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CGode Apps/Guides/CGode PDF

How to use CGode PDF

Everything you can do, step by step, with screenshots. Pick a topic on the left or start from step 1.

Edit text Sign Fill forms Pages Redact Password
Download CGode PDF
Free

Try it here first

This little editor works like CGode PDF. Pick a tool on top and use it on the page.

Interactive demo
Pick a tool above to try it.
Service Agreement
Prepared for Lumen Coffee Co. · 12 March 2026
This agreement covers the design and build of a new website.
The project starts on 1 April and takes about six weeks.
Total price: $1,200, with 50% paid before work begins.
Support and updates are included for three months.
Alex Morgan
Client signature

In the real app every change can be undone with Ctrl+Z.

1

Open a PDF

Start from the welcome screen, or drag a file anywhere into the window.

  1. Click Open in the top-left, or the big Open a PDF box.
  2. Or drag PDFs or pictures from File Explorer straight into the window. Pictures become a new PDF.
  3. Each file opens in its own tab, like a browser. Recent files are listed on the welcome screen.
CGode PDF
CGode PDF welcome screen

Make it your default PDF app: right-click any PDF › Open with › Choose another app › CGode PDF › Always.

2

Edit existing text

Change words that are already in the PDF, the way you would in Word.

  1. Click Edit in the toolbar (or press E). Dashed boxes appear around every line of text.
  2. Click a line. It turns into a text box with the cursor where you clicked.
  3. Type your change. The bar on top lets you change the font, size, bold, italic and colour.
  4. Press Enter or click Done to apply. Esc cancels.
  5. Need to rewrite more than one line? Click Edit whole paragraph and the lines re-wrap as you type.
Edit mode
Edit mode showing clickable text lines
Every line is clickable
Typing
Editing a line of text
Type, then press Enter

CGode PDF keeps the original font when it can. If a letter isn't in that font, it uses the closest Windows font automatically.

3

Add new text

Type anywhere on the page, for example to fill in a paper form.

  1. Click Add text (or press T).
  2. Choose the font, size and colour in the bar on top.
  3. Click where the text should go and type. Press Enter for a new line.
  4. Click anywhere else to finish. You can move or edit it later with Edit.
Add text
Adding new text
4

Add, move and replace pictures

Put logos, photos or stamps on the page and adjust them.

  1. Click Picture, choose a file, then click on the page (or drag to set the size).
  2. In Edit, click any picture to select it. Drag it to move, and drag a corner to resize.
  3. Use Replace picture, Rotate or Delete in the bar on top. Delete also removes it.
Picture selected
A selected picture with resize handles

Page backgrounds are protected so you don't grab them by accident. Hold Alt and click if you really want to select one.

5

Sign a document

Draw, type or upload your signature once and reuse it.

  1. Click Sign.
  2. Pick Draw (use your mouse, pen or finger), Type (choose a handwriting style) or Picture (a photo of your signature; the white background is removed).
  3. Keep Remember this signature ticked to reuse it next time, then click Place signature.
  4. Click where it goes. Drag it to move and use the corners to resize.
Draw
Drawing a signature
Draw it
Type
Typing a signature in a handwriting style
Or type it
6

Fill in forms

PDFs with form fields work right away. Fields are tinted light blue.

  1. Make sure Select is active (press V).
  2. Click a text field and type. Press Enter or click away to confirm.
  3. Click checkboxes and radio buttons to tick them, and pick options from drop-down lists.
  4. Signature fields say Click to sign: click one and your signature fits inside it.
  5. When you're done, More › Flatten makes the answers a permanent part of the page.

Form has no fields? Use Add text to type on it anywhere.

7

Highlight and comment

Mark up a document for review.

  1. Click Highlight (or press H) and select text with the mouse. Drag a box to highlight an area instead.
  2. The arrow next to Note has more tools: underline, strikeout, squiggly line, stamps (Approved, Paid…) and web links.
  3. With Note, click the page to stick a note with your comment.
  4. Click any comment in Select mode to change its colour, add text or delete it. The Comments panel on the left lists them all.
Highlight
Highlighted text
8

Draw, marker and eraser

Sketch, circle things, or draw shapes and arrows.

