{"docs":[{"id":"tool:merge-pdf","title":"Merge PDF files","summary":"Combine PDF pages in the exact order you choose.","body":"Merging PDFs usually means uploading contracts, statements, or medical records to someone else's server and hoping they delete them. This merger works differently: your files are read, combined, and rebuilt entirely inside your browser tab using a local processing worker. Nothing is transmitted, so you can even load the page, disconnect from the internet, and still merge. Add as many PDFs as you need (up to 200 MB each), then drag individual pages into the right order and watch the combined preview update in real time. The preview labels every page with its source file, so there are no surprises in the download. Password-protected inputs are supported too: supply the password and the tool decrypts that file in memory before merging. Add your PDF files Drop one or more PDFs onto the upload area or click Choose PDFs. Every page is included automatically and appears in the page-order list. Set the order Select pages for group actions, then drag them or use the arrow buttons to arrange the exact output order. You can also remove pages you do not need. Handle protected files If a file is password-protected, an owner-password field appears under it. The password is used in memory only, to decrypt that file for merging. Merge and download Click Merge PDFs. A background worker combines every page, verifies the result, and starts the download automatically. Check the output Open the merged file once in your PDF viewer to confirm page order before sharing or submitting it. Combining a …","href":"/tools/merge-pdf","kind":"Tool","tags":["tool","merge-pdf","merge","merge PDF free","combine PDF files","join PDFs online","merge PDF without upload","PDF combiner browser"]},{"id":"tool:split-pdf","title":"Split and extract PDF pages","summary":"Extract ranges into one PDF or download separate PDFs in a ZIP.","body":"Sometimes you only need three pages out of a forty-page document: the signed agreement without the boilerplate, one statement out of a year-end bundle, or a single chapter to share. This splitter extracts exactly the pages you choose and nothing else, working entirely inside your browser so the full document never leaves your device. You can select pages two ways, and they stay in sync: type ranges like 1-3,5,8-10 in the options panel, or simply click pages on and off in the visual preview grid. Choose whether the result downloads as one combined PDF of the selected pages or as separate PDFs (one per range) bundled into a ZIP. Upload the PDF Drop the file or click Choose PDF. Every page appears in the preview grid, all selected by default. Pick your pages Click pages in the grid to include or exclude them, or type ranges such as 1-3,5 in the Pages field. The two selection methods mirror each other instantly. Choose the output shape One extracted PDF combines all chosen pages into a single file. Separate PDFs in ZIP creates one PDF per range, so 1-3,5 produces two files. Split and download Click Split PDF. The extraction runs in a local worker and the download starts as soon as the output is verified. Sending only the signature page of a long agreement Extracting one month from a combined bank or card statement Separating a scanned batch into individual documents Pulling selected exhibits out of a court or benefits filing What do the range formats mean? Use commas to separate …","href":"/tools/split-pdf","kind":"Tool","tags":["tool","split-pdf","split","split PDF free","extract PDF pages","PDF page extractor","split PDF online no upload","PDF splitter browser"]},{"id":"tool:organize-pdf","title":"Organize PDF pages","summary":"Reorder, rotate, duplicate, and remove pages before export.","body":"Scanners jam, pages get fed twice, and documents arrive with the appendix in the middle. The organizer gives you a visual grid of every page: drag pages into place, rotate the sideways ones, duplicate a page that needs to appear twice, and delete the blanks. What you see in the grid is exactly what exports. Like every tool here, the work happens locally: your document is parsed and rebuilt in a browser worker, never uploaded. That makes it safe for the documents people actually need to fix: medical records, government forms, legal filings. Upload the PDF Drop the file or click Choose PDF. Each page renders as a thumbnail in the grid, in current document order. Drag pages into order Drag any thumbnail to a new position, or use the left/right arrows under it for precise single steps. Rotate, duplicate, or delete Each page has its own controls: rotate turns it 90° per click, duplicate inserts a copy right after, and delete removes it (a PDF must keep at least one page). Export the organized PDF Click Export organized PDF. The rebuilt document downloads with pages exactly as displayed. Fixing scan batches where pages came out reversed or shuffled Rotating landscape pages that were scanned sideways Removing blank or duplicate pages from a scanned document Moving a signature or cover page to the front before sending Does rotating here re-render or degrade the page? No. Rotation updates the page's rotation property in the PDF itself (the same mechanism desktop PDF editors use) so co…","href":"/tools/organize-pdf","kind":"Tool","tags":["tool","organize-pdf","organize","organize PDF pages","reorder PDF pages free","rearrange PDF online","delete PDF pages","rotate PDF page browser"]},{"id":"tool:rotate-pdf","title":"Rotate PDF pages","summary":"Rotate every page or target odd, even, custom, or selected pages.","body":"Double-sided scans are notorious for coming out with every second page upside down, and single sheets fed sideways produce landscape pages in a portrait document. The rotate tool fixes both in seconds: choose a direction, choose which pages it applies to, and export. The selection modes cover real scanning problems. All fixes a document scanned entirely sideways; Even fixes the classic every-other-page-flipped duplex scan; Custom takes typed ranges; and Selected lets you click exactly the pages that need fixing in the preview grid. Rotation is metadata-level, so it's lossless and instant even on large files. Upload the PDF Drop the file or click Choose PDF to load the page grid. Choose the target pages Pick All, Odd, Even, Custom (typed ranges like 1-3,5), or Selected, then click pages in the grid to mark them. Pick the direction Left 90°, Right 90°, or Turn 180° for upside-down pages. Rotate and download Click Rotate PDF. The adjusted document downloads with all other content untouched. Duplex scans where the back of every sheet is