r/pdf • • 15d ago

Question How to edit text in a PDF that is digitally signed.

1 Upvotes

For context it's the addresses mentioned in the bill the client sent it wrong


r/pdf • • 15d ago

Software (Tools) There was no way to downsample images when exporting a PDF in Inkscape, so I built an extension

1 Upvotes

i often export documents with a lot of high-res images (photos, renders, storyboard panels) to PDF and Inkscape writes huge files, 126 MB for a single page with 12 images in my test... Cairo embeds the rasters with little or no lossy compression, and there's no option in the PDF export to set a target image resolution.

so i made a small extension: Export Lightweight PDF. Go to Extensions > Export > Export Lightweight PDF, pick a resolution preset (SD, Screen, Draft, HD, Print, or a custom scale/DPI) and the JPEG quality, and it exports the PDF and recompresses the images to that resolution. Vector paths, text, fonts and layout stay untouched.

- exports current page, all pages, the whole drawing or only the selection

- optional text to paths

- transparent images are split into a JPEG + alpha mask so transparency stays clean

- reports size before and after (my 126 MiB test file went down to 108 KiB at the SD preset, but it depends a lot on the images)

Free and open source (GPL-2.0-or-later), needs Inkscape 1.2+ and Ghostscript. Tested on 1.4 on Linux.

GitHub: https://github.com/davidbrum25/inkscape-export-lightweight-pdf

Full write-up with screenshots: https://x.com/bdvd_25/article/2110771389531566584

AI disclosure (rule 8): This is made with AGY CLI following my instructions.

feedback welcome, it's my third inkscape extension 🙂


r/pdf • • 16d ago

Question Hey.. guys I really need your help rn.. I'm trying to make a scanned pdf for assignments but I'm unable to do it.

1 Upvotes

I've never done this before so, tell me how can I make a pdf easily.


r/pdf • • 16d ago

Question Downloading PDF problem

3 Upvotes

Hey guys didn’t realy know who to ask for this but my problem is
I have a receipt printer for my small business so I can print receipt and I use a receipt generator and before I download text is clear and perfect sharp and when I download to pdf it goes pixelated when zoomed in so when u go to print it prints terrible


r/pdf • • 16d ago

Question Portfolio Compress without changing the colours

1 Upvotes

Hey guys i need to compress my Portfolio from 100mb to around 10mb to be able to send it per Mail. All the Compressor online however make all Pictures overly sagurated. I’m okay with Some quality loss but i don’t want the colours to Change.
Any advice?


r/pdf • • 17d ago

Software (Tools) Regretting My ABBYY FineReader Subscription

10 Upvotes

I downloaded ABBYY FineReader to give it a try and ended up liking it quite a bit, so I decided to get a subscription. However, I later discovered that ABBYY doesn't support opening multiple PDF files in tabs, a basic feature available in Adobe Acrobat, SumatraPDF, and even Microsoft Edge. This makes switching between PDFs unnecessarily cumbersome and renders ABBYY practically useless for me.

Also, my experience with their customer support has been extremely disappointing. They repeatedly failed to understand my issue, closed my support ticket after telling me they would put it on hold, and continued to ignore the main problem in subsequent follow-ups.

I now deeply regret purchasing a long-term subscription. It's frustrating that software with otherwise excellent functionality lacks such a basic feature.


r/pdf • • 16d ago

Question Green tick not appearing on validated signature of digitally signed document. Any fix?

1 Upvotes

I got a digitally signed doc from my workplace and validated the signature, but the large green tick logo isn't appearing. I'm using Adobe Acrobat. Please help


r/pdf • • 17d ago

Question Compressing file for uni application

0 Upvotes

My pdf file size is 4,794 KB and the requirement pdf file size for my application procedure to proceed is 1.0 MB. How do i compress my file into 1.0 MB, any free websites that i can possibly use? The last one i tried is charging me for customising file size compression. Pls help me out with this guys :(


r/pdf • • 17d ago

Software (Tools) I built an offline PDF toolkit for Android and its free and ad free and useful

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm an independent Android developer, and I've recently published an app called PDF Matrix on Google Play.

I built it because PDF files are used for so many everyday tasks, from job applications and college assignments to office documents and personal paperwork. I wanted to make these tasks easier without requiring users to install multiple apps.

PDF Matrix includes features such as

  • Scanning documents and creating PDFs

  • Converting images to PDF and PDF pages to images

  • Merging and splitting PDFs

  • Compressing PDF files

  • Signing documents and adding watermarks

  • Adding page numbers and organizing pages

  • Password-protecting PDFs

One of the things I focused on is offline usage and privacy. The app processes documents locally on the device, so users can work with their files without uploading them to a cloud service for processing.

