How to Add Shapes to PDF: 3 Simple Methods to Draw Different Shapes in PDFs

By Lydia | Follow | Updated on January 9, 2023

Introduction:

When processing PDFs, adding shapes to PDF files is one of the most straightforward ways to stress the importance of a word or text. You can highlight the information by drawing circles, square boxes, or other shapes to make it more eye-catching. And it is easy to add shapes to PDF documents with a PDF annotator featuring various tools.

Don’t know how to add shapes to PDF files? Don’t know which PDF annotator is best for inserting different shapes? Today, this article walks you through a complete guide on adding shapes to PDF files offline and online.

How to Add Shapes to PDF in SwifDoo PDF

SwifDoo PDF is a reliable toolbox for all things related to PDF. When it comes to adding shapes to PDFs, this PDF annotator provides different shapes as options to highlight the text, including circles, square boxes, and polygons. The clear UI helps you handily add shapes to PDF files with only 2 clicks. And the color, line style, and size can be customized as you want. Except for adding shapes to PDFs, this PDF software also allows you to add arrows and lines to PDF files, or handwrite on your document.

Major features:

• Insert shapes in PDF documents easily;
• Edit text and images in PDFs directly;
• Reduce PDF file size;
• Convert PDF to Word, HTML, image, etc., and vice versa.

Discover how to add shapes to PDFs in SwifDoo PDF:

Step 1: First, download and install this PDF annotator. Then launch it;

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Step 2: Click Open on the left side and import your PDF;

Step 3: To add shapes to a PDF, go to Annotate and tap Shape;

Step 4: Click and drag your mouse to draw the shape at the place you like;

Step 5: If you want to add different shapes to a PDF, hit the drop-down arrow below Shape. Then choose one and insert the shape in your PDF.

This PDF annotator allows you to easily add shapes to PDF files without limitation. You can circle the text in your PDF or draw a square box. In addition to adding shapes to PDFs, it lets you do more to annotate your PDF document, such as adding a sticky note, embedding an attachment, or strikethrough a piece of PDF text.

How to Add Shapes to PDF in Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat is one of the most popular PDF annotators. It helps you add shapes to PDFs, draw on the page, or add a line and arrow to highlight the text. Before adding shapes to PDFs, there are several available options to choose from, including a circle, rectangle, and polygon. You can effortlessly adjust the size and shape, as well as add your comment to PDFs.

Take a look at how to add shapes to PDFs in Adobe Acrobat:

Step 1: Open your file in this PDF application. Go to Tools and click Comment;

Step 2: Choose the shape icon and add a shape to the PDF.

That is the way to add shapes to PDFs in Adobe Acrobat. As the frontier of PDF software, this program enables you to get rid of all PDF-related woes. You can remove background from PDFs, merge multiple PDF files into one, and e-sign your PDF without printing.

Comparison between SwifDoo PDF and Adobe Acrobat

Both the two PDF programs we listed have good performance concerning adding shapes to PDFs. But based on the user experience, SwifDoo PDF may offer a better service. Here are some reasons.

If you want to add shapes to PDFs, Adobe Acrobat might come to your mind first. However, despite its popularity, it still has some disadvantages: user-unfriendly UI, expensive price, and difficulty to find the target features. While for SwifDoo PDF, it has a simple user interface and affordable price. More importantly, when you want to insert shapes in PDF files, you can soon locate the feature you want.

As you can see, these two PDF annotators share almost the same features speaking of adding shapes to PDFs. However, SwifDoo PDF is more cost-effective than Adobe Acrobat. If you need a PDF annotator to add shapes to PDFs, it lets you enjoy quality annotating services at a more affordable price. After all, a penny saved is a penny earned.

5 Alternatives to Editing a PDF without Adobe Acrobat

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How to Add Shapes to PDF Online

We have discussed how to add shapes to PDFs using 2 desktop programs. For users who prefer adding shapes to PDFs online, a web-based PDF annotator is optimal. iLovePDF is a comprehensive PDF application offering basic shapes. You can insert square boxes, circles, and lines in a PDF. Moreover, it allows you to add symbols such as a smile or a sad face to your file.

However, you are only allowed to process 2 PDF files for free when you want to add shapes to PDFs. The shapes will be automatically inserted and their transparency needs to be manually adjusted.

Find out how to add shapes to PDFs online using iLovePDF:

Step 1: Visit this online PDF editor;

Step 2: Choose Edit PDF and click Select PDF file to upload your document;

Step 3: Tap Add shape and select a shape you like;

Step 4: After the shape appears on the page, click and drag the shape to your target place;

Step 5: Click the interactive box next to Opacity to adjust the transparency. Then press Edit PDF to save the change.

This PDF software lets you add shapes to PDFs wherever you are, though it is a little inconvenient compared to using an application for a PC. In addition to adding shapes to PDF, this online PDF annotator is equipped with other features as well. For example, you can use the iLovePDF merge tool to combine PDFs. One shortcoming of using an online PDF application is that it takes more time to load a large PDF file.

Bottom Line

It is not tricky at all to add shapes to PDFs using a professional PDF annotator. This post has listed 3 practical PDF tools capable of adding shapes to PDFs. For Windows users, if you are budget-minded, try SwifDoo PDF. It is a cost-effective program that lets you add shapes to PDF files and achieve other PDF-related tasks effortlessly.

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