Add Text, White-Out and Highlights to a PDF

Add Text to PDF is for small changes: fill a form that has no fields, add a note or date, cover a smudge, or highlight a line. It has three modes: Text, White-out and Highlight. It does not edit the PDF’s existing text.

Step by step

1. Open Add Text to PDF and choose the file.
2. Pick a mode and click the page. Drag to move an item, use its corner handle to resize, and set font size and colour for text.
3. Use the page arrows for other pages, then Apply & download.

Important: white-out is a cover, not a removal

In our test, the white box hid part of the subtitle line when the page was viewed or printed. But pdftotext still extracted the whole line, “Source page 1 of 12. Fictional sample text…”, from the output. Anyone can copy or search the covered words. Use white-out only for cosmetic fixes. To hide private information, follow our redaction guide.

Limits

• Latin characters only in this version; other scripts may not display.
• Added text is real, searchable text in a standard font.
• Highlights are drawn as semi-transparent yellow boxes, not as PDF comment annotations, so they cannot be listed or removed in a comments panel.

Test: typing on a form that already has fillable fields

We opened a fictional one-page library card form whose fields were already filled in (“Rina Example”, “RB-00417”) and added a highlight, a typed name and a line in Bangla. Two lessons came out of it:

1. Fillable fields sit on top. In the saved PDF, the form field boxes were still drawn over the page, so typed text placed in the same spot ends up beside or under the field. If the PDF has real fields (you can click into them in your browser’s PDF viewer), fill those instead, then use Flatten PDF if you want the answers fixed in place. Use Add Text for forms that are just printed lines.
2. Non-Latin text does not survive saving. The editor preview showed the Bangla words, but pdftotext read the saved line as “??? ???? (Bangla test)” and the page shows question marks. The tool uses a standard PDF font that only covers Latin characters, and the panel says so (“Latin characters only in this version”). For Bangla, Arabic, Hindi and other scripts, type in a word processor and export to PDF instead.

Which mode for which job

Job	Mode	Note
Write a name or date on a scanned or printed form	Text	Choose font size close to the form’s print (10–12 pt is common)
Cover a smudge or stray mark on a scan	White-out	Cosmetic only; text under it can still be copied
Correct a typo in printed text	White-out, then Text on top	The old word remains in the file underneath
Point a reader to a line	Highlight	Drawn on the page, not a comment
Hide an ID number or address	None of these	Use safe redaction

Tips from testing

• Click once on an empty part of the page to deselect the current item before adding the next one; the first click only deselects.
• The item count under the options (“3 item(s) added”) is a quick check that nothing was lost before you download.
• Your edits did not change the file’s existing metadata in our test, so the original author and dates stay. Use PDF Metadata afterwards if that matters.
• To sign rather than type a name, Sign PDF is the better tool; see signing without printing.

FAQ

Can I edit the existing words in a PDF?

No. This tool adds new text and boxes on top. Use White-out plus Text to cover and replace a word visually.

Does white-out delete the text underneath?

No. In our test the covered words could still be copied and searched.

Can I type in Bangla or other non-Latin scripts?

Not in this version. Our Bangla test line became question marks in the saved PDF.

Why does my typed text appear under a box?

The PDF probably has fillable fields. Fill the fields directly instead.

Is the file uploaded?

No. Editing happens in your browser.

How we tested this

Dates	22 October 2026; 1 November 2026
Environment	Google Chrome 156 (headless) on Linux x86_64, desktop viewport 1280×900, live pdfroo.com
Test files	Fictional 12-page report; fictional one-page form with filled fields
Runs	White-out over subtitle + text note (22 Oct); highlight + typed name + Bangla line on the form (1 Nov)
Results	Typed Latin text extractable; covered words still extractable; Bangla saved as question marks; form fields drawn over added text; original metadata unchanged

Every output was checked with pypdf, pdfinfo, pdftotext, pdfimages or Pillow, and every network request the page made during processing was recorded. No request carried the file. See our tool testing methodology.