Best Free And Paid PDF Annotator Software for Windows 11/10 (2024)

pdf annotator software

As a legal assistant reviewing case documents, you require PDF Annotator Software to  analyze the information thoroughly and collaborate with colleagues on case strategies.  With the right PDF annotator software you can highlight important sections, comment on areas, and use shapes to organize information with ease. Here is a list of some of the best PDF annotator software for Windows that you can download to streamline PDF editing.

Top Software Reviews Rating
1.Systweak PDF Editor
2.SwifDoo PDF Editor
3.Wondershare PDFelement
4.EaseUS PDF Editor
5.Sejda PDF
6.MiniTool PDF Editor
7.PDFescape
8.Icecream PDF Editor
9.Adobe Acrobat
10.Nitro Pro PDF Editor

No matter what your profession is – Whether you are a legal assistant, writer, avid reader, student, or someone else – if analyzing PDF documents takes up most of your day, having a PDF annotator utility on your Windows PC is essential. Why, you may ask?

With PDF annotator software, you can add colorful highlights to key points, jot down important notes in the margins, and draw attention to specific sections with shapes and arrows. Doing so transforms static PDFs into dynamic and interactive documents that engage readers and enhance comprehension.

Whether you’re studying, collaborating on a project, or reviewing legal documents, using a PDF annotator adds a layer of interactivity that makes information more accessible and engaging.

What Does A PDF Annotator Software Do?

A PDF Annotation application lets you add graphics, texts, and other elements to your PDF files. This way you can make your PDF documents more interactive and make it easier for people to comprehend your feedback. For instance, you can highlight or underline important sections of your PDF or markup sections as unwanted or incorrect using elements like strikethrough or squiggly lines.

Best Paid and Free PDF Annotator Software To Use In 2024

1. Systweak PDF Editor

Systweak PDF Editor

First on our list of PDF annotator software is Systweak PDF Editor. It comes with a wide range of tools to highlight, underline, strikethrough irrelevant information or do other tasks on your PDF documents and make them more intuitive. To know more about this tool, its pricing, features, and various other aspects, you can check out our comprehensive Systweak PDF Editor review.

Notable Features

  • Annotate using elements like highlights, underlining, squiggly lines, underlining, etc.
  • Choose the color of elements when annotating.
  • Preview the annotation sample beforehand
  • Compress the size of large PDF files.
  • Secure PDFs using passwords.

  • OCR make the scanned PDF searchable and selectable.
  • Convert PDF to various file formats and vice versa.
  • Merge several PDf files into one.
  • Split 1 PDF document into multiple PDF documents.

  • Occasional lags.

Pricing – Free trial available. Pricing starts at $69.95 per year

2. SwifDoo PDF Editor

pdf annotator free download

Another PDF markup software that offers various annotation elements is SwifDoo PDF. These elements make your PDF presentations more expressive than ever. You can highlight text, use shapes to indicate notable areas in your PDF documents, and do a host of other tasks. To know more, check our inside-out review of SwifDoo PDF Editor.

Notable Features

  • Highlight important areas.
  • Use shapes to annotate your documents.
  • Choose from various fonts and colors for annotating elements
  • Multiple editing options to add images and text to your PDF files.
  • Add notes and comments.

  • Functionality to create custom stamps.
  • Erase unwanted areas.
  • Easily manage annotations in one place.
  • Merge, convert, and split PDF documents.

  • Few minor glitches when using some tools.

Pricing – Free trial available. Pricing starts at US$10/ month.

Download Here

3. Wondershare PDFelement

pdf annotator windows

At the outset, Wondershare PDFelement is regarded as one of the best PDF editing tools. But it also lets you annotate, markup, and highlight PDFs as you desire. You can add text, corrections, sticky notes, signatures, stamps, drawings, and more. And, if you need to remove annotations, the PDF editor lets you do that with ease.

Notable Features

  • Add stamp to your PDFs.
  • Insert shapes like rectangles, triangles, ellipses, etc.
  • Insert text markups whenever necessary.
  • Highlights sections of texts.
  • Add and edit comments.

