How to Add Text to a PDF Using Affinity Photo

Direct answer: You can use Affinity Photo to open a PDF, add text layers, and export the updated file in common formats. It’s a one-off purchase alternative to Adobe Photoshop or InDesign, making it a practical choice for business owners who occasionally need to edit documents or enhance images without committing to a subscription.

After chatting with the Yorkshire Garden Designer, Sally Tierney, it became clear that business owners often end up doing bits of design work themselves. Nothing fancy—just practical stuff like adding text to a PDF, tweaking a photo, or brightening up a slightly gloomy image.

Now, yes—Adobe Photoshop or InDesign would absolutely handle this. But they come with subscriptions and a fairly steep learning curve. For most people, that’s overkill.

Why Use Affinity Photo Instead of Photoshop?

So here’s the alternative I showed Sally: Affinity Photo.

At around £49 (as of the original recording), it’s a one-off purchase rather than a subscription. More importantly, it’s a fully featured photography package that can handle most of what Photoshop does—without the faff.

• Add and edit text on PDFs and images
• Adjust exposure and colour on photos
• Work with layers in a straightforward way
• Import and export a wide range of file formats

The point here is simple: if you only need to do occasional edits, this gives you 90% of the capability without the ongoing cost or complexity.

How Do You Add Text to a PDF in Affinity Photo?

So let’s keep this dead simple. In the video below, I walk through a quick example.

1. Open your PDF file directly in Affinity Photo
2. Select the text tool
3. Click where you want your text to appear
4. Type your content on a new layer
5. Adjust positioning, size, and style as needed
6. Export the finished file in your chosen format

While doing this, you’ll also get a feel for how layers work—which sounds geeky, but it’s actually the key to making quick edits without breaking everything else.

Watch: Adding Text to a PDF (Quick Demo)

Video summary: This short demo shows how to open a PDF in Affinity Photo, add a text layer on top, and reposition it. It also introduces the basics of layers so you can see how edits sit independently without affecting the original content.

How Could This Help in a Real Business Scenario?

Here’s where it gets a bit more interesting.

Take Sally’s garden design work. Instead of just sending over a flat PDF plan, she could:

• Photograph the garden from multiple angles
• Add those images directly into the PDF
• Overlay notes or labels onto specific areas

The reason being is it helps the client—or the contractor—actually visualise what’s going on. Plans are great, but a few well-placed photos and notes can make the whole thing click.

Small additions like this can make a surprisingly big difference to how professional and useful the final document feels.

Need a Hand Getting Started?

If you fancy learning a bit more about Affinity Photo and want to get up and running quickly, I can walk you through it over Zoom. No fluff—just the nuts and bolts so you can actually use it.

Just drop me a note using the form below and we’ll get something sorted.

Ade McFade, CAA Licensed Pilot & Commercial Photographer

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