upside down (choose Even + 180°) A whole document scanned in landscape (choose All + 90°) One or two sideways pages in an otherwise correct file (choose Selected) Mixed-orientation exhibits that need to read consistently before submission Is rotation lossless? Yes. The tool changes each page's rotation flag rather than re-rendering content, so text stays selectable, images keep full resolution, and file size barely changes. How do I fix a duplex s…","href":"/tools/rotate-pdf","kind":"Tool","tags":["tool","rotate-pdf","rotate","rotate PDF free","rotate PDF pages online","fix sideways PDF","rotate every other PDF page","PDF rotation browser"]},{"id":"tool:page-numbers","title":"Add PDF page numbers","summary":"Place formatted page numbers precisely across selected pages.","body":"Courts, registrars, and reviewers routinely require numbered pages, and most PDFs arrive without them. This tool stamps clean, consistent page numbers exactly where you want them: pick one of nine positions, a format, the starting number, font size, margin, and color, and watch the live preview on every thumbnail update as you adjust. Numbering supports real-world quirks: start at a number other than 1 to continue from a previous volume, apply numbers to only odd, even, selected, or ranged pages, and nudge the margin so numbers clear existing footers. As always, the document is processed locally and never uploaded. Upload the PDF Drop the file or click Choose PDF to load the page grid with live number previews. Choose format and position Pick 1, Page 1, or 1 of N, then click one of the nine anchor points. Every thumbnail shows exactly where the number will land. Tune the details Set the starting number, font size (8–36 pt), margin from the edge, and color. Adjust the margin if numbers collide with an existing footer. Choose target pages Number every page, odd or even pages only, a typed range, or pages you click in the grid, which is useful for skipping a cover page. Apply and download Click Add page numbers. The stamped document downloads immediately after local processing. Preparing filings or applications that require numbered pages Adding continuous numbering after merging several documents Numbering handouts or reports that will be printed and could get shuffled Continui…","href":"/tools/page-numbers","kind":"Tool","tags":["tool","page-numbers","page numbers","add page numbers to PDF free","PDF page numbering online","number PDF pages","bates-style PDF numbering","PDF pagination browser"]},{"id":"tool:protect-pdf","title":"Password protect a PDF","summary":"Apply AES-256 passwords and viewer permission controls locally.","body":"Emailing a document with personal, financial, or medical details? Encrypting it first means only someone with the password can open it. This tool applies genuine AES-256 encryption (the same standard used by desktop PDF suites) entirely inside your browser. The document and both passwords stay on your device; there is no server that could log them. You set two passwords: the open password recipients type to view the file, and an owner password that retains full control and can later remove the protection. You also choose viewer permissions: whether readers may print, copy text, modify content, or fill forms. After encryption the tool re-opens its own output to verify the protection took effect before the download starts. Upload the PDF Drop the file or click Choose PDF. A preview and page count confirm you have the right document. Set both passwords Enter an open password (for recipients) and a different owner password (for you), each at least eight characters, and confirm both. Choose viewer permissions Toggle printing, copying, modification, and form-filling/annotation. Unchecked actions are flagged as disallowed for anyone opening with the open password. Protect and download Click Protect PDF. The file is encrypted locally with AES-256, verified, and downloaded. Share the password safely Send the open password through a different channel than the file itself, e.g. file by email, password by text message. Sending tax, payroll, or benefits documents by email Sharing medical …","href":"/tools/protect-pdf","kind":"Tool","tags":["tool","protect-pdf","protect","password protect PDF free","encrypt PDF AES-256","PDF password online no upload","secure PDF browser","PDF permissions"]},{"id":"tool:unlock-pdf","title":"Unlock a PDF","summary":"Remove password protection using authorized document credentials.","body":"Typing a password every time you open your own document gets old, and some workflows (printing services, archive systems, form processors) simply refuse encrypted files. If you know the password, this tool produces an identical copy with the protection removed, working entirely in your browser so neither the file nor the password ever touches a server. Enter the password and the preview immediately shows the first page: instant confirmation the password works before you commit. The unlock runs in a local worker and the tool verifies its own output by re-opening it without credentials before the download starts. Upload the protected PDF Drop the file or click Choose PDF. The tool detects the encryption and shows a locked-document card. Enter the password Type the document's password in the options panel. The preview renders the first page as soon as the password is correct. Unlock and download Click Unlock PDF. Protection is removed in memory, the result is verified to open without a password, and the download starts. Removing a password from your own archived documents for easier access Preparing an encrypted file for systems that reject protected PDFs Cleaning up received documents after you've verified and stored them securely Making an authorized working copy of a protected form before filling it Can this crack a PDF whose password I don't know? No, and that's deliberate. The tool removes protection only when you supply a valid password. It is an authorized-use utility, no…","href":"/tools/unlock-pdf","kind":"Tool","tags":["tool","unlock-pdf","unlock","unlock PDF free","remove PDF password","decrypt PDF online no upload","PDF password remover browser","unprotect PDF"]},{"id":"tool:compress-pdf","title":"Compress and optimize a PDF","summary":"Choose lossless cleanup or smaller raster pages with an explicit quality trade-off.","body":"Compression is not one magic switch. Lossless cleanup rewrites the document efficiently while preserving text, links, vectors, forms and annotations; it is safe but cannot shrink a PDF whose objects are already compact. Raster mode is the stronger option for image-heavy scans. It renders each page into a JPEG