Guides
Straight answers to the document tasks people actually get stuck on — signing, filling, redacting, reordering — from the people who built a free browser PDF editor.
- Redaction3 min read
How to Remove Metadata From a PDF
A PDF can carry your name, the software you used, the file's original name and its edit history, none of it visible on the page. Here's where to see it and how to get rid of it.
- Troubleshooting4 min read
Why Black Boxes Don't Redact a PDF
You drew a black rectangle over the name. The name is still in the file, and anyone who selects the box can copy it back out. Here's why, and the ten-second test that tells you.
- Redaction3 min read
Find the Personal Data Before You Send It
The disclosure that causes trouble is almost never the one on page one. A pass for email addresses, card numbers and national IDs takes a minute and catches most of it.
- Redaction3 min read
How to Check If a PDF Is Properly Redacted
Every serious redaction failure looked correct on screen. Two quick tests catch the common one; the rest hides in places you have to go looking for.
- Extracting data3 min read
How to Get a Table Out of a PDF
A PDF has no idea it contains a table. Here is how column detection actually works, and how to tell a good extraction from one that has quietly shifted a column.
- Extracting data3 min read
How to Extract Text From a PDF
Two entirely different jobs share one name. Which one you have depends on whether the PDF contains text or a picture of text, and you can tell in about three seconds.
- Extracting data3 min read
OCR a Scanned PDF Without Uploading It
Browser OCR is now good enough for real work, and it means the document never leaves your machine. Here is what it does well, what it does badly, and what it still cannot give you.
- Signing3 min read
Wet Signature vs Electronic Signature
A wet signature is ink on paper; an electronic signature is a mark attached to a digital file. The medium is the whole difference — and it does not tell you which one your form accepts.
- Files3 min read
How to Fill Out a Form Someone Sent as a Photo
A photo of a form is not a form. Here is the shortest route from a picture sitting in your messages to something you can type on and send back.
- Pages3 min read
How to Reorder Pages in a Scanned Document
Sheet feeders collate badly and duplex scans come out interleaved. Here is how to put a scan back in order, and what stays wrong afterwards.
- Comparisons3 min read
The Five Things People Pay Acrobat For
Most PDF tasks have a free answer that works. Five of them genuinely do not. Here is which is which, so you know what a subscription actually buys.
- Troubleshooting4 min read
Why You Can't Type in That PDF Form
There are three separate reasons a PDF refuses typed input, and each needs a different fix. Here is how to tell which one you have, in about a minute.
- Redaction3 min read
How to Black Out Information in a PDF (and What Redaction Really Means)
Drawing a black box over an account number is not the same as removing it. Here is the difference, and how to make sure the number is actually gone.
- Signing3 min read
How to Sign a PDF on Your Phone Without an App
Your phone can already do this. Here is the fastest route on iPhone and Android, and the one case where a photo of your signature beats drawing it.