# PDF Studio Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra

> Is PDF Studio the right PDF Editor solution for you? Explore 59 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/101108/PDF-Studio/reviews

---

PDF Studio

4.4 (59)

[View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/101108/PDF-Studio/alternatives/)

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/)

* * *

Last updated March 13th, 2026

# Reviews of PDF Studio

Ease of use

4.4

Customer Service

4.2

## Pros and Cons in Reviews

EL

Emil L

Internet Marketer/graphic DesignerHealth, Wellness and Fitness, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“I also value the addition and editing of Bates numbers, watermarks, headers, links, and headers and footers.“

January 12, 2023

KE

Kev E

Principal GeologistEnvironmental Services, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“I used it daily for years and then upon upgrading last year it continually disappoints. Since I had used it for a long time and spent a lot of time and effort with customer support to try and get the 2022 version running properly, I figured that the 2023 offering would have fixed all the issues that I had highlighted to the Quoppa people, but no, it's exactly the same.“

August 2, 2023

Ayila S

3D artistAnimation, 501 - 1,000 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months.

“The electronic and digital signature are soo cool and the search bar for the text search is very useful.“

March 11, 2023

GZ

George Z

presidentResearch, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: I used a free trial.

“I had to manually delete the program files.“

April 2, 2024

Chaitanya G

Associate software test engineerInformation Technology and Services, 501 - 1,000 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months.

“We can able to make different file and there is the search option so it made easy to find the information.“

March 11, 2023

EL

Emil L

Internet Marketer/graphic DesignerHealth, Wellness and Fitness, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“Additionally, it only works partially with mobile devices, which could be problematic for users who need to edit PDFs on the go.“

January 12, 2023

Maneesh Kumar I

Software developerInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months.

“Here in this app we have so many features and some of them are unique like digital and electronic signatures.“

March 16, 2023

EL

Emil L

Internet Marketer/graphic DesignerHealth, Wellness and Fitness, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“Additionally, some features may only have limited functionality, which may not be acceptable to all users.“

January 12, 2023

## Showing most helpful reviews

Showing 1-25 of 59 Reviews

Sort by:

Most Helpful

Rating

Company Size

Reviewer's Role

Length of Use

Frequency of Use

Anil P.  
Director  
Information Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Complete PDF editing suite"

July 16, 2022

5.0

PDF Studio has a user-friendly design and is the finest alternative to Adobe Acrobat. It is quick, simple to use, and has a nice user interface.

Pros

It is the best PDF editor and converter available with a low-cost perpetual license. It have optical character recognition capabilities. The best thing is that it is cross-platform and works flawlessly on Linux, Windows, and Macbooks.

Cons

I've never had any big issues using PDF Studio. However, the OCR tool did not always recognize the text.

Review Source

Ray A.  
Researcher  
Research  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "PDF Studio 2019- solid choice for Linux users, researchers, who want a cross-platform solution. "

August 7, 2020

5.0

PDF Studio is reliable tool for annotating PDFs. It is fast, easy to use, has a good UI that allows users to switch between the tradition menu bar and a ribbon bar. I use it daily for reducing the size of PDFs and converting them to png image formats for distribution.

Pros

It is truly cross-platform- I used it on my Linux, Windows, and Apple systems without any problem. Its one of the few PDF editors for Linux. It's easy to use- the menu is well designed and its much easier to find the tools I need than Adobe Acrobat with its convoluted odd menu system. It has reliable OCR built into the software and good tools for optimizing PDFs (reducing size) and for saving as image files (jpeg, png, tiff, etc).

Cons

It cannot open dynamic XFA forms, but considering that most non-Adobe PDF editors can't read them, its not unusual. Dynamic XFA forms are uncommon PDF forms render drawing and layout information. Even Adobe products don't properly support them. Unfortunately, our office used these forms regularly.

Alternatives considered

[Foxit PDF Reader](https://www.capterra.com/p/175376/ConnectedPDF/)

Reason for choosing PDF Studio

PDF Studio was the first to offer a native Linux version. The developer, Qoppa Software responds very quickly to all requests, bug reports, and suggestions. Support is outstanding.

Review Source

KE

Kev E.  
Principal Geologist  
Environmental Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Does not work on Mac Studio M1 Pro"

August 2, 2023

3.0

I used it daily for years and then upon upgrading last year it continually disappoints. Since I had used it for a long time and spent a lot of time and effort with customer support to try and get the 2022 version running properly, I figured that the 2023 offering would have fixed all the issues that I had highlighted to the Quoppa people, but no, it's exactly the same.

