UPDF Review: Feature-Rich PDF Editor

Whether it be a simple form, an important contract, flyer, or even a company brochure, managing every PDF that finds its way into your documents library can be a challenging task. Thankfully, the UPDF app for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android remains a cost-effective solution. It is a feature-packed digital hub for your PDF documents with support for essential PDF editing and management tools. This review take a look at what UPDF is capable of!

This is a sponsored article and was made possible by UPDF. The actual contents and opinions are the sole views of the author who maintains editorial independence, even when a post is sponsored.

UPDF at a Glance

The UPDF PDF Editor and Converter is an all-in-one PDF viewer and editing app that focuses on six major features, including easy-to-use tools for:

• Viewing PDFs
• Editing PDFs
• Organizing PDFs
• Annotating PDFs
• Converting PDFs
• Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

I had the opportunity to test UPDF on my 2023 MacBook Pro. While most features remain accessible from the toolbars aligned alongside PDFs in the document viewer, UPDF does an exceptional job accounting for actions that simply feel natural. Perhaps most intuitive is the ability to reorganize pages in a document simply by clicking and dragging the thumbnails in the left toolbar.

The “Organize Pages” button grants access to more granular controls, such as the ability to rotate, insert, replace, split extract, and delete specific pages in a PDF document. However, UPDF’s attention to detail when it comes to making just about every interface element actionable, is not something that should go overlooked.

View, Edit and Annotate With Ease

UPDF is a buttery smooth and responsive PDF viewer with a surprisingly wide range of powerful features that dive deeper than you would expect, given its affordable price tag. You can start by dragging and dropping any PDF into a UPDF window. No confusing import menus or other time-consuming workflows to learn. If you need to quickly print your document, you can use the familiar keyboard command command + P or navigate to the Menu Bar, then select “File -> Print.”

There is nothing more frustrating than realizing that there is something you need to edit or change after receiving a flattened PDF document. UPDF removes all of this frustration. You simply select the “Edit PDF” button from the toolbar on the left, select “Text” from the overhead menu, and all flattened text instantly becomes editable.

The dedicated “Page Tools” button extends UPDF’s ease of use to even more advanced features, including specialized tools for editing headers and footers, backgrounds, and watermarks.

The infinitely more capable “Comment” button features a diverse set of tools that will allow you to annotate your PDF using highlights, underlines, strikethroughs, squiggly lines, text boxes, and text callouts. The following screenshot shows much of these tools in action. I especially enjoyed how straightforward it was to add stickers, sticky notes, stamps, and other shapes.

Organize and Share Like a Pro

UPDF utilizes many core technologies, such as OCR (Optical Character Recognition), to allow you to search, scan, and recognize text in a flattened PDF. It feels like magic, as it works so effortlessly. You can even use the “Signature” tool to instantly sign any document. This tool is just one of the many ways that UPDF makes it incredibly easy to fill out forms.

Users can also opt to combine multiple PDF files into just one PDF document, saving considerable time on the fundamentals by making it easier to organize, edit, and share more information at once.

Once you are finished editing your PDF document, UPDF will help you make a lasting impression with friends and colleagues with robust tools to reduce friction when sharing. After you export/save your PDF document, you have the option to safely encrypt it using a password that you set yourself. You can also share your PDF document via a weblink or email.

Perhaps the most useful tool for sharing is a feature that allows you to compress and reduce a PDF’s file size, which can be extremely helpful if you plan on using enterprise platforms, such as Dropbox, to share your files.

Comparing Key Features

	Features, Pricing, System Support	Adobe Acrobat Standard DC	Adobe Acrobat Standard Pro DC	UPDF
	Pricing	US$155.88/year	US$239.88/year	Free Download Subscription: US$49.99/year US$99.99/Perpetual Plan
	System Support	Windows	Windows, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and Android	Windows, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and Android
Read PDF	Open, view, and read PDFs	✓	✓	✓
	Add/Manage Bookmarks	✓	✓	✓
	Search and find text in PDFs	✓	✓	✓
	Display PDF as a slideshow	✓	✓	✓
Annotate PDF	Highlight/Strikethrough/Underline	✓	✓	✓
	Text Comment/Text Box/Text Callout/Sticky Note	✓	✓	✓
	Shapes/Pencils/Stamps/Signatures	✓	✓	✓
	Manage annotation list	✓	✓	✓
	Squiggly Line	✓	✓	✓
	Stickers	✓ (stamps only)	✓ (stamps only)	✓
Edit PDF	Add text to PDFs	✓	✓	✓
	Edit Existing Text in PDFs	✓	✓	✓
	Add, delete, extract, rotate, crop, and replace images	✓	✓	✓
	Add and edit links, watermarks, background, header & footer	✓	✓	✓
	Add rich text with drag-and-drop	x	x	✓
Optical Character Recognition (OCR)	Turn scanned documents into editable and searchable PDFs	x	✓	✓
Convert PDF	Convert PDF to Word, Excel, PPT, Text, RTF, HTML, XML, and images (PNG, JPEG, TIFF)	✓	✓	✓
	Save PDF as PDF/A	x	✓	✓
	Convert PDF to CSV	x	x	✓
	Convert PDF to BMP	x	x	✓
	Convert PDF to GIF	x	x	✓
Organize PDF	Insert, replace, extract, rotate, split, remove	✓	✓	✓
	Crop pages	✓	✓	✓
Encryption and Sharing	Password-protect PDF files	✓	✓	✓
	Redact information from PDF files	x	✓	x
	Send PDFs by Email	✓	✓	✓
	Share PDFs via a web link	✓	✓	✓
Create PDF	Create a blank PDF	✓	✓	✓
	Create PDF from capture	✓	✓
	Create PDF from other file formats	x	✓	x
Print PDF	Print PDF documents	✓	✓
Fill and Sign PDF Forms	Fill out forms	✓	✓
	Sign digitally	✓	✓	x
	Sign electronically	✓	✓	✓
Other Features and Tools	Optimize PDF (Reduce File Size)	✓	✓	✓
	Combine files into one PDF	x	✓	✓

System Requirements

UPDF is available for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices. One UPDF license works across all platforms using the same sign-in. Listed below are the system requirements for each platform:

• macOS: supports macOS 10.14.6 or later.
• Windows: supports Windows 7 or later
• iOS/iPadOS: supports iOS/iPadOS 14.0 or later
• Android: supports Android 5.0 or later

Availability

Normally, UPDF undercuts PDF manager offerings from companies like Adobe at just US$49.99/year. A perpetual access option (lifetime access) for a one-time charge of just US$99.99 is also available, helping casual creatives and everyday users manage their PDF documents without costly subscription models. The UPDF – PDF Converter and Editor is made even more compelling by an exclusive 50% off sale available for a limited time on the perpetual access option, which brings the plan to $49.99/lifetime. The yearly plan is reduced 30%, bringing it to an all-time low of US$34.99/year.