Power PDF Windows 2025.3

Power PDF is a PDF editor for Windows that creates documents, converts scans into usable text, and handles page assembly, forms, review and signatures. Standard, Advanced and Business serve different workflows; a separate edition is available for macOS.

Creating PDFs and converting scans

Power PDF creates PDFs from printable applications, Office documents and scanned pages. Its ribbon inside Word, Excel and PowerPoint opens the Create Assistant, where the user chooses a destination for the resulting PDF.

For an image-based scan, optical character recognition adds text that can be searched while retaining the page image. A different output is an editable PDF or Office document, allowing the recognized text to be revised.

Conversion outputs include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, XPS and image formats. Saving a PDF as a Word document involves choosing the output type and destination. Office-format conversion can run without Microsoft Office on the computer.

Editing text and objects

Edit Text targets the wording within an existing PDF, while Edit Object selects an image or illustration. Double-clicking the selected content opens it for modification. These tools change content within the document rather than adding a review comment.

Power PDF also offers a whole-document editing mode through Convert to editable. This supplies a word-processor-style workspace for broader revisions. Scanned PDF conversion uses OCR to turn image-based wording into text that can be changed.

Combining and splitting pages

Document Assembly presents pages for rearrangement by dragging them into another position. Its context menu inserts, replaces, deletes or extracts pages. Combine All creates one new PDF from multiple open PDFs, which can then be edited.

Splitting takes a multipage PDF and saves the resulting documents in a selected folder. Page grouping controls the division; blank pages, bookmarks or text provide other boundaries. Extracting selected pages serves a smaller selection within an assembly task.

Creating and collecting forms

FormTyper accepts a scanned paper form, an existing PDF form layout, or a Word or Excel source. It detects possible fields automatically. The user can then add or remove fields and change the input each accepts.

Fields include text boxes, checkboxes, radio buttons, lists and signature fields. Calculation fields perform mathematical operations or conditional logic. An optional Action Button submits the completed form to a chosen web address or email destination.

Power PDF imports and merges form data, and exports it as FDF, XFDF or XML. That separates entered values from the form's page layout. Existing XFA forms can be viewed, filled and submitted within the program.

Reviewing comments and changes

Review tools attach feedback to particular places on a PDF page. The choice determines whether a comment remains visible or opens from an icon. Formatting, size and placement can be adjusted after adding it.

• Note: places a clickable icon that opens the comment.
• Text Box: keeps the comment visible on the page.
• Callout: joins a text box to an arrow pointing at the relevant area.
• Draw Tools: adds shapes to mark a region or proposed change.

Comments can be filtered by type or reviewer, sorted, and searched for words or phrases. They can also move into a newer document. Summary printing places feedback on a comment sheet or links it to page locations.

PDF-to-PDF comparison displays documents side by side. Advanced and Business extend comparison to a PDF and a Word document, and produce change-summary reports. This gives reviewers a separate comparison output alongside comments they add themselves.

Redacting content and protecting PDFs

Advanced and Business permanently remove selected text and graphics through redaction. Mark Redaction first outlines the chosen content; Apply Redaction performs the removal. A marked region still contains its original information until the redaction is applied.

Search and Redact finds specified terms and lets the user select matching passages for removal. The accompanying document-element controls remove selected metadata and other content. Once a redacted copy is saved, its removed text cannot be recovered from that copy.

Password encryption and PDF permissions are available in all Windows editions, using AES encryption. Inspect Document removes metadata and comments. These controls address access and hidden document information separately from removing visible passages through redaction.

Signing documents

Power PDF supports digital signatures and signature validation. Advanced's identity controls import an existing digital ID or create a self-signed one with identity details and a password. The ID is saved for use with signed documents.

An exported public certificate lets recipients verify signatures associated with that identity. The private-key ID file remains separate from this shareable certificate. Creating an identity and exporting its public portion therefore produce different files for different purposes.

Advanced and Business connect to the separately purchased SignDoc service for recipient signing. Its panel configures recipients, signature-field positions and allowed signing methods. It also sets the document description, email subject and message before sending the PDF.

Automating groups of PDFs

The Sequencer in Advanced and Business saves a named workflow containing commands such as watermarking or document changes. It can operate on open PDFs or prompt for selected files. Output settings choose the destination and filename conventions.

A saved sequence can run again on another group of documents using the same commands. This differs from choosing a format for batch conversion. Standard includes batch conversion, while custom command sequences belong to Advanced and Business.

Editions and collaboration

Standard, Advanced and Mac use perpetual retail licenses; later upgrades are separate purchases. Business offers subscription and perpetual licensing for organizations with at least five users. The subscription includes ongoing updates, support and additional collaboration functions.

The Business subscription's Cloud Editor opens and edits PDFs in a browser. Its Microsoft Teams app places opening, reviewing and commenting inside Teams. Retail licenses permit a primary computer and a backup-use second computer, with only one used at a time.