PDF Textfix: questions journalists ask
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Updated October 13, 2026.

Who is PDF Textfix for?
People who need to correct their own documents: an invoice they issued with the wrong date, a typo in their CV, a name in a letter or a contract draft they wrote, when the PDF is the copy they have. It changes text that is already in the PDF, one line at a time.

How is it different from other PDF editors?
It writes the new text with the line's own font, so the line keeps its look. When that font lacks a character you type, PDF Textfix takes it from another copy of the same font in the file, then from the same font on the Mac, then from the closest standard font, and marks that character while you type. It checks every edit before it applies it: every other character on the page must stay where it was. When a longer word would run into the text after it, the rest of the line moves to make room and the editor says so; when nothing can make room, PDF Textfix refuses the edit and says why. And it removes the text you replaced from the page instead of covering it up.

What does the saved file still hold?
When you save an edit, PDF Textfix writes the whole file again as one version, and adds nothing to the end of the old file. The lines you replaced are removed from the pages, and the saved file keeps no earlier version of them. Everything you did not edit is copied as it was, and it can hold the same words: links and the addresses they open, bookmarks, comments, form fields, the accessibility text of a tagged file, images and the file's properties, such as its title and author. Fonts keep the shapes of all their characters. Help > Saving and Privacy in the app says the same.

Is it a redaction tool?
No. The same words can remain outside the pages, as the answer above says, so PDF Textfix is not a way to remove confidential content from a file. Use a redaction tool for that.

Does the file grow when I save?
Not with the history of your edits. The saved file holds one version, without earlier ones, and PDF Textfix drops the parts of the file nothing uses any more, so a file can even get smaller. It gains a font when a character you typed was not in the line's own font. In the free version, the watermark adds its text, a small logo and its links to every page; a file whose pages share many fonts and images can grow much larger with it, and returns to its size once the unlocked app saves it without the watermark.

What happens to a signed PDF?
PDF Textfix asks before your first edit and says that the signatures will no longer verify once the file is saved, because saving writes the whole file again. Certified documents that allow no changes stay locked until you choose to allow editing.

What can't it do?
It does not add text boxes, reflow paragraphs, or change fonts or sizes. It does not edit scanned pages, since the text of a scan is a picture, and it does not fill forms or redact. Encrypted files and files whose permissions forbid changes open view only. Some text stays locked, and the line says why: fonts made of pictures, the hidden text layer of a scan, vertical text, right-to-left and joined scripts, Chinese, Japanese and Korean encodings, form fields and comments.

How does the free version work?
On each Mac, the first 5 line edits save without any mark. After that, PDF Textfix still saves your edits, with a watermark on every page of the saved file, until you buy once. Once bought, it saves without the watermark and also removes it from files saved with it. The sample documents in the Help menu never count and are never watermarked.

How much does it cost?
One purchase, no subscription: US$29.99 as an in-app purchase in the Mac App Store, which Family Sharing can share, or US$29 from pdftextfix.com, which sends a licence by email, active on 3 Macs at a time. The website's pricing page lists the price in each region.

Are my documents sent anywhere?
No. Neither version has an account, and your files never leave your Mac. PDF Textfix reads only the files you open and writes only where you save. The Mac App Store version goes online only when you buy or restore, to confirm the purchase with RevenueCat and, until you quit the app, a few times more to keep that confirmation current. The version from pdftextfix.com checks for updates only when you allow it: one HTTPS request that, like every web request, carries the IP address, and names the app, its version and the version of the updater. With a licence, it also activates the licence online once on each Mac, sending the licence, a hashed identifier of the Mac, the Mac's name and model and the app's version, and checks it about once a week when the Mac is online, sending the licence ID, that identifier and the app's version. Nothing about your documents leaves the Mac.

Why only Apple silicon and macOS 26?
Version 1.0 is built and tested for Macs with Apple silicon running macOS 26 or later. Intel Macs are not supported.