Add text to a PDF — type, date and tick on any page

How to use Add Text to PDF

1. Choose a PDF. Its first page appears with page buttons above it.
2. Click or tap on the page where you want text. A box with the word Text appears there; type your own words in the Selected text box.
3. Use + Today’s date to insert the date in your chosen format (dd/mm/yyyy, mm/dd/yyyy or yyyy-mm-dd), and the ✓ or ✗ buttons to add a tick or cross.
4. Choose the font (Helvetica, Times or Courier), the size in points and the colour, and drag any item to move it. A selected item can also be nudged with the arrow keys.
5. Press Save PDF and download the copy ending in -edited.pdf.

What it does and when to use it

Many PDFs are printed only so someone can write a few words on them: a name and date on a form, a reference number in a box, ticks against a checklist, a short note such as “Received” or “Approved”. This tool does the same on screen. You place text exactly where you click, so it works on any PDF, including scanned forms with no fillable fields.

Typical uses include filling in a printed application form that came as a scan, adding a date and place next to a signature, marking options on a survey or order form, labelling pages of a document before sending, and writing an invoice or order number on a delivery note.

How it works

pdf.js draws each page in the browser so you can see where your text will land. Every item you add is stored with its page, position, font, size and colour, measured in PDF points (72 points to the inch). When you save, pdf-lib draws the text onto the page using the chosen standard font, and draws ticks and crosses as small images. The result is a new PDF; the original is unchanged.

The text becomes part of the page content, which is often called flattening. It looks the same in every reader and cannot be accidentally moved by the recipient. The flip side is that it cannot be edited later as a separate field.

Worked examples

A scanned leave application. Click in the Name box and type your name, then click in the Date box and press + Today’s date with the dd/mm/yyyy format. Tick the type of leave with the ✓ button and drag it into the right square. If the form also needs a signature, open the saved copy in Sign PDF.

Marking a document as approved. Click near the top of page 1, type “Approved 02/10/2026”, and set the size to 12 pt. It lands about where you clicked, and you can nudge it by dragging. Saving draws it onto the page.

A form in Hindi. You can place English text, dates and ticks, but Hindi letters cannot be drawn with the standard PDF fonts and would become question marks. For forms in Indian scripts, write the answers by hand after printing, or ask whether an English answer is acceptable.

Limits and tips

• Fonts are limited to Helvetica, Times and Courier, which every PDF reader supports without embedding.
• To cover or remove existing content rather than add to it, use the PDF Redaction Tool.
• Want to check what text a PDF already contains? PDF to Text extracts it.
• If the edited file needs to meet an upload limit, compress it afterwards with Compress PDF to 200 KB or another size.