Mozilla Firefox, like Edge and Chrome, is a browser with which you can open and view PDF documents. Unlike Edge, however, Firefox’s PDF toolbar doesn’t include any annotation options by default.
Despite this, you still have options to annotate PDF files in Firefox with and without additional browser plugins. Here, we’ll take a look at how.
How to Annotate PDF Files with Firefox PDF Viewer
Ok, Firefox’s PDF viewer doesn’t seem to have any annotation options. However, you can enable new editing tools for PDF files in that browser by changing a hidden advanced preference.
You can then select new text and drawing options for PDF files in Firefox. This is how the Fox PDF annotation tools are enabled and used:
- to open the Advanced preferences page tab, entry about: settings in the Fox URL address bar and press Return.
- press the accept the risk button (there is no risk in enabling PDF tools).
- then enter pdfjs.annotationEditorMode in the search preferences text box.
- Double click on the pdfjs.annotationEditorMode preference to activate your text box.
- Please enter a 0 value for pdfjs.annotationEditorMode inside the text box of that setting and click the blue Save money button.
- then type pdfjs.annotationMode in the search box.
- the pdfjs.annotationMode the preference value should be set to 2. If pdfjs.annotationMode is not set to that value, double-click that preference to enter two and click Save money.
- Close Firefox after modifying the about:config settings.
- Right click on a PDF file in Explorer to select To open with.
- Choose to open a PDF file in Firefox to view it in that browser. You should now see new Add free text annotation and Add ink annotation buttons on the Firefox PDF viewer toolbar.
press the add free text button to display text size and color options. Click on the Color to choose a color for the text and drag the Size bar slider to adjust the scale. Then click anywhere inside the PDF to add text to it.
If you want to doodle on your PDF, click the Add ink annotation button. Choose an ink color by timing the Color box palette Drag the Thickness the slider on the bar to the left or right to adjust the width of the pen.
You can also change the transparency level of the ink by dragging the slider on the Opacity bar. Left click anywhere inside the PDF and hold down the mouse button to draw on the document.
To save an edited file, click the Discharge button. Choose a folder to include the PDF and enter a title in the File name box. Click Save money to add the PDF to the selected folder.
How to annotate PDF files in Firefox with PDF2Go
Firefox PDF viewer only has two editing options. If you want to add highlights and shapes to documents, you will need to use the PDF2Go plugin. PDF2Go is a PDF extension for Firefox that makes PDF document editing, compression, conversion and merging tools accessible from within Fox.
To install that extension, open the PDF2Go page linked below in Firefox. Select PDF2Go Add to Firefox option and click Add again to confirm. then you will see a Online PDF editor in the Fox URL toolbar.
Click on the Online PDF editor to open its menu. Select Edit PDF to open a page with a Choose the file option. press the Choose the file select a PDF and click Open.
Now you can start editing your PDF. press the Stand out button on the toolbar. Then hold down the left mouse button and drag a yellow box over the text you need to highlight in the open document.
If you want to add shapes, click the Arrow, Rectangleeither Ellipse options Then drag the shapes into the document by holding down the left mouse button and moving the cursor.
You can add notes by clicking the Text button. Click a position in the document to place the text box, and then drag its corners with your cursor to resize. You can then enter text inside the box. press the Options to access settings to change the font color, size, and style of your text box.
When you’re done, click the Save as button. Select Save money to convert the file. Press Discharge to save it to a local folder.
Discharge: PDF2Go – PDF Editor & Converter (Free)
Annotate your PDF documents in Firefox instead of Edge
So Firefox users don’t need to switch to Edge to annotate PDF files. Enabling Firefox’s built-in PDF editing options and adding the PDF2Go extension to that browser will give you most of the PDF annotation tools you’re likely to need. You can add text, doodles, shapes, and highlights to your PDF files with those tools.