Pros

Great feature set. Adn ability to use scaled drawings and measurements

Cons

Back in 2012 (PDF Studio 12) it was fully reliable, but the recent iterations (2022 and 2023) do not work on Mac Studio M1 Max computer. Simple copy / paste errors, can't delete some annotations, print to JPG often misses some annotations, so exported jpg's are incomplete, can't re-order objects (send to back or bring to front does not work)

Reason for choosing PDF Studio

Price

Review Source

RW

Robert W.  
Consultant  
Consumer Electronics  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Finally a PDF editor that is fast and smooth even on huge architectural drawing. "

December 27, 2023

5.0

Fantastic. Because of the tab tool bar interface, I can find tools I did not know existed and try them and because of the tap tool bar, it is not overly cluttered.

Pros

Love the interface and ease of finding the tools.

Cons

App does not respect my Logi Options mouse settings. Zooms to fast with mouse wheel.

Switched from

[Adobe Acrobat](https://www.capterra.com/p/251329/Adobe-Acrobat-DC/)

Acrobat is too slow and sluggish and because they’re trying to make this clean interface. All the tools require several clicks deep to get to them.

Review Source

Nikolaos Z.  
Data Scientist  
Market Research  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "One of the best pdf editors for Linux"

July 9, 2021

5.0

In my company we need to use the same tools over different operating systems for security purposes and also for a universal approach to the solutions we provide. However, we have user machines running in windows and remote servers running Linux. As far as I know this is the best PDF solutions that runs smoothly across different OS platforms.

Pros

PDF Studio enables editing in Mac and most importantly Linux OS. It is much cheaper that Adobe Acrobat and has quality signing options. It has optical character recognition features even for non OCR documents.

Cons

I have never encountered any serious problems with PDF Studio and never wanted to do something that this editor couldn't do. In my opinion, what could be done differently is reduce the RAM and CPU consumption of this software.

Review Source

Surya P.  
Director & CEO  
Information Technology and Services  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Best PDF Editor & Converter with perpetual license "

April 8, 2021

4.0

My overall experience is pleasant, and it is one of the best alternative if you are finding a perpetual license based pdf editor.

Pros

The best thing about Qoppa PDF studio is that it comes with one time purchase/perpetual license and it provides all the features which are expected of a pdf editor.

Cons

There is no PDF to PPT (Power point Presentation) conversion option, they must improve the GUI, and auto update is of very slow download speed.

Alternatives considered

[PDFelement](https://www.capterra.com/p/148193/PDFelement-6/)

Reason for choosing PDF Studio

Because of the low cost.

Review Source

Yosimar M.  
Physical Therapist  
  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Pay for the full version, you wont get a watermark and its worth it"

July 25, 2018

5.0

Other than the watermark it leaves on the free version and the lack of customization, this is an excellent PDF software, and I can totally recommend it.

Pros

This is a great alternative for someone who needs a good PDF reader, that is fast, allows for pdf editing and most of all that has an electronic signing feature, which is the one I mostly use when sending notes to my patients. It is worth to note that it is extremely easy to use.

Cons

I would really love if this software allowed for more customization of its workspace since its graphic interface its not the best i've seen, also the watermark you get when using the free version is kind of a downer.

Review Source

Luis Enrique G.  
Analista de Telecomunicaciones  
  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Best PDF option for linux users"

July 25, 2018

5.0

PDF studio is a must have for any linux user, it works great, is really stable and fast and allows for going almost completely paperless, just pay for the full version so you don't have any issue with watermarks.

Pros

This is the PDF software for any linux users, since it is the only one that fully works in said OS. It has several tools that allow for you to organize better your documents, such as the combine feature, which allows for combining several documents or parts of them into just one pdf.

Cons

The free version has no time limit but you shouldn't get too comfortable with it because it leaves a big watermark on your document if you try to edit it.

Review Source

Jamie O.  
Applications Supervisor  
  
Used the software for:

### "Intuitive and comfortable"

February 17, 2018

4.0

Linux compatibility, not Adobe. Nothing against Adobe, but I don't need to spend that much money and go through the licensing nightmare for just a few occasional edits.

Pros

Smooth transition from Acrobat, same functionality. Installation on Linux was trouble-free, was running OCR on a document within about 30 seconds.

Cons

Have not found any negatives so far. Honestly, the only negative that I can see is that it is not free. Libre Office is open source and is every bit as powerful as MS Office

Review Source

Oriana Veruska G.  
Manager  
  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Would love if they could make its user interface more streamlined"

July 25, 2018

4.0

This software is just great, I would just love if they could rework its user interface to make it more aesthetically pleasing, I know it is almost the only option for linux users but they could go an extra mile with it.

Pros

PDF studio is really great, if you are working on linux or in mac is one of the most stable pdf reader and editor out there. It allows you to edit, merge and split or even sign your documents, it is a must have especially if you are working in said os

Cons

I really don't like its user interface, it is not aesthetically pleasing and it is kind of confusing, I think it could be improved a lot to make it more streamlined.

