PDF editor

Choose Edit in the PDF’s menu or in the preview. Sign in the same places opens the PDF with signing already started. Saving, versions, unsaved changes and the title bar work as in every editor; the editors guide explains them.

The toolbar holds the Annotation tools, the Color, the Text size and Sign. Every change can be undone with ⌘Z or Ctrl+Z.

• Select (V): click a highlight or drawing to select it, then choose Remove or press Delete.
• Highlight (U): drag across text. The highlight follows the lines of text underneath.
• Draw (D): draw freehand. The tool stays on until you choose another one.
• Text box (X): click where the text goes and type. The text wraps and the box grows downwards. Drag the box to move it, or drag a corner to resize it. Double-click it to edit the text again.

Color offers seven colours, and each tool starts with its own: gold for highlights and notes, blue for drawings, black for text. Text size goes from 8 to 72 pt, 12 pt to start with, and also changes the selected text box. A click outside a text box or Esc finishes it; an empty box is removed.

Highlights, drawings, text boxes and notes are saved as real PDF annotations. Once saved, they belong to the PDF, and the editor no longer selects or removes them. To get the page back without them, open or restore the earlier version.

With Note (S), click where the note belongs. A pin appears with a field Add a note. Type your note; a click outside, Esc or Close keeps it. Click the pin to read or change it again, or to remove it. A new note you leave empty is dropped.

Notes are saved as standard PDF comments, so other PDF apps show them. Comments and replies that other apps added to a PDF appear in Encloq’s preview.

View › Page overview shows the pages beside the document. Point at a page to turn it, delete it or open Page actions. Drag pages to put them in a new order. Shift-click selects a range, ⌘-click or Ctrl-click adds single pages.

• Rotate left and Rotate right turn the selected pages, or the current page. Move up and Move down (⌥↑ and ⌥↓, or Alt+↑ and Alt+↓) move them one place.
• Delete page removes the page. The last page can’t be deleted.
• Insert adds a Blank page, a PDF from this device… or a PDF from Encloq… after the current page. In the page overview, the + between two pages inserts right there, and you can drop PDFs from your computer onto it.
• Extract pages as PDF exports the selected pages, or the current page, as a new PDF.

Turning a page removes the signatures you placed on it but haven’t saved yet. Place them again after turning.

If the PDF has form fields, Encloq says This PDF has fields you can fill in. Press Tab to move from field to field. Text fields, checkboxes, radio buttons and lists can be filled in; required fields are marked, and read-only fields stay locked. Enter in a single-line field also moves to the next one. When you save, the values are written into the form so that every PDF app shows them.

Forms without fields

Many forms are just printed lines and boxes. Encloq looks for them when it opens such a PDF and shows how many it found, for example 12 fields found. Click a line or box to type in it, and press Tab to move to the next field. When you save after filling in at least one, the fields Encloq found become real form fields of the PDF.

Forms built with XFA can’t be filled in here, but you can still annotate and sign them. If a form has both kinds, saving removes the XFA part so that every app shows the values you entered.

• Find (⌘F or Ctrl+F) marks every match, page by page, with Match case, Whole word and Regular expression. Enter goes to the next match, Shift+Enter to the previous one.
• Zoom from 25 to 400 %, with the zoom control, the shortcuts below, or ⌘ or Ctrl with the scroll wheel or a trackpad pinch, which zooms around the pointer. Fit to width returns to the page width.

Move between pages with → and ← or Page Down and Page Up, and to the first or last page with Home and End. View › Go to has the same commands.

Saving adds a new version; earlier versions stay in the version history. File › Export… creates new files instead, saved next to the PDF or downloaded:

• PDF, with the annotations either Keep as annotations or Flatten into the pages.
• PNG images and JPEG images, one file per page, of All pages, the Current page or the Selected pages, at Standard (150 dpi) or High (300 dpi).
• Selected pages as PDF: a new PDF of just those pages.

1. 1Choose Sign in the toolbar, or Sign in the PDF’s menu or the preview.
2. 2Under Signature, pick one of your signatures, or choose New signature, draw it with a finger, stylus or mouse and choose Save signature.
3. 3Encloq shows Click where the signature goes. Click the spot on the page. Drag the signature to move it, or drag a corner to resize it. Place signature (P) puts it into a free signature field of the current page instead, or at the lower left.
4. 4Under Date and place, choose With date and place and enter the Place (optional), or Signature only.
5. 5Choose Save signed version, or press ⌘↩ or Ctrl+Enter for Finish signing.

Encloq confirms with Document signed: a signed version was added, and the original stays in the version history. Your signature is drawn into the page, and the signed version carries a proof of who signed it. The preview and the file details show Signed by … and warn if the file was changed after it was signed.

• Your signatures are saved end-to-end encrypted in your account, up to eight, and are available on all your devices. Rename or delete them in Settings › Signatures. If a signature can’t be saved, it is used for This document only.
• Date and place under your signature are remembered in Settings › Signatures with Show date and place and Signing place.

Closing the signing panel discards signatures you placed but didn’t save. Signatures in Encloq are not qualified electronic signatures.

Word documents, Markdown notes and presentations can be signed too: File › Sign as PDF… saves a PDF next to the file and opens it here for signing.

In a conversation, you can ask one or more people to sign a PDF. Signature requests are part of the Pro plan.

1. 1Attach the PDF to a message and choose the pen beside it, Ask for a signature.
2. 2Under Who should sign, pick the people in the order they should sign. The first person signs first.
3. 3If you like, choose Place signature fields and use Add field to mark where each person signs, then Done.
4. 4Choose Request signature and send the message. The request goes out with it.

The next person sees … asked you to sign this document. and Sign document. Their fields show Place here; after placing every signature they choose Sign & send, and the signed copy comes back as a reply. Everyone in the conversation sees who is next and how many have signed, and finally Signing request complete with the names. A document holds up to 16 signatures.

The single letters work whenever you are not typing in a field. Esc steps back one thing at a time: it closes Find, leaves a field, cancels placing, clears the selection and returns to Select.

On a phone, a bar at the bottom holds Undo, the tools, the text size, Sign and Insert, which also contains Note. View › Page overview opens the Pages sheet: tap a page to go there, or long-press it for the page actions. Form fields open a bar with Previous field, Next field and Done. When signing, Encloq says Tap where the signature goes.

This PDF is password-protected and opens read-only.

You can read it, but not change or sign it in Encloq. Remove the password in the app that set it, then upload the PDF again.

The PDF carries a digital signature from another app

Your changes are added after that signature, and the other app will report the document as changed. Keep the signed original in the version history.

This PDF can’t be signed in place

It is protected, or it uses features Encloq can’t rewrite. Export it as a plain PDF and sign that instead. Some PDFs are signed as page images instead; Encloq then says Saved as page images, and the text can no longer be selected.

Pages not inserted

The PDF you chose may be damaged or password-protected. Only PDFs can be inserted, and from Encloq only PDFs you may download.

Sign is unavailable

The PDF is password-protected or open read-only, for example because it is being edited in another tab.