How to Create a Blank PDF in Adobe Acrobat

Most PDFs originate from another type of file, such as a Microsoft Word document. They are then converted to the PDF format before publication. However, you can create a blank PDF in Adobe Acrobat without relying on outside software.

This tutorial will walk you through three processes:

How to create a blank PDF
How to add text to a PDF
How to add a blank page to a PDF

While Adobe Acrobat offers many powerful features, it doesn’t provide the same versatility as traditional word processing software. So, the steps shown here are only recommended for short documents.

The images below are from Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. The steps are the same in Adobe Acrobat Standard DC and will be similar in older versions of the software.

This tutorial is available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than 100 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.

Attention Acrobat Reader Users: Adobe’s free PDF software, Acrobat Reader, doesn’t provide the option to create a blank PDF, add text, or add a blank page.

How to Create a Blank PDF

Select the Tools tab.

Adobe Acrobat Tools tab — Figure 1. Tools tab

Select Create PDF in the Tools Center.

Create PDF button in the Tools Center of Adobe Acrobat — Figure 2. Create PDF button

Select Blank Page from the Create a PDF from any format options.

Blank Page option in the "Create a PDF from any format" menu in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 3. Blank Page option

Select the Create button.

Create button in the "Create a PDF from any format" menu in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 4. Create button

A blank page should appear immediately.

How to Add Text to a PDF

For a full tutorial about adding text to PDFs, please see “How to Add and Format Text in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat.”

Before you can add text to a PDF in Adobe Acrobat, you first have to create a text box.

Select Edit PDF from the Tools pane.

Edit PDF in the Tools pane in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 5. Edit PDF button

Select Add Text from the Edit PDF toolbar.

Add Text in the Edit PDF toolbar in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 6. Add Text button

Decide if you want to insert text with a scalable text box or a fixed-width text box:

- Scalable text boxes will extend from the cursor to the right margin and the bottom margin of the page as text is added.

To create a scalable text box, (1) place your cursor anywhere on the page and (2) start typing or copy and paste text onto the page.

- Fixed-width text boxes maintain their original width and will only scale lengthwise to accommodate additional text.

To create a fixed-width text box, (1) drag your cursor to create the box and (2) start typing or copy and paste text into the box.

Fixed-width text box example in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 7. Example of a fixed-width text box

Pro Tip: To resize a scalable or fixed-width text box, hold your cursor over one of the border handles (small squares) until your cursor becomes a resizing cursor, which is two lines with two arrows. Then, drag the cursor to resize the text box.

To format text, select the text and then choose from the options in the Format pane:

1. Font	6. Bulleted and numbered lists
2. Font size	7. Alignment
3. Font color	8. Line and paragraph spacing
4. Bold, italic, and underline	9. Scaling and character spacing
5. Superscript and subscript

Format pane in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 8. Format pane

Your format changes should appear immediately.

Important Note: Text that reaches the bottom of the page won’t flow to a new page. Instead, you have to create a new blank page, as shown below, and then begin a new text box, as shown above.

A yellow warning icon will appear if text is not visible due to a lack of space.

Pro Tip: How to Delete a Text Box

You can’t delete a text box while the Add Text tool is active. Instead, you have to switch to the Edit tool.

Select Edit in the Edit PDF toolbar.

Edit button in the Edit PDF toolbar in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 10. Edit button

Hover your cursor over the border of the text box until your cursor becomes a movement cursor, which is two crossed arrows.
Press the Delete key on your keyboard or right-click and select Delete from the shortcut menu.

How to Add a Blank Page to a PDF

Select the Page Thumbnails button in the navigation pane.

Pro Tip: Select the small gray arrow if your navigation pane is not visible.

Page Thumbnails button in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 11. Page Thumbnails button

Select the Options button.

Page Thumbnails pane Options button in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 12. Options button

Select Insert Pages from the menu.

Insert Pages option in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 13. Insert Pages option

Select A Blank Page from the menu.

A Blank Page option in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 14. A Blank Page option

Select Before or After from the Location menu in the Insert Pages dialog box.

Location menu in the Insert Pages dialog box in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 15. Location menu

Select an insertion location from the Page section:

- First will insert a blank page before or after the first page.
- Last will insert a blank page before or after the last page.
- Page allows you to insert a blank page before or after the page entered in the text box. (Note that you can’t enter a page number for a page that hasn’t been created yet.)

Insert Pages dialog box Page section in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 16. Page section

Select the OK button.

Insert Pages dialog box OK button in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 17. OK button

Your new page should appear immediately.

Organize Pages button in the Tools pane in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 18. Organize Pages button

Pro Tip: Access the Insert Pages Dialog Box

In addition to the method shown above, you can also access the Insert Pages dialog box by using the keyboard shortcut Shift + Ctrl + T or through the Organize Pages toolbar: