Learn with our video tutorials. Search our Knowledge Base. Review our FAQ.
Video Tutorials
What’s New in PDFpen and PDFpenPro 12
Showcases some of the new features in the latest versions of PDFpen and PDFpenPro
Highlight, Draw, Comment and More
Use PDFpen’s powerful PDF markup tools to revise and annotate PDF documents.
Sign PDF Documents
Sign PDF documents on your Mac, iPad and iPhone
Filling in PDF Forms
Create fillable PDF forms of your own.
Touchup Images in PDFs
Use PDFpen to edit images in a PDF file.
Using Optical Character Recognition OCR
Use PDFpen to OCR PDF files on your Mac, iPad, and iPhone.
Editing and Redacting Text
Use PDFpen to correct, edit, and redact text in PDF documents.
Export, Encrypt, AppleScript and More
Use PDFpen to edit, password-protect and export PDF files.
Split View, Font Bar, Continuity Camera and More
Split view, New font bar, Support for Continuity Camera, Custom Page Number Location, Add Multiple Items to Library.
Watermarking, Precision Edit, Improved Colors and More
Watermarks, Add text feature for headers and footers, Library UI improvements, Line Art, Improved color palette
Improved Annotations, Exporting Annotations, Hand Tool and More
Enhanced annotations Better table of contents, Hand tool, Find and highlight text , Link to files, Perform calculations
Attachments, Audio Annotations and Measurements
Add tables of contents, Convert websites into PDFs, OCR text layer, Set PDF permissions, Fill out PDF forms, Create interactive forms, Export to Excel, Create PDF portfolios
FAQ
Where do I find Help resources?
- Getting started? Watch PDFpen in action on our Video Tutorials above.
- PDFpen comes with extensive Help documentation:
- In-app Help manual: Look under Help in the PDFpen menu bar
- Online Help Help manual
- Off-line Help manual: Download the PDF
- Older version? Download PDFs for PDFpen 11 Help, PDFpen 10 Help, PDFpen 9 Help, PDFpen 8 Help, PDFpen 7 Help, PDFpen 6 Help, PDFpen 5 Help, PDFpen 4 Help and PDFpen 3 Help
How do I install PDFpen?
See the installation instructions here.
How do I buy or upgrade PDFpen?
Buy PDFpen from our web store. Buy, or upgrade, from within the product itself click here for instructions.
PDFpen won’t register no matter what! What do I do?
You can find directions on our Activation Help page
I bought from the Mac App Store, why isn’t the upgrade working?
Find directions to upgrade PDFpen. If they don’t help, contact support
I purchased on the Mac App Store after January 1, 2020. How do I get a free upgrade?
PDFpen or PDFpenPro 11 can only upgrade for free by downloading the direct-purchase version of PDFpen or PDFpenPro 12, not with the Mac App Store version. When you launch the downloaded app, you’ll be prompted to locate your previous version Mac App Store receipt file, as that can only be read with your permission. Once your receipt is verified, PDFpen or PDFpenPro 12 will offer to contact our server and issue you a license to the direct purchase version.
Are PDFpen and PDFpenPro compatible with macOS 10.15 (Catalina) and 10.14 (Mojave)?
I have more than one computer. Does a single license allow me to install on all of them?
Yes, if you are the only user of those computers. If you have multiple computers used by more than one person in the same household, you can purchase a Family Pack license, which covers 5 computers in the same household. (Click here for more information.)
What is the difference between PDFpen and PDFpenPro?
PDFpenPro has all the PDF editing features of PDFpen. PDFpenPro also has the ability to:
- Create cross-platform fillable PDF forms including interactive signature fields and email or web submission buttons
- Create and edit Table of Contents and bookmarks
- Convert websites into PDFs
- Add and edit document permissions
- Automatic form creation makes existing PDF forms fillable
- Gather submitted form data via backend integration
- Export to Microsoft® Excel (.xlsx) when offline, and to Microsoft® PowerPoint (.pptx) and PDF Archive (PDF/A) formats with an Internet connection, must be a licensed user
- Add and delete file attachments and annotations
- Create Portfolio documents, combining related files together
- Correct typos in OCR text layer
- OCR horizontal Chinese, Japanese & Korean
- Send documents for signatures with DocuSign®
What if I don’t have Mac OS 10.12 or later?
See the System Requirements to download the version of PDFpen which supports your OS version.
How can I purchase a license for version 11.x or earlier?”
We stopped selling v.11 licenses when v.12 was released. A current version license of PDFpen v.12 gives you access to any previous version. Contact support for assistance on registering the version you want to use.
This license will also work in the future to register PDFpen v.12 should you update to it.
Is there an education discount?
Yes, there is a 30% education discount. Please visit our education store for more details.
When are updates available on the Mac App Store?
Smile submits applications for review by the Mac App Store on the day that they are released. Apple must approve the update, and has sole control over when they appear in the Mac App Store.
How do I use PDFpen with iCloud Drive?
Learn more about and iCloud Drive on our blog
Additional Questions?
Have any other questions? Search our Knowledge Base for answers.
System Requirements
| Version | Downloads |
| macOS 11.0, 10.15, 10.14, 10.13 (Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra) | PDFpen and PDFpenPro 12 |
| macOS 10.15, 10.14, 10.13, 10.12 (Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra) | PDFpen and PDFpenPro 11 |
| macOS 10.14, 10.13, 10.12 (Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra) | PDFpen and PDFpenPro 10 |
| macOS 10.13, 10.12, 10.11 (High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan) | PDFpen and PDFpenPro 9 |
| macOS 10.13, 10.12, 10.11, 10.10 (High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite) |
PDFpen and PDFpenPro 8 PDFpen and PDFpenPro 7 |
| Mac OS X 10.9, 10.8, and 10.7 (Mavericks, Mountain Lion, and Lion) | PDFpen and PDFpenPro 6 |
| Mac OS X 10.9, 10.8, 10.7, and 10.6 (Mavericks, Mountain Lion, Lion, and Snow Leopard) Requires an 64-bit Intel Core 2 Duo Mac. |
PDFpen and PDFpenPro 5 |
| Intel Core Duo and Solo Macs on OS X 10.6 | PDFpen and PDFpenPro 5.7.2 |
| Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.4 (Leopard, Tiger) | PDFpen and PDFpenPro 4 |