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Avis  
Writing and Editing  
Used the software for: I used a free trial

### "Avis "

February 17, 2023

5.0

Je peut faire tout ce que je veut avec ce logiciel car il est super pratique j ai très vite appris à m'en service je vais peut être passer à la version payante

Pros

Le produit et facile d'utilisation et super pratique a la rédaction de texte

Cons

Au départ j ai eu du mal a me servir du logiciel car il n' y a pas beaucoup d'explication au niveau du manuel

Review Source

HT

Helia T.  
Scientist  
Higher Education  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Great for text recognition"

May 18, 2022

5.0

A good and cheaper alternative to Adobe Acrobat. PDF Studio has great quality!

Pros

What I liked more about PDF Studio is the text recognition feature and possibility of digitally sign PDF. At my company we could extract data from thousand of PDF files so it help us to build a solid information data bank.

Cons

I would recommend the developers to build a better help guide and increase the algorithm speed because it should be greater if OCR could run faster.

Alternatives considered

[DocFly](https://www.capterra.com/p/148920/PDF-Pro/)[Soda PDF](https://www.capterra.com/p/226942/SODA-PDF/)[Aspose.Total](https://www.capterra.com/p/154165/Aspose-Total/)[Smallpdf](https://www.capterra.com/p/172606/Smallpdf/)

Review Source

dG

dhruv G.  
  
Information Technology and Services  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "The best PDF software in the market!!"

March 9, 2017

5.0

I am running Pdf Studio on 2 computers for about 1-2 years and have found it to be the best and complete pdf software i have ever used.

Pros

All the features that should be present in a professional pdf software application are there. The customer support is top notch just like the software.

Cons

nothing.

Review Source

SS

Stephen S.  
self employed  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Upgrade to PRO is more expensive than just the difference! That is a RIP OFF!!"

February 20, 2018

4.0

It works on Linux - no other package comes close on Linux and Adobe no longer support Linux.

Pros

What I liked most was I can install it on Linux and given Adobe no longer support Linux PDF Studio is the ONLY app there is to handle PDF's!

Cons

I wanted to upgrade to the PRO version and discovered an upgrade was more expensive that just the difference between standard and pro. I questioned this with Qoppa and was told this was a deliberate decision on their part. This is imho a stupid strategy because I became wholly turned off the company even though I liked the product. It made me, as a customer, feel I was not valued! This bad customer relations. No one else does this! I was willing to pay for an upgrade! I have since dual booted my laptop and have a windows partition and I am using Adobe now.

Review Source

mW

marie W.  
Communications Writer  
Writing and Editing  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "a complete text editor for PDF"

March 20, 2019

4.0

Pros

pdf studio is a complete text editor with which you can: 1.- create pdf files from 0 without using another editor or other programs. 2.- Convert image files, word or excel. 3.- Open files of different extensions to work on them or edit them and then convert them to pdf. 4.- You can protect your files with a password so that nobody can modify them without problems. 5.- Being an editor with functions similar to the word, you can add headers and footers of pages. You can also configure the page size in which you will do your work. 6.- Being a program that can be installed, you can use it anywhere and you do not need to be connected to a network.

Cons

it's not that important, but the program's environment is ugly, the colors are gray and it makes it look like an outdated old program ... the truth is that it's visually unattractive.

Review Source

BL

Barbie L.  
Data Systems Engineer  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "PDF Studio Pro"

June 3, 2019

4.0

Pros

I really liked the ease of use and the splitting tool to start off with. Been using other features such as the forms and redacting tool. Converting to other forms such as Word and excel are also extremely helpful.

Cons

I don't have too many cons except for the expensive

Review Source

GS

Geoff S.  
Manager  
Construction  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Great alternative for Mac users!"

April 10, 2019

4.0

Came across this when looking for a .pdf reader for mac where I can mark up and do simple take-offs from construction drawings...love the clean interface and the ability to calibrate measurements; in fact I might well ditch my current PC software and use this as well! https://www.facebook.com/pg/QoppaPDF/reviews/

Pros

Clean, simple interface, with all the tools I need.

Cons

Could do with opening multiple .pdf's but not much else...

Review Source

aC

anthony C.  
consultant  
  
Used the software for: I used a free trial

### "The essential Mac PDF all-in-one tool"

June 12, 2018

5.0

Pros

Great pdf editor/viewer/management tool. I prefer this software over Adobe which tends to be slow and cumbersome. PDF Studio splits pdfs by blank pages which is a rare tool to find in PDF editing software (especially on a Mac!).

Cons

Interface could use a bit of updating- otherwise I'm a happy customer. not much to complain about. great product overall

Review Source

JC

Jared C.  
Student  
Medical Practice  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Solid PDF editor that is easy to use and gives all the functions of adobe without the money"

January 17, 2018

4.0

Pros

Has excellent functionality and additional features that are not included in normal PDF editors. Easy to use and understand.