at the resolution and quality you choose, then rebuilds the PDF. That can cut size sharply, but the page becomes an image: selectable text, links, form fields and accessibility tags are removed. The workspace states that trade-off before processing and the export report repeats it afterwards. Choose the PDF Upload one PDF or open the included report sample. The file is inspected locally. Choose a mode Use Lossless cleanup for a safe rewrite, or Raster pages for a smaller visual copy. Set raster quality For raster mode, choose DPI and JPEG quality. Lower settings reduce size but soften text and images. Compress and compare Download the result and use the export report's before/after byte counts to confirm whether the trade was worthwhile. Meeting an email attachment limit Reducing image-heavy scan size Repacking a PDF without changing its page content Why did lossless mode not make my PDF smaller? Many modern PDFs already use compressed object streams. Lossless cleanup refuses to degrade content, so an already-efficient file may stay the same size or grow slightly. Does raster mode keep searchable text? No. Raster mode intentionally turns every page into one image. Run OC…","href":"/tools/compress-pdf","kind":"Tool","tags":["tool","compress-pdf","compress","compress PDF free","reduce PDF file size","optimize PDF locally","PDF compressor no upload"]},{"id":"tool:flatten-pdf","title":"Flatten PDF form fields","summary":"Bake current AcroForm values into the page before sharing a non-editable copy.","body":"Flattening turns AcroForm widgets into ordinary page appearance content. It is useful when a receiving portal ignores field values, substitutes fonts, or lets someone accidentally overwrite a completed answer. The operation runs transactionally on a fresh in-memory copy. If the form cannot produce a valid appearance, processing fails without touching the source file. Non-form annotations are not advertised as flattened because PDF form fields and general annotations are different structures. Finish the form Save or export the PDF with every field showing the value you want recipients to see. Choose the file Load that completed PDF here; the original remains untouched. Flatten and inspect Flatten the fields, download the new copy, and confirm the export report's field count. Keep an editable original Archive the pre-flattened PDF in case an answer needs to change later. Submitting completed forms to legacy portals Preventing accidental field edits Preserving field appearances across PDF viewers Can I edit the fields after flattening? Not as form fields. Keep the original editable copy; the flattened output is intended for stable sharing. Does this flatten comments and links? No. This tool specifically flattens AcroForm fields. It does not claim to remove or bake every annotation subtype. What if the PDF has no fields? The tool reports that no AcroForm fields were found and produces a structurally rewritten copy without visual changes. Open the output in a second viewer before …","href":"/tools/flatten-pdf","kind":"Tool","tags":["tool","flatten-pdf","flatten","flatten PDF form","make PDF fields non editable","bake PDF form fields","flatten PDF locally"]},{"id":"tool:pdf-to-images","title":"Convert PDF pages to images","summary":"Render pages as PNG or JPEG and download one image or a ZIP.","body":"This converter renders the same page view a PDF reader displays, then writes each page as a PNG or JPEG. PNG is best for diagrams and crisp interface captures; JPEG is smaller for photographs and scans. One-page documents download as one image. Multi-page documents are bundled into a ZIP with stable page-numbered names, so browsers do not trigger a stack of separate downloads. Choose a PDF Load a PDF and verify the first-page preview. Pick PNG or JPEG Choose PNG for lossless edges or JPEG for smaller photographic pages. Choose resolution Set DPI; higher values make larger images and use more memory. Convert Render locally and download one image or a ZIP in page order. Sharing one PDF page in a slide deck Creating page thumbnails Preparing scanned pages for image workflows Are links or selectable text kept? No. An image is a visual rendering of the page, not an interactive PDF. Which format is smaller? JPEG is usually smaller for photos and scans; PNG is usually sharper for flat-color diagrams and text screenshots. Why is the output a ZIP? A ZIP keeps multi-page output together and avoids one browser download prompt per page. Use 150 DPI for general sharing. Use PNG when tiny text must stay crisp. Use JPEG for photo-heavy pages. Very high DPI on long PDFs can exceed mobile memory. Output images do not preserve PDF semantics.","href":"/tools/pdf-to-images","kind":"Tool","tags":["tool","pdf-to-images","pdf to images","PDF to PNG","PDF to JPG","convert PDF pages to images","PDF image converter no upload"]},{"id":"tool:images-to-pdf","title":"Convert images to a PDF","summary":"Combine PNG and JPEG files into one ordered PDF with page-fit controls.","body":"Turn phone scans, screenshots, or exported images into a single PDF without sending them to a conversion server. Add PNG and JPEG files in the order they should appear; each image becomes one page. Automatic pages follow each image's aspect ratio. A4 and Letter create consistent document sheets, with contain fitting for the whole image or cover fitting when edge cropping is intentional. Add images Choose one or more PNG/JPEG files. Their listed order becomes the page order. Choose page shape Use Auto for image-shaped pages, or A4/Letter for consistent sheets. Choose fit and margin Contain keeps every pixel; Cover fills the sheet and can crop edges. Create the PDF Embed the source images locally and download one multi-page PDF. Combining photographed receipts Turning scan images into one submission Packaging screenshots as a PDF appendix Are my images recompressed? PNG and JPEG bytes are embedded in the PDF; page fitting changes display dimensions, not the source pixels. Can this recognize text in scans? Not by itself. Create the PDF, then run OCR to add a searchable text layer. Which fit avoids cropping? Contain. Cover intentionally fills the available page box and may crop an edge. Put images in order before choosing them. Use a small margin for printable sheets. Run OCR after conversion for scanned documents. Input is PNG or JPEG only. One image becomes one page; mixed layouts belong in the creation zone.","href":"/tools/images-to-pdf","kind":"Tool","tags":["tool","images-to-pdf","images to pdf","images to PDF","JPG to PDF","PNG to PDF","combine photos into PDF no upload"]},{"id":"tool:ocr-pdf","title":"Recognize