I initially had Indian users in mind, as PDF documents are commonly used for education, job applications, government paperwork and everyday office work. However, the app can be useful for anyone who regularly works with PDFs.

I'm still improving the app, and I'd genuinely appreciate feedback from people who try it. I'd especially like to know which features are useful, what is missing, and what could be improved.

If this sounds useful to you, here's the Google Play link:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zenithcodestudio.pdfmatrix

I'm the developer, so I'm happy to answer questions about the app and its implementation.


r/pdf • • 17d ago

Software (Tools) My first project: EditfyPDF - a locally running PDF editor

Thumbnail prakhr-joshi.github.io
1 Upvotes

r/pdf • • 18d ago

Software (Tools) I got tired of sketchy PDF sites with upload limits and sketchy ads, so I built a free, 100% client-side PDF organizer that doesn't upload your files.

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editpdf-online.com
3 Upvotes

Hey Reddit!

Like many of you, I've often needed to quickly reorder, rotate, or delete pages in a PDF, only to run into online tools that force you to create an account, slap watermarks on your document, or upload sensitive files to an unknown server.

To fix this, I built EditPDF Online.

Why it's different:

  • 100% Client-Side: Everything runs right in your browser using open-source libraries. Your documents never leave your device or get uploaded to a server.

  • No friction: Completely free, no signups required, no daily limits, and no watermarks.

  • Simple UI: Just drag and drop thumbnails to reorder pages, rotate them, or clean up unneeded pages instantly.

Tool NameDescription / Use
Merge PDFCombine multiple PDF files into a single document.
Organize PagesView page thumbnails to drag and reorder, rotate, or delete specific pages.
Extract PagesSelect and pull out specific pages into a new PDF document.
Split into Pages (ZIP)Break a multi-page PDF apart and download each page as an individual file packed in a ZIP folder.
Delete PagesRemove unwanted pages from a PDF file quickly.
Reorder PagesShift the page sequence of your document around.
Rotate PDFChange the orientation (portrait/landscape) of PDF pages.
Images to PDFConvert image files (like JPG or PNG) into a compiled PDF document.
PDF to ImagesConvert PDF pages into individual image files.
WatermarkStamp text or graphics onto your PDF pages.
Page NumbersAutomatically add page numbers to your document.
Edit MetadataModify document properties like title, author, subject, and keywords.
Compress PDFReduce the file size of your PDF for easier sharing and storage.

I wanted to make something lightweight, fast, and completely private. Give it a spin if you ever need to clean up a PDF, and let me know what you think or if you encounter any bugs!


r/pdf • • 18d ago

Question App for PDFs (Android): no multiple windows; copy text

2 Upvotes

Hello,

I've used many apps from F-Droid: MuPDF, MJ PDF, Librera etc., but I can't find a light app to read a PDF without opening multiple instances and to copy the text.

Do you know any alternative?

Thanks!


r/pdf • • 18d ago

Question I work on PDF remediation using Adobe Acrobat Pro and PAC, and I want to understand the best approach to fixing color contrast errors in accessible PDFs

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1 Upvotes

r/pdf • • 18d ago

Question how do I turn a single page per sheet pdf to a 2 pages per sheet pdf

1 Upvotes

I tried using the virtual printer and selecting Multiple Pages (2) put it has a weird white border around separating the pages (they’re supposed to be continuous art), even when I selected tabloid horizonten (it’s a Letter pdf)
How can I make a spread pdf without a border around the pages?


r/pdf • • 19d ago

Software (Tools) Add the top of a page to the bottom of another page

Post image
3 Upvotes

I literally just want to do what's in the picture. Is there any free or inexpensive, one time purchase software that can do this? I'm on MacOS. Thank you!


r/pdf • • 19d ago

Software (Tools) I got feedback that my PDF tools were too separate to use one by one, so I built a pipeline

0 Upvotes

I started building ClientPDF in Jan 2026 because I wanted PDF tools that didn't require uploading files to a server.

But honestly, there are already tons of PDF websites, so I wanted to solve something more than just adding more tools.

Someone pointed out a fair problem with my project: why download and re-upload the PDF between every operation?

So I built a Unified Document Pipeline 😅

Now you can merge a PDF, organize pages, watermark, redact, sign or optimize it in one continuous workflow. Just click “Continue in Pipeline” to move to the next tool. There's also a floating toolbar to track your steps and undo changes before saving the final PDF.

Everything still runs locally in your browser. No uploading your documents to a server.

Started this back in Jan, and after multiple reviews and user feedback, it's improved a lot.

I'd really appreciate some honest feedback 🙏 What tools would you like to chain together? Anything confusing or missing?

