You can only type in a PDF with Acrobat X, the full program from Adobe that creates PDFs and provides hundreds of ways to manipulate them. There is no typewriter tool in Adobe Reader, the free PDF viewer that many people use to display PDFs.

Despite the name, you’re not required to draw a box first. You can click in the body of the PDF and begin typing immediately. To type directly in a PDF in Acrobat X, click on Tools –> Content –> Add or Edit Text Box.

I’ve discovered that even long-time Acrobat users don’t always know how easy it is to type extra text in a PDF. The typewriter tool is still there in Acrobat X but it’s been moved and renamed. Like many design changes, the new layout is jarring for people familiar with Acrobat 8 and 9 but most of it works well after you become familiar with it.Īcrobat 8 and 9 had a typewriter tool that made it easy to add text to a PDF – click the typewriter tool button, click in the document, and start typing.

Adobe made significant changes to the user interface of Acrobat X, the current version of the widely-used program for creating and sharing professional-level PDF files.

Edit text in adobe acrobat pro 9