text in a scanned PDF","summary":"Recognize English, French, or Spanish text and add a searchable invisible text layer.","body":"A scanned PDF is usually a stack of page photographs. OCR reads those pixels and estimates words plus their page positions, then this tool overlays invisible text while preserving the original page image. Recognition is probabilistic, not a guarantee. The export report shows the word count and average confidence, and the output should be searched and spot-checked before it is used for accessibility, evidence, or records work. Language data is downloaded on first use and cached by the browser; the document image itself is processed locally. Choose the scan Load an image-only or partially searchable PDF. Choose a language Select English, French, or Spanish to improve recognition. Choose resolution Use 150 DPI for speed or 200 DPI for small print. Recognize and verify Wait for every page, download the searchable PDF, then search several known words and review the confidence report. Making phone scans searchable Preparing a scan for local field detection Copying text from a printed form Does OCR change how the page looks? No. The original page appearance stays in place; recognition adds a transparent text layer behind search and selection. Does the scan get uploaded? No. The OCR engine runs in a browser worker. Its language model may be downloaded on first use, but document pixels are not sent with that request. Is OCR accurate enough for legal or medical data? Treat it as a draft. Names, dates, identifiers and faint characters must be checked against the visible scan. Rotate pag…","href":"/tools/ocr-pdf","kind":"Tool","tags":["tool","ocr-pdf","ocr","OCR PDF free","make scanned PDF searchable","recognize PDF text locally","OCR no upload"]},{"id":"blog:compress-pdf-without-uploading","title":"How to Compress a PDF in Your Browser Without Uploading It","summary":"Choose between a structure-preserving cleanup and a smaller raster copy, understand exactly what each mode keeps, and verify the result without sending the PDF to a server.","body":"A PDF that is too large for an email or upload form creates a simple-sounding problem: make the number smaller. The difficult part is deciding what the file is allowed to lose. A typed report, a fillable application and a phone-scanned packet may look similar in a viewer, but they contain very different things. Treating all three as a stack of pictures can reduce bytes while quietly discarding the features that made the document useful. The [Compress PDF tool](/tools/compress-pdf) therefore offers two deliberate paths. **Lossless cleanup** rewrites the PDF structure without turning pages into images. **Raster pages** renders each page as JPEG and rebuilds a visual copy. Both happen in your browser, but they solve different problems and produce different kinds of output. Start with what a PDF can contain The [ISO 32000-2 PDF standard](https://www.iso.org/standard/75839.html) defines PDF as a format for exchanging and viewing electronic documents independently of the environment that created them. In practice, one file can combine text, vector paths, photographs, links, form controls, annotations, metadata and structural information. File size is the sum of those parts, not a direct measure of page count or visual complexity. That is why two forty-page documents can behave very differently. A report made mostly from text and vector lines may already be compact. A six-page scan can be much larger because every page is a high-resolution photograph. There is no universal compressi…","href":"/blog/compress-pdf-without-uploading","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","beginner","compress PDF","reduce PDF file size","PDF compressor no upload","lossless PDF optimization","raster PDF compression","browser PDF tools"]},{"id":"blog:pdf-to-images-and-images-to-pdf","title":"PDF to Images and Images to PDF: Which Workflow Should You Use?","summary":"Use PDF-to-images when you need pixels from each page and images-to-PDF when you need one ordered document. Compare formats, resolution, page fitting, and what survives each conversion.","body":"PDF-to-images and images-to-PDF sound like opposite buttons for the same operation. They are not reversible mirrors. One turns each document page into pixels for use outside a PDF viewer. The other places existing pixel images onto new PDF pages so they travel as one ordered document. The right direction depends on what you need to hand to the next person or application. Novus provides a separate local tool for each direction: [PDF to images](/tools/pdf-to-images) and [Images to PDF](/tools/images-to-pdf). Neither uploads the source. This guide explains the decisions each tool asks you to make and the information that cannot survive a round trip. Use PDF to images when the page itself is the asset Choose PDF-to-images when a website, slide deck, chat, design tool or review workflow needs a picture rather than a document. The tool renders every page at 72, 96, 150 or 200 DPI and outputs PNG or JPEG. A one-page PDF downloads as one image; a multi-page PDF downloads as a ZIP containing one numbered image per page. Rendering is a visual conversion. The image contains the appearance of the page, not its PDF objects. Text becomes pixels, links and form controls disappear, and a screen reader does not receive the original document structure from the image. Keep the PDF when search, copy-and-paste, forms or accessibility information matter. PNG or JPEG? The [W3C PNG specification](https://www.w3.org/TR/png-3/) defines PNG as a lossless raster-image format. That makes PNG a strong fit…","href":"/blog/pdf-to-images-and-images-to-pdf","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","beginner","PDF to images","images to PDF","PDF to PNG","PDF to JPEG","PNG to PDF","JPG to PDF"]},{"id":"blog:electronic-vs-digital-signature-pdf","title":"Electronic vs Digital Signature: Which One a PDF Actually Needs","summary":"“Sign this PDF” means two different things: your handwriting on the page, or a certificate bound to the file. How to tell which one a document is asking for, what Novus produces and what it cannot, and how to sign a document in the browser.","body":"“Sign this and send it back” is one sentence with two possible meanings, and the document rarely tells you which one you are looking at. Almost always it means: put your name on the line the way you would with a pen. Occasionally it means something far more specific: a cryptographic signature backed by a certificate issued to you. The two get called the same thing in conversation. They are not