Algorithm Adventures ShelfDocuments Tool · D-02PDF Desk Report bug

PDF Desk

Review, mark up, and assemble a PDF

No file open. Drop a PDF or press Open.

Open a PDF or drop one here

Browser PDF desk. Comments, seals, and page assembly stay on this sheet. Nothing is uploaded.

Docs

Using PDF Desk

What it does

Open PDF reads a PDF from your computer. You can also drop a file here.
The thumbnails list every page. Click one to show it, or drag one to reorder.
Prev, Next, and Page move through the file.
The − and + buttons, Fit width, and Fit page set the zoom.
Turn view rotates the screen only. It is not saved.
Find searches the text. Prev hit and Next hit step through the matches.
Select picks a mark so you can move it or resize it. Pan drags the sheet.
Note, Text, Highlight, Pen, Rect, Ellipse, Arrow, and Line place marks.
Color sets the mark color. You can pick Navy, Gold, Redline, Blue, Green, White, Black, or a custom color.
Cover paints a solid box over an area. The content under it stays in the file, and other marks stay on top.
Image places a PNG, JPG, or WebP on the page. Seal places one as a stamp.
Keep alpha leaves the picture's own transparency. Key background knocks out a near-white field. It is not a full background removal. Opacity, Threshold, and Tolerance adjust the picture.
Undo and Redo step through this session. Delete mark removes the selected mark.
Comments lists notes that have text. You click one to jump to it, write a reply, and press Save comment. Mark resolved and Mark open set the status. Reply as is the name stored on a new reply.
Up and Down move the current page. Rotate page turns that page in the saved file. Delete removes it. Blank inserts an empty page.
Add PDF copies pages from another PDF and keeps that file's hidden layers hidden. At chooses End or After current.
Extract downloads the current page as extract.pdf.
Download writes the whole file. The name is the text in File.

Quick start

Press Open PDF, or drop a PDF here.
Click a note in Comments to jump to it, or place a mark with Note, Text, Highlight, Pen, Rect, Ellipse, Arrow, Line, Cover, Image, or Seal.
Use Up, Down, Rotate page, Delete, Blank, or Add PDF when you want to change the pages.
Press Download.

Privacy

Your files stay on your computer and nothing is uploaded. Cloudflare may load a page-view beacon from static.cloudflareinsights.com. That beacon does not receive your PDF.

Inputs and outputs

Download rewrites the file and saves a new PDF. It does not update the original in place. The browser may ask you to confirm the save.
Optional-content layers are preserved. A hidden layer stays hidden, including when you add that PDF with Add PDF. You cannot turn layers on or off here.
Form fields are preserved. Text, checkbox, and choice values stay through Download, Rotate page, and Cover. You cannot edit those fields here.
Bookmarks, page labels, attachments, named destinations, metadata, and structure are kept.
Delete drops bookmarks, fields, links, and labels that pointed only at the removed page. The removed page's text is not in the download.
Add PDF copies pages in and keeps that file's hidden layers hidden. That file's bookmarks and form are not merged into this one.
A PDF with an empty user password, including one that has only an owner password, is opened and Download saves a normal PDF. The encryption is not kept.
A PDF that needs a user password is refused and is not saved. You see "This PDF is password protected. PDF Desk does not unlock files."
If the file is still encrypted when you open it or when you press Download, you see "This PDF is encrypted; PDF Desk can't save changes to it yet." No file is written.
A picture longer than 1600 pixels on a side is scaled down before it is placed.

Tips and gotchas

Layers and form fields are preserved on Download. A hidden layer stays hidden, including a hidden layer from a PDF you add with Add PDF, and a filled field keeps its value.
An empty user password is saved as a normal PDF. A user password is refused. A still-encrypted file is refused when you open it or when you press Download, with "This PDF is encrypted; PDF Desk can't save changes to it yet."
After Delete mark, the mark is gone on the page, including when that page has no Cover. Delete and Extract leave removed pages out of the download. Text from those pages is not in the file.
Cover hides what is under the box. It does not remove it. Notes, seals, and other marks stay on top of a cover and are not removed.
Key background can leave a halo or punch a hole in white ink. It is not a full background removal. Use Keep alpha when the file already has transparency.
Turn view is not in the download. Rotate page is.
Ctrl+Z undoes. Ctrl+Shift+Z and Ctrl+Y redo.
Ctrl+F moves the cursor to Find.
Escape closes this help panel and returns you to the Docs button.
Delete and Backspace remove the selected mark.
+ zooms in. − zooms out.
Left and Page Up show the previous page. Right and Page Down show the next page.
Space pans the sheet. Space does not pan when a button, a summary, a text field, a list, or this help panel has the keyboard focus.
Download writes objects in object streams.
An article thread or an XFA entry that only pointed at a deleted page can stay in the file with nothing to open.
Page labels move with the page. After Delete or a reorder, a label can sit on a different page index.
Download keeps the Info Creator. It replaces Producer and ModDate, and it adds CreationDate when the file does not already have one. Those values may no longer match the XMP metadata.
Download breaks digital signatures and removes usage rights.