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Use Quick Ways to Copy Annotations From One PDF to Another PDF

  author
Published By Mohit Jha
Nimisha Ramesh
Approved By Nimisha Ramesh
Published On October 16th, 2023
Reading Time 4 Minutes Reading

Adding annotations to a PDF file in the form of sticky notes digitally or adding comments to the existing content. Basically, the annotation in PDF is referred to as a way of providing feedback or giving suggestions based on the content mentioned in context format. Adding the annotations is not a difficult task to do. However, the task of copying the annotation becomes difficult when the restriction part is involved. So, if you are looking to copy annotations from one PDF to another, then go through this article which will discuss different ways to copy annotation between PDF files.

Why it Requires to Copy All Annotations From One PDF to Another?

While trying to copy all the comments and sticky notes the user somewhere faces difficulties because of multiple reasons. A few of them are:

  • Security and Permissions: Added encryption doesn’t allow unauthorised users to make any changes or copy annotations.
  • PDF Software Limitations: Some of the PDF applications don’t support copying annotations between PDF files.
  • Corrupted PDF Files: In the case of damaged PDFs the user is unable to transfer annotations from one PDF to another.

* In case of damaged PDF files, one can recover a corrupted PDF file and later they can transfer the comments from PDF files.

Useful Ways to Copy Annotations From One PDF to Another?

Here we have discussed some manual solutions that can be used for taking out the comments or any sticky notes from a PDF file. Explore them and use the most suitable one:

1: Using Adobe Acrobat (Windows & Mac)

  1. Open both the source PDF (having annotations) and the target PDF in Adobe Acrobat.
  2. In the source PDF, click on “View” and then select “Show/Hide” > “Navigation Panes” > “Annotations.”
  3. Select the annotations you want to copy by clicking on them while holding down the Ctrl key (Windows) or Command key (Mac).
  4. Once the annotations are selected, right-click and choose “Copy.”
  5. Switch to the target PDF, navigate to the page where you want to paste the annotations and right-click again. This time, select “Paste.”
  6. The copied annotations will be pasted onto the target PDF.

2: Use Free Online Tools to Copy Annotations From One PDF to Another File

Some users may refuse or might not want any software installation method to use. In that case, they have the option to use the online free methods that assist users to transfer annotations from one PDF to another. There are some online solutions like Smallpdf, Adobe’s online tool, and PDF2Go. The basic method is:

  1. Visit an online PDF editor of your choice.
  2. Upload both the source and target PDFs to the editor.
  3. Use the annotation tools provided by the online editor to select and copy the annotations from the source PDF.
  4. Paste the copied annotations onto the target PDF.

Note – Based on the tool that the user chooses, the procedure will vary. So follow the steps as it is mentioned when using a particular tool.

A Seamless and Easy Way to Copy Annotations From One PDF to Another

Some owner of the PDF files adds a copy restriction which make it unable to copy all annotations from one PDF to another. Here, the user may have to initially remove the applied copy restriction and then it gets easier to copy the required annotation to another file.

For that one can use the PDF File Unlocker Software which helps to remove the copy and other types of protection from the PDF files by which user can easily copy from multiple or large PDF files. Other than this, the software can also help to unlock PDF for printing editing, extracting etc.

How to Copy Annotation in Between PDF Documents Using the Offline Tool?

  1. Download and launch the utility on a Mac or Windows computer to copy annotations from one PDF to another.
  2. copy annotations from one PDF to anotherNext, select Add Files / Add Folder to add the PDF files you want to copy from.insert PDF files
  3. Select the Save or Print option, then use the “Change” button to specify where to store the file.option to print or save PDF
  4. Press the Unlock button to get rid of the PDF content copying restriction and copy annotations from one PDF to another.

copy annotations from one PDF to another

Also Read: Learn How to Extract Multiple Attachments From PDF Files

Conclusion

In certain situations, users are unable to copy annotations from one PDF to another. There can be several reasons such as Corrupted PDF Files, PDF Software Limitations, Security and Permissions etc. Majorly because of copy restrictions, a user finds difficulty in copying comments and other types of annotations between PDF files. Hence, through this post, we have explained multiple ways to transfer annotations from one PDF to another using manual and automated methods.

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