Create a new PDF from scratch
Click New in the sidebar and choose Blank document. PDFBetter opens one empty page in the editor (US Letter or A4, depending on your language), where you can type, add images and shapes, build form fields and add more pages.
Updated 2 min read
Step 1: Start a blank document
In the dashboard, click New → Blank document. You can also press N, or choose New blank document in the ⌘ K search. The Create PDF tool does the same from the website.
Step 2: Add content
The page opens in Edit & fill mode. Click the Text tool and click the page to type. Add images, shapes, lines, tables and notes from the toolbar.
Step 3: Add pages
Open Pages and use Insert blank page (before or after the selected page), or Merge or upload in the top bar to bring in pages from a PDF, an image or an Office file.
Step 4: Name it
Click Untitled document at the top left and type a name. Everything saves automatically.
Page size
The first page is US Letter when the app is in English and A4 in the other languages. To change it, open Pages and use Resize pages, which scales content to a new paper size such as US Letter or A4. See Manage pages in the editor.
Other ways to start
| You want | Start with |
|---|---|
| A ready-made invoice, lease, NDA or tax form | New → From a template, then Use template or Fill out. See Find a form or template. |
| A first draft written for you | Create with AI: describe the document and get an editable draft. See Create a document with AI. |
| A form other people fill in | Start blank, switch to Create form and add fields. See Make a PDF fillable. |
| A PDF from a Word, Excel or PowerPoint file | Upload the file; it's converted to PDF first. See Convert between PDF and Office. |
Can I create a blank PDF without an account?
Yes. Guests can create and edit a blank document. Guest drafts are deleted after a short time, and downloading needs a free account, like any edited document.
Does creating a blank document count toward a limit?
No. Downloading the finished document counts as an edited-document download.
Tools in this article
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- Add text, images, shapes and whiteout to a PDFIn Edit & fill mode, pick a tool from the toolbar (Text, Image, Erase, shapes, marks, Table, Date, Draw) and click or drag on the page. Select anything you added to restyle, move, lock or copy it to other pages.
- Manage pages, page numbers and watermarks in the editorClick Pages in the toolbar to open thumbnails: drag to reorder, and use the buttons to rotate, duplicate, delete, crop, resize or insert pages. Page numbers and watermarks are in the toolbar too; headers, footers and Bates numbers are separate browser tools.
- Create a document with AIClick Create with AI in the sidebar, pick what you're making, describe it and click Create draft. You get an editable, fillable PDF in the editor for 5 credits.
- Find a form: templates and official forms like the W-9Open Templates in the sidebar and pick Library for fillable templates or Official forms for government forms such as the W-9. Click Use template or Fill out and a private copy opens in the editor. In the editor, Find form searches both.