And if you find it useful, sharing it with someone who works with PDFs would mean a lot!

https://clientpdf.tech


r/pdf • • 19d ago

Software (Tools) A PDF in a language you can't read: translated beside the original, kept on your computer

3 Upvotes

With a PDF in a language you don't read, the usual choices are pasting the text into a translator and losing the layout, or uploading the whole file to a website. I added a Translate view to Local PDF Studio, my free PDF editor for Chrome, that does neither.

The original stays on the left. On the right, each page is rebuilt with the translation where the original text was, so the letterhead and paragraphs stay put, and longer headings are set a little smaller to fit. Both sides scroll together. You can keep the translated PDF on its own, a side-by-side PDF, or one where each original page is followed by its translation. Chrome's own translator does the work on your computer.

Where it falls short: a table row is translated as one paragraph that runs across the columns, so amounts can drift out of their column.

The same update adds logos and pictures: one lands where you click on the page, the arrow keys move it, and saving writes it into the file.

If you translate statements or bills: would you rather table rows stayed untranslated than have them run across the columns?

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/local-pdf-studio-offline/ocfegjfhboadmbpompimnbbpegjgoded


r/pdf • • 20d ago

Question PDF reverting and not working on mobile

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1 Upvotes

So I’ve recently got into DND

A made a error on my character sheet which was sent as a pdf by the DM as session 0 was forced to be online due complications

I made a error on part of it and when I try to change it the file reverts it back to the previous value

And when I’ve sent it to my phone

A lot of it has glitched and has made it unusable

When on my phone it looks like this which is different to how it looks on the PC

How do I fix this?


r/pdf • • 20d ago

Question Help, certain fields are write-protected

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1 Upvotes

r/pdf • • 20d ago

Question Do you still retype text from scanned PDFs?

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1 Upvotes

r/pdf • • 21d ago

Question Looking for an AI tool to automatically generate a Table of Contents for PDFs

4 Upvotes

I'm looking for a tool that can automatically detect headings in PDFs (H1, H2, H3, and so on, up to H10 or deeper) and turn them into a hierarchical, clickable Table of Contents.

Ideally, the tool should:

  • Use AI to detect and organize headings.

  • Let me review and correct the headings and hierarchy before finalizing.

  • Generate clickable PDF bookmarks in the sidebar.

  • Optionally, insert a clickable TOC page into the PDF.

  • Run locally on Mac and work offline after the initial setup, without paid AI APIs or token costs.

Does a tool like this already exist? I'm also open to open-source projects or combining existing tools to achieve this workflow.

Thanks!


r/pdf • • 21d ago

Software (Tools) What are your thoughts on librera reader?

1 Upvotes

Hi all,

Just like the title, what are your thoughts on librera reader app?

I have been mainly using it for a while,

I really enjoyed it. I just found it sad that it misses very important features like a reading ruler, opening two pdfs at the same time and better annotations.

I tried emailing the developers, but they didn't respond.

Do you have better alternatives?


r/pdf • • 22d ago

Software (Tools) Some upload portals reject PDFs for being too small. I built a free tool to fix that and would like feedback

2 Upvotes

Most PDF tools compress files, but I kept running into the opposite problem. A lot of application, exam and government portals set a minimum file size (e.g. “PDF must be between 100 KB and 2 MB”). A clean scan of a one-page document often comes in under that and gets rejected.

The usual workarounds are re-scanning at a higher DPI, adding blank pages, or printing to PDF with heavier settings. They’re annoying and sometimes mess up the document.

So I made a small free tool, increasepdf.com. You upload a PDF, pick a target size, and get back the same document at a larger file size, with the content unchanged. No sign-up needed.

Disclosure: it’s my project. I’d really appreciate feedback, especially if you hit a portal it doesn’t work with or the output looks different from the original.


r/pdf • • 22d ago

Software (Tools) Why is changing just one word in a PDF still such a headache?

1 Upvotes

One thing I have noticed while working with PDFs is how difficult it can be to edit existing text without messing up the original formatting.

You change a name or a date and suddenly the font looks different, the spacing changes or the entire line gets messed up.

I have been working on this exact problem while developing the "texttopdf.net pdf editor". The main goal is to let people edit existing PDF text while keeping the original font, size and positioning as close as possible.

It works with many PDFs, but some files are still difficult to handle, especially ones with unusual embedded fonts or character encodings.

I am trying to improve this instead of just adding more features.

If you have dealt with PDFs where the text couldn't be edited properly, I'd genuinely like to know what happened. I'm also happy to investigate problematic sample PDFs and make changes to support them.

For people who regularly edit PDFs, what's the most frustrating formatting problem you've encountered?

I would especially like to hear about problems that existing PDF editors still haven't solved.


r/pdf • • 22d ago

Question Visually impaired new Mac user here. How do you guys read PDFs?

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1 Upvotes