interchangeable, and reaching for the wrong one costs you either five minutes or a filing deadline. This post separates them, says plainly which kind [this app produces](/sign-pdf), and walks through signing a document in [the editor](/editor). It ends with what the signed file does *not* contain, because that is the part that decides whether an electronic signature is the right answer for the document in front of you. Two different things share one word An **electronic signature** is your mark on the document. You draw your handwriting with a mouse, a finger or a stylus and place it where it belongs on the page. That is what people mean by signing a PDF almost every time they say it, and it carries the same weight as signing a printed copy and scanning it back, while staying legible, tightly cropped and correctly placed, which a phone photo of a signed page usually is not. A **digital signature** is a cryptographic construct. A certificate issued to you by a trusted authority is bound to the document by a hash, so a reader can see who signed and when, and any later change to the file i…","href":"/blog/electronic-vs-digital-signature-pdf","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","beginner","electronic signature","digital signature","certificate signature","sign PDF","e-signature","browser PDF editor"]},{"id":"blog:build-a-pdf-from-a-blank-page","title":"Building a PDF From a Blank Page: What the Creation Zone Does and Does Not Do","summary":"Every other tool here starts from a PDF you already have; the creation zone starts from nothing. The block model, the page setup, tables and shapes, the templates, and the limits worth knowing first, including why runs of spaces collapse in a text block.","body":"The usual route to a one-page PDF runs through a word processor: open a document, type the invoice or the letter, then export or print to PDF and hope the layout survives the trip. It normally does. It also means installing or signing into something in order to produce a single page of text. [The creation zone](/create) is the other route, and it is the only surface here that does not start from a file you already have. Set the paper up, add blocks of content, watch the preview paginate, and download a PDF with real selectable text. This post covers the model it uses and the setup it gives you, and then the things it does not do, because those are what decide whether it suits the document you have in mind. A document is an ordered list of blocks There is no free canvas and no cursor roaming around a page. A document is a list of blocks, added from a row of buttons and moved with up and down arrows: **Heading** in three sizes, **Paragraph**, **Image**, **Table**, **Shape**, **Divider**, **Spacing** and **Page break**. Each text block carries its own font (Helvetica, Times or Courier) with a size in points, a colour, an alignment, bold and italic. What you type is embedded as real selectable text, not a picture of text. `Ctrl+F` finds it, and opening the export in [the editor](/editor) later treats it as text rather than an image. The creator does not emit a tagged structure tree, so this is not a PDF/UA or tagged-PDF accessibility claim. Content flows down the page and moves t…","href":"/blog/build-a-pdf-from-a-blank-page","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","intermediate","create PDF","make a PDF from scratch","PDF templates","blank page PDF","selectable text PDF","browser PDF editor"]},{"id":"blog:install-pdf-editor-as-an-app","title":"Install Novus PDF Studio as an App and Work Offline","summary":"Novus PDF Studio installs from the browser as a standalone app. Learn how to add it on Chrome, Edge, Android, and iOS, exactly which parts keep working with the network off, and the limits worth knowing before you lose signal.","body":"A browser tab is a perfectly good place to work on a PDF right up to the moment the connection drops. Airport Wi-Fi that authenticates and then quietly stops routing, a basement meeting room, a train through a tunnel, a client site whose guest network blocks everything interesting. Most online PDF services simply stop working there, because the actual page shuffling and form filling happens on their servers. Novus PDF Studio behaves differently, and going offline is the clearest way to see why. Merging, splitting, rotating, filling, signing, and exporting already run on your device; the network only ever delivered the app itself. Install it once and that delivery step can come from your own machine, which is why the tools keep working when nothing else in the browser does. This guide covers how to install it on each platform, exactly what survives a lost connection, and the limits worth knowing before you need them. What ‘install’ actually does here There is no app store, no installer to download, and no account. Installing registers the site you are already on with your operating system, using the [web app manifest](https://www.w3.org/TR/appmanifest/) Novus ships: the small JSON file the W3C specification defines for exactly this. That manifest asks for `standalone` display with a scope of `/`, opens at the home page, and carries a `Novus PDF` short name plus 192px and 512px icons, including maskable variants so Android can crop them into whatever shape the launcher uses. Th…","href":"/blog/install-pdf-editor-as-an-app","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","productivity-workflows","document-workflows","workflow","beginner","install PDF app","offline PDF editor","PDF web app","add to home screen","edit PDF without internet","browser PDF editor"]},{"id":"blog:what-a-pdf-app-stores-on-your-device","title":"What a Browser PDF App Actually Stores on Your Device","summary":"An installable PDF editor caches files to work offline, but which files? A named inventory of everything Novus PDF Studio writes to your browser, what it deliberately never writes, and how to inspect and clear it yourself.","body":"‘Works offline’ sounds like a pure convenience feature until you turn it around: for a page to open with no connection, something must already be sitting on your device. That is a reasonable thing to be suspicious about. Anyone who has just fed a browser tab a tax return, a signed contract, or a medical form is entitled to ask precisely what was written to disk, where, and how to get rid of it. This post is that inventory for Novus PDF Studio: not a reassurance, a list. Every item below corresponds to something the app actually writes, and the section on what is deliberately absent matters just as much. The short version: the application and a handful of preferences are stored