Why PDF Toolkit
Privacy-first PDF tools with editor-grade UX
My PDF Toolkit is a free, browser-only PDF toolkit — 31+ tools across organize, convert, edit, secure, OCR, and utilities. Built by Mannu Yadav to compete on usability while beating typical online PDF sites on privacy.
Your files never leave your browser — no uploads, no server storage.
What we stand for
Four decisions that shape every tool on the platform.
Files never leave your browser
Most online PDF sites upload documents to their servers. We process with pdf.js and pdf-lib entirely on your device — no upload, no server storage, no waiting on someone else’s queue.
Visual editing, not blank forms
Organize and edit tools show real page thumbnails. Watermark has live preview. Annotate, highlight, sign, and redact work by clicking or dragging on the page — not by typing PDF coordinates.
One workspace, many tools
A shared PdfWorkspace shell (thumbnails + preview + options) powers remove, extract, rotate, rearrange, split, watermark, annotate, and more — so every tool feels consistent under demo.
Fast by design
No backend round-trip for core tools. Hosted on Vercel as a Next.js frontend. You pick a file, configure visually, download a Blob from memory.
How we compare to typical online PDF sites
Sites like PDF24 are excellent products. We respect that bar — and choose a different privacy + UX tradeoff.
| Topic | Typical upload sites | PDF Toolkit |
|---|---|---|
| Where files go | Uploaded to their servers | Stay in your browser |
| Page selection | Often visual (strong UX) | Thumbnails + click / drag |
| Watermark / annotate | Rich options on server | Live preview + click-to-place, local |
| Accounts / paywalls | Often ads or limits | Free, no account required |
| Hosting model | Heavy backend + workers | Vercel frontend + browser compute |
What you can do today
31 tools across 7 categories — built to demo under pressure.
Organize
- Merge with drag-to-reorder file list
- Split by every page, after selected pages, or contiguous groups
- Remove / extract pages by clicking thumbnails
- Rearrange by dragging page previews
- Rotate with live thumbnail preview
Edit & secure
- Watermark: text or image, opacity, rotation, position, tile, live preview
- Annotate: click-to-place sticky notes
- Highlight & redact: drag regions on the page
- Sign: draw signature, click to place
- Protect / unlock passwords, page numbers, metadata
Convert & optimize
- Compress with real JPEG re-encode (Strong / Balanced / High)
- Batch compress up to 10 PDFs → ZIP
- Images ↔ PDF, PDF to text, HTML to PDF
- OCR for scans, compare PDFs side-by-side
- Search, thumbnails, QR, booklet, and more
How it works
The pipeline every core tool follows — easy to explain in interviews and demos.
- STEP 1
Local file pick
File API only — never POSTed to a server.
- STEP 2
PdfWorkspace
Thumbnails + preview canvas + options panel.
- STEP 3
pdf.js render
Page previews and visual placement overlays.
- STEP 4
pdf-lib mutate
Merge, watermark, annotate, compress, export.
- STEP 5
Download Blob
Result stays in memory until you save it.
Stack: Next.js 16 · React 19 · TypeScript · Tailwind · pdf-lib · pdfjs-dist · Tesseract.js · Vercel
Questions we get asked
Straight answers — useful for users, judges, and anyone evaluating the product.
- Why not just use a site like PDF24?
- We aim for the same tool depth and visual editing — page thumbnails, click-to-place, live watermark preview — with a stronger privacy model: your files are not sent to our servers.
- How does processing work?
- pdf.js renders page previews in the browser. pdf-lib (and @cantoo/pdf-lib for encryption) writes the changes. The shared PdfWorkspace UI is reused across tools.
- Why no backend?
- Privacy, latency, and cost. A static Next.js app on Vercel is enough for core PDF work. A server only becomes necessary for Office convert or extreme file sizes.
- What did you invent?
- A reusable visual workspace shell and click-to-edit flows so 30+ tools feel like one product — not a pile of disconnected upload forms.
- What’s next?
- Deeper image recompression, optional PWA offline install, and — only if needed — a thin worker for formats that cannot run safely in the browser.
Extras we ship on every serious tool
Inspired by PDF24, Smallpdf, and iLovePDF — without uploading your files.
Before
Setup that shows your files
Thumbnails, page counts, multi-file queues, and clear privacy chips before you commit.
During
Options while you work
Grid/list views, sort, rotate, invert selection, live previews, bookmarks, blank pages, quality presets, languages, and more — per tool.
After
Continue to…
Download, then jump straight into Compress, Watermark, Protect, Split, and related tools.
Prefer a full user manual?
Every tool has a friendly walkthrough — numbered steps, every option explained, and pro tips. Search by name or filter by category.
Ready to try it?
Start with remove pages, watermark, annotate, or compress — each one shows the visual workspace and privacy story in under a minute.