle. for scanned pages i just take a photo or scan with the phone notes app and mark it up right there. not sure if it works the same on mac though.
donna_06 The phone notes trick works well for markups, though a photo stays an image, so you cannot retype the text underneath it. When I get scanned contracts from venues, I run them through the scanner with OCR first, then edit the text in Word before saving back to PDF. Does your scanner offer a searchable PDF option?