How to review a PDF with track changes, like in Word
Reviewing a PDF usually means a long e-mail: "page 3, line 4, change 18,000 to 20,000". With track changes on the PDF itself, every suggestion sits exactly where it belongs.
Review a PDF by yourself
- Open Review by yourself and drop the PDF.
- Type your name, so your changes and comments carry it.
- Select words and choose Replace, Delete, Insert, Highlight (in several colours) or Comment.
- Accept or reject each change, or all at once.
- Save as a review copy (changes still tracked, for the next person) or as a final copy with the changes made, in the same fonts and layout.
Speak your changes
In Review by voice, tap the microphone and say what to change, for example "change thirty days to sixty days", "delete the repeated paragraph" or "highlight the payment clause in yellow". PatraPDF lists what it understood and where, and nothing changes until you tick and add them. Speech uses your browser (Chrome or Edge) and works in English.
Find things fast in long documents
The search pane finds exact words, other forms of a word and small typos, and can also search by meaning. Its Checks tab lists common slips, such as amounts in words that do not match the figure ("thirty (13) days"), clauses that are mentioned but missing, words typed twice and paragraphs pasted twice.
Reviewing with other people
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| Each person reviews in turn (an approval chain) | Pass the file on: each adds marks with their name and shares the PDF to the next |
| Several people reviewed separate copies | Combine reviews: one list of every change, by person, with clashes shown |
| Everyone at the same time | Live review: one link, changes show up within seconds, encrypted in the browser |
Questions
Can I change the actual text, not just suggest?
Yes. Accept a change, or save a final copy, and the text in the PDF is changed and the paragraph flows again.
Do reviewers need an account?
No. They type their name so their marks are labelled.
Does it work with scanned PDFs?
Changes need real text in the PDF. Run OCR on a scan first so its words can be selected.