PDF Editor — Pages, Annotate, Sign, Forms

A PDF editor that runs entirely in your browser. Reorder pages, rotate them, delete or split off individual pages, merge in additional PDFs, annotate with text and freehand drawings, drop a hand-drawn signature, and fill AcroForm fields — all without uploading your file.

What the three tabs cover

Pages

Drag-and-drop thumbnail reordering, plus per-page rotate / delete / split / merge buttons. Powered by pdf-lib’s copyPages (byte-perfect, no re-rendering) and pdfjs for the thumbnail previews.

Annotate & sign

Four modes:

Select — no edits, just navigate.
Text — type into the input below, then click on the page where you want it placed. Adjustable size and color.
Draw — freehand strokes with configurable width and color.
Sign — draw your signature once in the small pad, then click anywhere on the page to stamp it. Resize on placement.

All overlay content is rasterized onto the page as a flattened PNG image when you click Build edited PDF. The original page content is preserved underneath.

Forms

Reads AcroForm fields (text, checkbox, dropdown, radio) via pdf-lib’s form API. Each field becomes an input you can fill. Optionally flatten the form so the values become baked-in static content (irreversible — useful when sending a “filled and locked” PDF).

What it does NOT do

Edit existing text inside a PDF. PDFs store glyph drawing instructions, not editable text. Browser-side editors cannot reflow text. Add new text on top instead.
Recognize / OCR scanned PDFs. Use the Image to Text (OCR) tool for that, page by page.
Decrypt password-protected PDFs. Decrypt first with Acrobat / qpdf / macOS Preview.
Preserve digital signatures across edits. Any rewrite invalidates the signature.
Edit form fields that are not AcroForm (XFA-only forms common in older government PDFs are not supported).

Privacy

Static HTML → small JavaScript bundle → pdf-lib + pdfjs run in your browser tab. Open DevTools → Network when you drop a PDF: nothing fires. Every output is built in memory and offered via a blob: URL.

This is the same privacy posture as every other tool on the site.

How it compares

	bytefork.tools	docfly.com	smallpdf.com	ilovepdf.com
Runs in browser	✓	✗ (uploads)	✗ (uploads)	✗ (uploads)
Reorder / rotate / delete pages	✓	✓	✓	✓
Merge / split	✓	✓	✓	✓
Annotate (text, draw)	✓ (rasterized)	✓ (rasterized & native)	✓	✓
Signature stamp	✓	✓	✓	✓
Form fill (AcroForm)	✓	✓	✓	✓
Free tier limit	unlimited	2/day free	2/day free	1/hr free
Sign-in required	✗	for >2/day	for >2/day	for batch
Ad-free	✓	partial	✗	✗
Privacy: file stays local	✓	✗	✗	✗

Tips

Merge before annotating. Page indices change after a merge; do all reorder/merge work first, then annotate.
Draw the signature once. It stays in the signature pad until you clear it; click on multiple pages to place copies.
Flatten forms before sending if you don’t want the recipient to be able to change your filled values.
Use Split (per-page download) when you need to email just one page of a big PDF.

PDF Metadata Stripper — clean Info dictionary + XMP from the output PDF.
Image to Text (OCR) — OCR a scanned PDF page by page.
Hash Generator — verify the final PDF hasn’t been altered after sending.

Frequently asked questions

What can the editor do?

Three tabs cover the most common PDF editing needs. Pages: reorder via drag-drop, delete, rotate 90° at a time, download individual pages (split), merge additional PDFs onto the end. Annotate & sign: add text labels, draw freehand with a brush, drop a hand-drawn signature anywhere on any page. Forms: detect AcroForm fields (text, checkbox, dropdown, radio), fill them, optionally flatten so the values become baked-in static content.

Does my PDF get uploaded?

No. The editor runs pdf-lib for page manipulation + form filling, and pdfjs for rendering thumbnails and the editable canvas. Both libraries execute in your browser. The Network tab in DevTools shows zero requests with your PDF data — only the (initial) library code loads.

Can I edit existing text inside a PDF?

No — and no browser-side editor really can. PDFs do not store editable text; they store fixed glyph drawing instructions. This tool adds new text on top of the page (as an annotation) or fills predefined form fields. To rewrite the original text content, you need a tool that re-flows the document, which usually means a full word-processor round trip (export to Word, edit, re-export to PDF).

Will annotations and signatures be selectable text in the output?

No. Annotations and signatures are rasterized onto each page as a flattened image overlay. They look right but are not selectable / searchable. This matches how most "stamp" features in commercial PDF editors work. For selectable text annotations, use Acrobat's native annotation engine.

Does it preserve the original quality?

For page reorder / rotate / delete / merge: yes, byte-perfect — pdf-lib copies pages without re-rendering. For pages with annotations or a signature: a flattened PNG overlay is composited at ~900 px wide, then drawn at page-size by pdf-lib. The original page content is preserved; only the overlay is rasterized.

Can I undo a change?

Within the same session: deleted pages can be restored only by re-loading the original (Replace). Annotations / signatures have a per-page Clear overlay button. Form values revert when you re-open the PDF.

What about encrypted or password-protected PDFs?

Not supported. Decrypt first using Acrobat, macOS Preview (Export → unprotected), or qpdf.

Will it break digital signatures?

Yes — any rewrite invalidates a digital signature. Don't edit signed PDFs you need to keep verifiable. Use the Annotate tab's signature feature for visual signatures (drawn ink), not cryptographic ones.

How large a PDF can it handle?

~50 MB processes smoothly on a typical laptop. Larger files work but thumbnail rendering and overlay flatten get slower. For massive PDFs (hundreds of pages), consider splitting first and editing one segment at a time.

Is it really free?

Yes. No signup, no usage limit, no watermark on output, no ads.