automatically. Document bytes enter IndexedDB only after an explicit action, either a short-lived homepage handoff or **Save on this device** in the editor, and never as autosave. Four separate drawers, with different jobs Browsers give a site four broadly different places to leave something behind, and conflating them is where most anxiety comes from. **Cache storage** holds copies of files fetched over the network. **Local storage** holds small named strings the page wrote deliberately. **Cookies** are short values sent back with each request. **IndexedDB** can hold larger structured records and document bytes. Novus uses each for a distinct purpose, with document storage behind a user action. The cache: the app, never your documents The service worker keeps a copy of the site’s own build output: scri…","href":"/blog/what-a-pdf-app-stores-on-your-device","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","security-privacy","security-privacy","guide","beginner","PDF privacy","browser storage","service worker cache","local PDF editor","clear site data","offline PDF app"]},{"id":"blog:edit-scanned-pdf-in-browser","title":"How to Fill and Sign a Scanned PDF in Your Browser (No OCR Upload)","summary":"Camera and scanner PDFs look finished but won't type. Learn why image-only pages aren't fillable forms, how to fix orientation, place fields and signatures by hand in Novus, and finish locally without uploading for OCR.","body":"A scanned PDF can look complete on screen and still refuse to accept a single typed character. Phone photos of applications, flatbed scans of signed packets, and ‘Print to PDF’ captures of paper forms are usually **pictures of pages**, not interactive forms. There is no text field under the Name line, no checkbox widget beside Yes/No, and no signature field waiting for ink, only pixels arranged to look like a document. Novus does not send that scan to a cloud OCR service. The [editor](/editor) and tools run in your browser, so image-only pages stay on your device. That honesty has a practical consequence: the AI field scan cannot invent reliable fillable boxes from a photograph the way it can from a digital form with widgets, drawn cells, or selectable labels. This guide shows how to finish those scans anyway: fix orientation, place fields by hand, draw a signature, and export a clean local PDF. Why a scanned PDF won’t type A true fillable PDF stores form structure: AcroForm widgets, stroked input cells, or label cues the editor can map to text, number, checkbox, and signature tools. A scan stores an image of paper. Even when the letters look sharp, the browser sees a bitmap (or a page-sized image object), not a Name field. Clicking the blank line therefore does nothing useful until you **add** an interactive field on top of that image. No OCR upload in Novus Some online tools ‘unlock’ scans by uploading the file and running OCR on a server. Novus keeps the PDF in your tab. T…","href":"/blog/edit-scanned-pdf-in-browser","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","intermediate","scanned PDF","fill scanned PDF","sign scanned PDF","image-only PDF","PDF without OCR","browser PDF editor"]},{"id":"blog:how-ai-pdf-field-scan-works","title":"How Novus’s AI PDF Field Scan Works (and When to Fix It by Hand)","summary":"See how Novus’s local field scan combines AcroForm widgets, drawn geometry, and text labels, when to trust the boxes, how to rescan and clean leftovers, and when manual placement is the better path.","body":"Novus’s ‘AI scan’ is easy to misunderstand. It is not a cloud vision model reading your PDF on a remote GPU. It is a **local, three-source detector** that runs inside the browser tab: real AcroForm widgets when they exist, drawn geometry such as stroked boxes and underlines, and text-label heuristics that synthesize fields beside cues like currency symbols or vocabulary labels. Those suggestions are merged, filtered, and shown as editable overlays you can keep, move, or delete. Understanding that pipeline helps you trust the scan when it is right, and fix it quickly when a leftover box appears on a header or beside a row label. This guide explains what each source contributes, how duplicates are resolved, what recent cleanup rules remove, and when you should ignore the scan and place fields by hand. Three sources, one editor canvas **Widgets (AcroForm)**: The highest-confidence path. If the PDF already contains form fields, Novus imports their rectangles, types, and, when present, filled or locked values. **Geometry**: Stroked rectangles and underline-like lines sized like inputs become candidate text, number, or checkbox fields, labelled from nearby text when possible. **Text synthesis**: Labels ending in a colon, `$` amount cues, blanks, and known vocabulary can invent a field when a drawn affordance is missing. These suggestions score lower so real widgets and boxes win conflicts. Still browser-local The scan reads page text, annotations, and drawing operators through pdf.…","href":"/blog/how-ai-pdf-field-scan-works","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","intermediate","AI PDF scan","PDF field detection","fillable PDF fields","browser PDF editor","form field scan","AcroForm"]},{"id":"blog:is-it-safe-to-edit-pdf-online","title":"Is It Safe to Edit a PDF Online? What Browser-Local Processing Changes","summary":"Learn what online PDF editors can see, how browser-local processing keeps files, passwords, and signatures on your device, and what to check before handling a sensitive document.","body":"An online PDF editor can be perfectly reasonable for a public brochure and completely wrong for a tax return. The difference is not whether the page has a polished lock icon. It is **where the file is processed**, what leaves your device, and whether anyone else receives a recoverable copy. Those details matter whenever a PDF contains an address, account number, medical history, contract, signature, or password. Novus PDF Studio is delivered through a website, but its document tools run inside your browser. Your PDF is read into the current tab, transformed on your device, and downloaded back to you. The file bytes, document password, edits, and drawn signature are not uploaded to a Novus processing server. This guide explains what that architecture changes, what it does **not** guarantee, and how to make a sound decision before opening a sensitive document. ‘Online’ describes the interface, not necessarily the processing Two tools can both open at a web address and have very different data paths. A traditional cloud editor uploads the source PDF, processes it on remote infrastructure, then sends a result back. A browser-local editor downloads the application code first and uses your browser's own memory and processor to work on the file. The finished PDF is created locally, so there is no document upload step in the normal workflow. The useful question Do not ask only, ‘Is this an online tool?’ Ask, ‘Does my document need to leave this device for the tool to work?’ In Novus,…","href":"/blog/is-it-safe-to-edit-pdf-online","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","security-privacy","security-privacy","guide","beginner","safe online PDF editor","private PDF editor","browser-local PDF","PDF privacy","edit PDF securely"]},{"id":"blog:build-professional-pdf-submission-packet","title":"How to Build a Professional PDF Submission Packet","summary":"Turn forms, attachments, scans, and signatures into one polished PDF packet: rotate, merge, organize, fill, number, verify, and protect it locally in the right order.","body":"A submission packet is more than several PDFs attached to the same message. Whether you are sending a permit application, client proposal, rental package, grant response, onboarding file, or signed contract bundle, the recipient should be able to open **one document**, understand its order, find every required page, and confirm that it is complete. The cleanest way to build that packet is to make each decision once and in the right order. Rotate source scans before combining them. Merge before you finalize page order. Fill and sign only after the right pages are present. Add page numbers after the sequence stops changing. Protect the verified final copy last. Novus provides each of those steps as a browser-local tool, so applications and attachments can stay on your device while you assemble them. Plan the packet before touching the files Start with the recipient's checklist, not your Downloads folder. Write the intended sequence in plain language: cover sheet, completed application, identification, supporting evidence, signed declaration, appendix. If the instructions specify a filename, file-size limit, page orientation, signature method, or encryption rule, record that now. A beautifully assembled packet can still be rejected when it ignores the submission requirements. Collect every required source file into one working folder and keep the originals unchanged. Rename sources with a simple numeric prefix (`01-application.pdf`, `02-id.pdf`, `03-supporting-records.pdf`), so …","href":"/blog/build-professional-pdf-submission-packet","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","productivity-workflows","document-workflows","workflow","intermediate","PDF submission packet","combine PDF documents","organize PDF workflow","prepare PDF application","professional PDF packet"]},{"id":"blog:make-non-fillable-pdf-fillable","title":"Why Can't I Type in This PDF? How to Make a Static Form Fillable","summary":"Can't type into a PDF form? Learn why some fields are only lines on a page, then use Novus's local field scan and manual tools to make the form fillable, sign it, and export cleanly.","body":"You open a form, click the first blank line, and nothing happens. The page looks like it was designed to be completed on a computer (there are boxes, labels, and a signature line), but the cursor never appears. That is not you missing a hidden button. A huge number of PDFs are only *visually* forms: the blanks are artwork on a fixed page, not interactive fields a PDF viewer knows how to edit. You do not need to print that page or upload it to a mystery server. [Novus PDF Studio's editor](/editor) can inspect the document locally, place usable fields over the likely blanks, and let you finish the form in the same browser tab. This guide explains why the problem happens, how the field scan helps, when to switch to manual tools, and how to export a result that still looks like a proper PDF. Why a form can look fillable without being fillable A real fillable PDF normally contains **AcroForm fields**. Each field carries a type, a position, and often a name: text box, checkbox, choice, signature, and so on. Your viewer reads those objects and knows where to put the caret. A static PDF has none of that. It contains page content (text, lines, rectangles, and images), but the blank beside *Full name* is no more interactive than the logo in the corner. Static forms usually come from one of three places: a Word or design file exported without form fields, a paper form scanned as an image, or a fillable form that was flattened during printing or export. All three can look nearly identica…","href":"/blog/make-non-fillable-pdf-fillable","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","beginner","make PDF fillable","non-fillable PDF","PDF form field detection","fill PDF form","browser PDF editor"]},{"id":"blog:organize-reorder-pdf-pages","title":"How to Reorder, Delete, Duplicate, and Organize PDF Pages","summary":"Clean up a PDF visually: drag pages into order, delete extras, duplicate templates, and rotate individual pages in one browser-local workspace before exporting the exact sequence you see.","body":"PDFs rarely become messy in dramatic ways. It is usually one duplicated scan, a cover page in the middle, an appendix that arrived first, and two pages turned sideways. Every page is technically present, but the document no longer reads in the order a person expects. Rebuilding the entire file is unnecessary; you need a workspace that treats pages like movable cards. The [Novus Organize PDF tool](/tools/organize-pdf) gives you that visual workspace in the browser. Drag thumbnails into the right sequence, rotate individual pages, duplicate a reusable page, delete mistakes, and export exactly what the grid shows. The source file stays on your device throughout the job. Organize, split, or merge: choose the right page tool These three jobs are related, but they solve different problems. **Merge** combines multiple files. **Split** extracts a range or creates separate outputs. **Organize** edits the page sequence inside one working document. Choosing the right starting point keeps a two-minute cleanup from becoming a multi-step project. Use [Merge PDF](/tools/merge-pdf) when the pages you need live in two or more separate files. Use [Split PDF](/tools/split-pdf) when the goal is to pull out pages 4–7, create one PDF per range, or download separate pieces in a ZIP. Use [Organize PDF](/tools/organize-pdf) when one file contains the right material in the wrong order, with duplicates, unwanted pages, or mixed orientation. A useful rule If you can describe the result as 'the same