  1. Click Pen (or press D) and draw. The arrow next to it has Marker, Rectangle, Ellipse, Line, Arrow and Eraser.
  2. Choose a colour, thickness and opacity in the bar on top.
  3. Made a mistake? Click Eraser (or press X) and drag over the drawing. It rubs out only where you drag.
Pen
Drawing with the pen tool
9

Colours and fonts

Use any colour and any font on your PC.

  1. Click the rainbow circle next to the colour dots to open the full colour picker.
  2. Pick from the palette or your recent colours, drag in the colour square, type a hex code, or use the dropper to pick a colour from anywhere on the screen, for example from your logo.
  3. The font button shows every font in its own style. Type to search; your recent fonts are at the top.
  4. To recolour something already on the page, select it in Edit and pick a new colour.
Colour picker
The colour picker
10

Organize pages

Reorder, rotate, delete, insert, split and merge.

  1. Click Pages to see all pages as big thumbnails.
  2. Drag a page to move it. Click to select, and use Ctrl or Shift for several.
  3. Use the buttons on top: Left/Right (rotate), Duplicate, Delete, Extract, Blank page, Insert file and Split.
  4. Combine several files into one from the welcome screen with Combine files.
Pages
The page organizer
11

Redact (black out) for good

Remove account numbers, names or anything private. The hidden text is really deleted, not just covered.

  1. Click Redact (or press R).
  2. Select the text, or drag boxes over anything. Or type a word in Find words to redact and click Mark all.
  3. Check the red marks, then click Apply redactions.
  4. Tick Extra secure to turn those pages into pictures, so nothing can ever be recovered.
Redact
Marking text to redact

Save the file after redacting. Send the saved copy, not the original.

12

Scan to text (OCR)

Turn scanned pages and photos into text you can search, copy and edit.

  1. Click Scan to text.
  2. Choose the language of the document and which pages to process.
  3. Click Recognize text. When it's done you can search the scan, and edit its text in Edit.
Scan to text
The OCR dialog

Recognition uses the languages installed in Windows. Add more in Windows Settings › Time & language › Language.

13

Protect with a password

Lock a file with strong AES-256 encryption.

  1. Click Protect.
  2. Type the password twice. Optionally block printing, copying or editing (this needs an owner password).
  3. Click Save protected copy and choose where to save it. Your open file stays unlocked.
  4. To remove a password, open the file with its password and use More › Remove password.
Protect
The password dialog
14

Export, compress and more

The More menu has the extra tools.

  1. Export turns the PDF into Word, plain text, or PNG/JPG images.
  2. Reduce file size shrinks big PDFs, great for email.
  3. Watermark, Page numbers and Header & footer add text or a logo to every page.
  4. Also: Page colour, Crop pages, Split, Insert pages, Flatten, Properties and Print.
Export
The export dialog
15

Find any tool: "Do anything…"

Don't know where something is? Just ask.

  1. Click Do anything… at the top, or press Ctrl+K.
  2. Type what you want, like "sign", "rotate" or "compress".
  3. Press Enter to run the highlighted tool.
Do anything
The command search
16

Look and language

Make it yours.

  1. Click the button at the top right.
  2. Pick one of 15 languages, light or dark theme, your main colour, the title bar style and the workspace background.
  3. Changes apply right away and are remembered.
Appearance
Appearance and language settings
17

Save, and handy shortcuts

Every change can be undone until you close the file.

  1. Click Save (Ctrl+S) to overwrite, or More › Save as (Ctrl+Shift+S) for a copy.
  2. A dot on the tab means there are unsaved changes. CGode PDF asks before closing.
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+YUndo / redo
Ctrl+FSearch the document
Ctrl+PPrint
V E T HSelect · Edit · Add text · Highlight
N D M X RNote · Pen · Marker · Eraser · Redact
Ctrl + mouse wheelZoom in and out
Space + dragMove around the page
DeleteRemove the selected picture