How can I annotate a PDF while keeping my comments separate from its original text?

Treat the PDF page as the original and put your feedback in review annotations: highlights to point at text, comments to explain your reaction, and proposed wording to suggest a change. Don’t rewrite the page itself unless you intentionally mean to edit the document. In Acrobat desktop, the documented “Add a comment > Insert text” workflow places proposed text in a pop-up annotation without altering the PDF’s original content [S1].

A useful convention is to start comments with labels such as “QUESTION:”, “SUGGESTION:” or “CHECK:”. That makes the purpose of each note apparent even if someone reads the comments pane without looking closely at the page.

Use a highlight as a pointer, not as the whole message: select the passage you mean, then add a short comment explaining what needs attention. For example, a highlighted sentence might have the note “QUESTION: Does ‘next quarter’ mean the calendar quarter or the project quarter?” Keep one main issue per comment where practical, and refer to a page or heading if the note concerns a broader section.

For feedback that is not tied to exact wording—such as a question about the document’s overall purpose—use a general comment at a chosen location rather than highlighting an unrelated sentence. Acrobat on the web supports comments attached to selected text or added at a chosen location, and displays comments in a Comments pane [S2]. The precise controls can differ across PDF apps and versions.

Make the suggestion visibly a proposal, rather than silently replacing the sentence. For instance, use an annotation that says “SUGGESTION: Replace ‘send it soon’ with ‘send it by [date]’.” In Acrobat desktop, “Insert text” is specifically described as adding proposed text in a pop-up annotation without changing the original PDF content [S1]. Acrobat on the web also describes inserting text as a proposed addition [S2].

Here is a copyable review pattern:

“QUESTION: What does ‘soon’ mean here?” “SUGGESTION: Replace ‘send it soon’ with ‘send it by [date]’.” “CHECK: Please confirm the figure against the approved draft.”

The bracketed date is a placeholder, not a factual claim. Before sharing, inspect the page and the comments list to confirm your suggestion is presented as a note and the original wording remains visible.

Give the file and notes a simple, consistent structure. Use a clear review filename such as “[document-name]_review_[date].pdf”; replace the brackets with your own details. Keep comments short, identify the type of feedback, and avoid putting proposed wording directly into the page text when you intend it only as a suggestion.

Before handing it off, open the PDF in the app you used and inspect both the relevant pages and the comments pane. Acrobat on the web says comments can be edited, replied to, or deleted subject to permissions, and that comments added or updated are automatically saved [S2]. That describes the web product, not every PDF app or version. The cited workflows do not establish that annotations will display identically in every viewer, or that a particular recipient has permission to edit them; if the review convention matters, tell the recipient which labels you used and ask them to verify the notes in their viewer.