By Reena Cruz

PDF is the golden standard for document viewing and storing ever since its conception in 1993 and educators have a difficult mission: to teach and engage students with lessons, resources and supporting materials.

So, what does that have to do with PDFs?

There are more than 2 billion PDF documents available on the Internet, many of which are in PDF form, like research papers, lecture ideas, blueprints, ebooks and more, but one important problem remains—the PDF is hard to work with without third party applications.

With this in mind, we’ve taken the time to search and find some of best PDF tools for supporting your work. Here are eight free and premium tools that you can use to access and edit the many PDF resources you find online.

PDF Online Reader

Format: Online tool

PDF Online Reader is a tool that helps you easily view and annotate your PDF files online. It also functions as a PDF viewer, which is great if you don’t have one installed on your device. The best part: it’s free and you don’t have to download and install any bulky software.

PDF Buddy

Format: Online Tool

PDF Buddy is a tightly packed PDF app that allows you to edit, sign, merge and split PDF documents. Since it is an online tool, you simply upload your file to their dedicated server to make your changes.

PDF Buddy has some features that would be particularly interesting to educators, such as the ability to whiteout specific parts of PDF and then write over them. Also, the insert signature feature is great as well.

The tool is completely free to use for up to 3 PDFs a month. Anything more than that and you’ll have to bump up to the $7 a month package, which allows you to work with an unlimited number of documents.

Able2Extract 10

Format: Computer Software

Able2Extract is a powerful PDF editor that enables you to make on-page edits in seconds. The amazing thing is that all changes you create are instantly visible right inside your PDF and there is no need to convert it to other formats. That is, if you want to keep it as a PDF.

It has a fast and user-friendly interface, which allows you to easily add and remove text, merge and extract pages and even resize and rotate documents. Because of these useful features, it’s one of the most reputable PDF editors available. You can try it free for 7 days using the link above.

Cometdocs

Format: Online Tool and Google Drive Extension

This is a document storage and conversion platform, servings as the perfect addition to any other PDF product that you might already have.

With Cometdocs you can convert PDFs into PowerPoint, Word, Images, ODS, HTML and more. You can also share and store more than 50 types of files including PDF, DOCX, HTML and many other popular formats. It operates on a freemium basis, and you get a decent deal for the free plan: 5 conversions a week and 2GB of online storage.

PDFMerge

Format: Online Tool and Google Drive Extension

PDF Merge allows you to combine two or more PDFs into one, right from your browser. It has an easy to use interface, making it a perfect fit for both amateur and experienced internet users.

The merging process is done in two steps: Upload your PDF files and click on the big “Merge” button. The tool will then combine all of your separate PDF documents and create a big one that you can immediately download and use.

It’s free for files up to 15 MB, which should be enough to merge lectures or other PDF documents for personal or student resources.

Bullzip PDF Printer

Format: Computer Software

Bullzip PDF Printer works as a virtual printer and allows you to print your PDF documents from almost any Windows application. It offers various features, such as password protected PDFs, option to put watermark, text transparency etc.

The tool supports numerous other file types such as PNG, BMP, and JPEG. PDF Printer is free, with some minor limitations.

PDFForge

Format: Computer Software

PDFForge is a free-to-use PDF creator that will help you convert all file types to PDF for storage and viewing.

What makes this freebie particularly useful is the fact that you can setup advanced settings prior to conversion. Most notably it will allow you to compress documents and password protect them, which is a cool option to have in a free tool, especially if you share devices with students.

Additionally, you can use Javascript coding skills to use PDFForge from other applications, which you can learn more about on their website. For us, the free PDF creation will do just fine.

PDF to PowerPoint Converter

Format: Online Tool

There are countless reasons why you might want to turn your PDF into a fully functioning presentation, like using it during a lecture or lesson, which makes this one of the best PDF tools on the list. This online PDF tool has no limitations whatsoever. You can log in, upload any PDF, regardless of the size, and quickly receive a fully functioning .pptx file. A unique feature is that it can convert scanned documents as well.

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