  • Easily organize PDF files – split, extract, insert, and do many other things.
  • Remove annotations in a hassle-free manner when needed.
  • OCR functionality to make scanned PDFs searchable.
  • A document cloud for easy PDF management & collaboration across devices.

  • A slight learning curve for beginners.

Pricing – Free trial available. Pricing starts at $79.99/ year 

Download Here

4. EaseUS PDF Editor

pdf markup software

EaseUS PDF Editor doubles up as one of the best free PDF annotator software. The app offers  two ways to annotate PDf documents. You can add annotations or use drawing markups. The former lets you highlight, underline, strikethrough text, or insert sticky notes while with the second option, you can add shapes.

Notable Features

  • Underline normally or using squiggly lines.
  • Use text callouts.
  • Add comments in PDFs.
  • Markup areas in PDF using arrows and shapes.
  • Highlight important areas.

  • Mark areas for redaction.
  • Add signatures to your documents.
  • Check all annotations you have made in the sidebar.
  • Translate PDFs in over 29 languages.

  • Limited form collaboration and creation capabilities.

Pricing – Free trial available. Pricing starts at $29.95/ month.

Download Here

5. Sejda PDF

pdf annotator download

As a PDF annotator software, Sejda PDF is a force to reckon with. It comes with multiple annotation tools that can enhance the interactivity of your PDF documents. Broadly, it comes packed with 10 annotation tools that can help markup areas or add comments. Using these tools you can even add stamps of your choice. To dive deeper into other features,  you can check this Sejda PDF review

Notable Features

  • Annotate PDFs, mark changes with a strikethrough, and highlight text.
  • Change the color of annotation elements.
  • Show or hide annotations with one click.
  • OCR recognizes text in PDF.
  • Batch removes strikeouts, highlights, or other annotations from a PDF document.

  • Insert photos in PDF documents.
  • Integration with cloud storage mediums.
  • Add signatures, comments, and links to your PDf files.
  • Edit text in your PDF.

  • Occasional crashes.

Pricing – Free trial available. Pricing starts at $5 for 7 days.

Download Here

6. MiniTool PDF Editor

free pdf annotator

MiniTool PDF Editor comes as both free and paid PDF markup software. With it, you can annotate a PDF using typewriter-like text, underline, strikethrough, caret, and so on. If necessary, you can also use the eraser tool to remove annotations. Apart from that, you can add bookmarks as well as stamp your PDF documents as per your preferences.

Notable Features

  • Annotate PDF using highlight, underline, strikethrough, caret, etc.
  • Erase annotations using an eraser.
  • Add customizable stamps to your PDF document.
  • A text-to-speech feature where you can adjust the pitch, volume, and speed.
  • OCR functionality to make scanned PDF files searchable.

  • Read PDFs in 16 languages.
  • Compress large PDF documents.
  • Merge and split PDF documents.
  • You can edit scanned documents once you apply OCR.

  • Dated interface.

Pricing –  Free trial available. Pricing starts at $19/ month

Download Here

7. PDFescape

free pdf markup software

If you are a Windows user and frequently use applications like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and others, PDFescape will come across as something very familiar. And, it isn’t just about the interface but the functionality as well which is quite evident from the features mentioned below. To get to know the tool kin details, give this PDFescape review a go.

Notable Features

  • Annotate using shapes, clouds, arrows, and various other elements.
  • Highlight selected text using the color of your choice.
  • Underline text.
  • Strikethrough to denote unwanted areas.
  • Add a variety of stamps or create new ones.

  • Interface resembles that of Microsoft Office apps.
  • Insert various page elements into your PDF file.
  • Add Bates number to active PDF document.
  • Calibrate the distance between two points.

  • You can annotate only in the premium variant.

Pricing – Free trial available. Pricing starts at $2.99/ month billed yearly.

Download Here

8. Icecream PDF Editor

pdf markup software

Icecream PDF Editor comes from the makers of Icecream Screen Recorder. Talking of its PDF editing capabilities, you can add notes, stamps, arrows of various kinds, and multiple shapes to make your PDF documents interactive. You can highlight important sections of your PDF or draw freehand if you wish to. We have discussed all its features in this post.