Cons

Sometimes finding support for the product is difficult. Their user guide and knowledge database is difficult to navagate and a little cumbersome.

Review Source

CG

Cory G.  
LTE  
  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "PDF Studio is a pleasure to use."

May 1, 2018

5.0

Pros

The interface is highly intuitive. I can do anything I need to in the app, including adding digital signatures.

Cons

The interface is a bit dated. Everything I need to use is available, but it would be nice to look at an app that doesn't look like it was from the early 2000s. :)

Review Source

EL

Emil L.  
Internet Marketer/graphic Designer  
Health, Wellness and Fitness  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "PDF Studio: A Review of its features and limitations"

January 12, 2023

4.0

I have mixed feelings about the software. On one hand, the software has great features such as creating, editing, and annotating PDFs, creating PDF forms, merging and splitting PDFs, adding and editing bookmarks, links, headers, and footers, adding and editing digital signatures and export PDFs to multiple formats. The interface is user-friendly. However, it can be expensive, the interface can be cluttered, may require a powerful computer, may have limited compatibility with mobile devices, may have certain features limited in functionality, may have unresponsive customer support and may require additional plug-ins. It may also experience crashes or freezing and may be slow when working with large files. I would recommend trying the trial version before making a purchase to see if it meets your specific needs.

Pros

Its features have really wowed me. My work has become much more effective because I can easily create, edit, and annotate PDFs. For me, being able to create PDF forms is a game-changer because it eliminates the need for other software to perform this function. Another excellent feature is the ability to split and merge PDF files. I also value the addition and editing of Bates numbers, watermarks, headers, links, and headers and footers. Another benefit is having the option to add and edit digital signatures. Additionally, it is very helpful to have the choice to export PDFs to a variety of formats, including Word, Excel, and HTML. Easy navigation is provided by the user-friendly interface. All in all, if you need a dependable PDF editing program, I heartily suggest PDF Studio.

Cons

Although PDF Studio has some excellent features, it also has some drawbacks, which I recently discovered. Comparatively speaking to other PDF editing software available on the market, the price of the program is high. Some users may find the interface frustrating due to how cluttered and challenging it is to navigate. Some users might find it problematic that the software might need a powerful computer to function properly. While using the software, I occasionally crashed or experienced freezing, which is not ideal. Additionally, it only works partially with mobile devices, which could be problematic for users who need to edit PDFs on the go. Additionally, some features may only have limited functionality, which may not be acceptable to all users. Some users may have issues because the customer service is not very helpful and the software occasionally freezes or crashes. For certain features, it might also need additional plug-ins. When working with large files, some users may complain that the software is slow. This software might not be very helpful for users who only need to edit a few PDFs on occasion. Overall, PDF Studio has some fantastic features that are very helpful, but it also has its share of issues that may deter some users from using it. Before making a purchase, I advise trying the trial version to ensure that it satisfies your unique requirements.

Review Source

JM

John M.  
Software Engineer  
Online Media  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Professional Top-notch PDF Studio"

November 14, 2022

5.0

PDF Studio has become an integral part of our daily routine, enabling us to quickly and easily read all of the relevant data science notes. It has everything you need to read PDFs and Word documents before sending them off to be processed by other businesses. With its help, the drawings are annotated.

Pros

Create PDFs from Word documents, images, and scanned documents with the help of PDF Studio. In my experience using it on a regular basis, it is more than adequate for the PDF-related tasks you describe. Marking up your drawings is a breeze, and you can lock all comments so that nobody but you can make changes to them. In addition, the vault function is useful. This program can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, including phones, tablets, laptops, and even Whatsapp and email.

Cons

The only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't come with every watermark header and footer needed for construction drawings. I've done a ton of work on this that PDF-XChange can't. We believe the prices are reasonable all around.

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
CEO  
Design  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Pdf"

October 2, 2023

5.0

a tool we use every day to read fichesir pdf

Pros

a good tool for converting text, images, formatting to pdf format

Cons

it will have to offer a lot of editing functionality

Review Source

MG

Michael G.  
Product Director  
Internet  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "A Good Alternative To More Expensive PDF Softwares"

March 31, 2022

4.0

Pros

We use this as an alternative to more expensive softwares that require a subscription. Besides a few polish issues, it meets everyone of our needs with pdf documents.

Cons

The UI is outdated and it's hard to convince people who have used other softwares to use this one instead, but that's not the fault of the product.

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Associate software test engineer  
Information Technology and Services  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "PDF studio"

March 11, 2023

4.0

This app is soo good and the interface is straightforward to use. We can able to make different file and there is the search option so it made easy to find the information.

Pros

I really liked the electronic and digital signature the features in the app and they are unique. This app have so many good features compared to the other apps.

Cons

The pricing of the app is high so better to decrease.

Review Source

Similar Products

Featured