Besides, taking down notes on the same document you’re looking at is so convenient because you can annotate and make more sense of the text you’re reading. Fortunately, you can take notes on a PDF without a hassle. In this article, you’ll find six methods you can use to take notes on a PDF.

1. Desklamp

If you’re looking for an effective note-taking method for your research and assignments, Desklamp is the best tool for it.

Desklamp is a PDF reader that enhances your productivity by allowing you to explore features such as note-taking, highlighting, searching within your document, and other useful features. Desklamp’s note-taking tool is simple to use; all you have to do is follow these steps:

Open your PDF using Desklamp. On the right side of the page, the notebook workspace is open by default. Click on the add button next to My Notebooks to create a notebook. Navigate to the section where you want to add a note. Click and drag the text you want to add notes to. On the menu that pops up, select Add to Notes. Add your notes and alter the text that appears in your notes as you wish.

2. Microsoft Edge

This is one of those Microsoft Edge productivity features you won’t want to let go of. Microsoft Edge has one of the easiest methods you can use to take notes on a PDF. In Microsoft Edge’s updated version, you can simply add notes on your PDF without installing a PDF editor. Here’s how:

Open your PDF file with Microsoft Edge. Right-click next to the section where you’d like to add notes. Select Add text. Add your notes and choose your text color, size, and spacing. Position your notes by dragging the text box. Click Save in the top-right corner to keep your changes.

3. Embed in Notion

Notion is a productivity, note-taking platform where you can write and collaborate on projects, as well as take notes from PDF documents. To embed a PDF in Notion and take notes from a PDF, here’s what you have to do:

Open Notion. Click on Add a page on the left side of the page. Type ‘/ to view commands. Scroll down and look for Embed. Click on it and upload or embed your PDF link. Take notes from your PDF by clicking on the Comment icon in the menu in the top-right corner of the PDF.

4. OneNote

You can import a PDF file into OneNote and take your notes within OneNote. To take notes on a PDF in OneNote, here’s what you have to do:

Open OneNote. Click on Add page in the bottom-left of the page. Select Insert, in the top bar. Click on Printout, and insert your PDF. Double tap on the area where you want to insert notes and type in your notes.

5. Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word allows you to easily create and edit your files. You can either add notes next to certain sections on the document, or copy notes from the PDF and paste them at the bottom of the page to create your own notes. To take notes on a PDF in Microsoft Word, here’s what you have to do:

Open your PDF through Microsoft Word. Make sure the PDF document is editable. Copy the section you find relevant. Paste the text at the bottom of the page or on an additional blank page.

Alternatively, you could simply add your own notes on any section of the PDF by annotating next to any sentence or paragraph.

6. Wondershare PDFelement

If you’re looking for a tool that gives you various PDF options for note-taking, this is the one for you. Wondershare PDFelement is a tool that allows you to explore a variety of features to enhance your PDF documents.

With this tool, you can translate text into a different language, and you can also edit the document by adding text. To take notes on a PDF, follow these steps:

Open your PDF through Wondershare PDFelement. Click Comment at the top of the screen. Go to the Note icon positioned underneath View. Click anywhere on the document and insert your notes. Right-click on the note to change the properties.

Take Your PDF Documents to the Next Level

You can do so much more with PDF files than just read the information they contain. As you can see, you can add notes to your PDF for collaborative projects or simply for enhancing your own understanding. Either way, both methods provided in this article will help you add notes to a PDF.