Notable Features

  • Draw, and add shapes, arrows, and lines in your PDF document.
  • Merge various PDF documents into one file.
  • Highlight important areas.
  • Extract specific pages.

  • Add relevant notes.
  • Insert photos in your PDF document.
  • Multilingual support.

  • More formats should be added.

Pricing – Free trial available. The pro version is priced at $59.95/ year billed annually.

Download Here

9. Adobe Acrobat

pdf annotator software

Adobe Acrobat makes it easy for you to annotate and markup PDFs for review and add feedback for hassle-free collaboration. It streamlines the entire process as it offers easy-to-use commenting and markup tools. And, one of the best aspects of annotating PDF files using Adobe Acrobat is that you can manage all your annotations from one place.

Notable Features

  • Cross-platform compatibility.
  • Use shapes like rectangles, lines, arrows, clouds, callouts, etc.
  • Group and ungroup markups.
  • Add comments to markup changes.

  • Edit text in your PDF files.
  • Add multiple tools that eliminate the need for reselecting tools.
  • Add editing marks.

  • Premium features are available in the paid variant.

Pricing – Free 7-day trial. Pricing starts at $12.99/ month

Download Here

10. Nitro Pro PDF Editor

free pdf markup software

Last but not least we have Nitro Pro PDF Editor which is one of the best PDF annotators that you can download on your Windows PC. It lets you highlight and annotate your PDF documents so that you can easily keep track of important notes on your PC. Apart from that, it also offers functionality where you can integrate Nitro Pro PDF with a document management system and other software.

Notable Features

  • Batch processing functionalities
  • Scan and OCR PDF files
  • Easily track comments by the author.
  • Expansive palette of Digital stamps.

  • ID certification and digital signature.
  • Sign PDF documents.
  • Embed links and files.

  • Subscription is pricey.

Pricing – Free trial available. Pricing starts at $212.39 (One-time price)

Download Here

Which PDF Annotator Software Would You Download?

When it comes to managing and editing PDFs on your Windows PC, you’ll find PDF annotator software like Systweak PDF Editor and PDFelement incredibly handy. These tools empower you to highlight text, add comments, and insert shapes directly onto your documents.

With their user-friendly interfaces and versatile annotation features, analyzing and annotating PDFs becomes a straightforward task for users of all levels. Whether you’re a student, professional, or researcher, these software options streamline document review and collaboration processes.

By incorporating a PDF annotator into your workflow, you can enhance productivity and comprehension, making the most out of your PDF files on your Windows PC.

For more such information – software reviews and listicles, keep reading Top10PCSoftware. You can also find us on Facebook, Flipboard, and Pinterest.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q.1. What exactly is PDF annotator software, and how can it benefit me?

A PDF annotator software allows you to highlight text, add comments, and draw shapes directly on PDF documents. It benefits you by making it easier to study, collaborate, and organize information within PDF files.

Q.2. How does PDF markup software differ from PDF annotator software?

PDF markup software primarily focuses on adding visual elements like stamps, arrows, and shapes to PDFs. On the other hand, PDF annotator software emphasizes highlighting, commenting, and adding notes directly onto the document.

Q.3. Are there any reliable free PDF annotator tools available, and where can I find them?

Yes, reliable free PDF annotator tools exist, such as Systweak PDF Editor, Wondershare PDFelement and Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. You can find them for download on their official websites or through reputable software repositories.

Q.4. What are the advantages of using free PDF markup software?

Using free PDF markup software allows you to annotate documents easily, improving readability and organization. It enhances collaboration by enabling users to share annotated files and provides a cost-effective solution for basic PDF editing needs.

Q.5.  How can I download PDF annotator software for Windows, and is it available for free?

You can download PDF annotator software like Adobe Acrobat Reader DC for free from their official website or trusted software distribution platforms. These tools offer basic annotation features at no cost, making them accessible to Windows users seeking to annotate PDF files efficiently.

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