docu…","href":"/blog/organize-reorder-pdf-pages","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","beginner","organize PDF pages","reorder PDF pages","delete PDF pages","duplicate PDF page","rotate individual PDF pages"]},{"id":"blog:password-protect-pdf-aes-256","title":"How to Password-Protect a PDF with AES-256 Encryption","summary":"Encrypt a PDF locally with AES-256, set separate open and owner passwords, choose viewer permissions, verify the result, and share the password without exposing the document.","body":"A PDF can be beautifully organized and still be unsafe to send. Tax forms, payroll records, contracts, medical paperwork, and identity documents often travel as ordinary email attachments that anyone with access to the inbox can open. Password protection adds a cryptographic gate: the file contents stay unreadable until the recipient supplies the password. [Novus Protect PDF](/tools/protect-pdf) applies **AES-256 encryption** entirely in your browser. You choose an open password, a separate owner password, and the viewer permissions, then the tool verifies the protected output before downloading it. Neither the document nor either password is uploaded. What AES-256 protection actually does Encryption transforms the readable objects inside the PDF into data that cannot be interpreted without the key derived from a valid password. AES-256 refers to the [Advanced Encryption Standard](https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/fips/197/final), published by NIST as FIPS 197, using a 256-bit key. In a modern PDF, that is real cryptographic protection, not a hidden flag or a filename trick. A person who intercepts the file should not be able to read its pages simply by opening it in another viewer. Local from start to finish Encryption runs in browser memory. You can prepare the file without handing the unencrypted document or its passwords to a processing server. Open password and owner password are different jobs The **open password** is the one a recipient types to view the document. It is the b…","href":"/blog/password-protect-pdf-aes-256","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","security-privacy","security-privacy","guide","intermediate","password protect PDF","AES-256 PDF encryption","secure PDF","PDF permissions","encrypt PDF locally"]},{"id":"blog:the-complete-browser-pdf-editor-guide","title":"The Complete Guide to the Novus Browser PDF Editor","summary":"A complete guide to the Novus browser PDF editor: AI field scan, filling, checkmarks, drawn signatures, highlighting, white-out, twelve tools, and vector export, all local.","body":"A PDF form lands in your inbox: a rental application, a tax document, a permission slip, an insurance claim. It needs a few fields filled, maybe a signature, and it needs to go back today. The old routine is genuinely awful: print it, hunt for a working pen, sign, then find a scanner or photograph the pages at an angle and email back a crooked, half-readable copy. The modern shortcut can be worse. You upload a document full of your name, address, and bank details to some free website and simply hope for the best. There's a third option most people don't realize exists: edit the PDF entirely inside your own browser tab, where the file never leaves your computer. That's what Novus PDF Studio is built around. This is the complete guide to [the editor](/editor) and the twelve standalone tools alongside it: every capability, what each one is good for, and where it honestly stops. If you only read one post on this site, make it this one. Nothing leaves your browser tab Most \"free online PDF editor\" sites work the same way under the hood: you hand them your file, their server does the work, and it hands back a result. That means your document, and any password you typed to open it, traveled across the internet to a machine you don't control, governed by a privacy policy you didn't read. Novus PDF Studio doesn't work that way. When you open a PDF here, it loads into the memory of the browser tab you're looking at. Every edit (filling a field, drawing a signature, merging pages) happe…","href":"/blog/the-complete-browser-pdf-editor-guide","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","intermediate","pdf editor","browser pdf tools","fill pdf forms","sign pdf","pdf privacy","edit pdf online"]},{"id":"blog:fill-pdf-forms-online","title":"How to Fill Out Any PDF Form Online, Free, in Your Browser","summary":"Fill out any PDF form free in your browser. The AI field scan finds text, number, and checkbox fields: type, tab through, and export clean PDFs, with nothing uploaded.","body":"A PDF form lands in your inbox and it should be the easy part of your day. It wants your name, your address, a couple of dates, a signature, a few boxes ticked. Information you could recite in your sleep. Instead you open it and the cursor won't go anywhere. The fields aren't really fields. Nothing is typeable. So begins the familiar ritual: print it, find a working pen, fill it by hand, track down a scanner or photograph it on your phone, and email back a crooked, low-contrast picture of a page you could have completed in ninety seconds. There's a faster way that doesn't involve a printer, an account, or handing your personal details to a random website. [Novus PDF Studio](/editor) runs entirely inside your browser tab. You open the form, an AI scan finds the blank spaces that want answers, you type into them, and you export a clean PDF, all on your own machine. This guide walks through that flow end to end, plus the small tricks that make it genuinely fast. Why PDF forms are so stubborn Not all PDFs are built the same. Some are *true interactive forms*. The author added real form fields you can click and type into. Many more are *flat*: a scanned page, an exported design, or a document someone drew boxes and underlines onto without ever making them fillable. To your PDF reader, that second kind is just a picture of a form. There's nothing to click because, as far as the file is concerned, there's nowhere to put text. That's why the print-and-scan cycle persists: it's the lo…","href":"/blog/fill-pdf-forms-online","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","beginner","pdf forms","fill pdf","browser pdf editor","ai field detection","free pdf tools"]},{"id":"blog:sign-pdf-electronically","title":"How to Sign a PDF Electronically for Free in Your Browser","summary":"Sign any PDF for free in your browser with a real drawn signature: mouse, finger, or stylus. Place it on the line, add the date, and export. Nothing is uploaded.","body":"A signature request rarely arrives at a convenient moment. A lease renewal, a field-trip permission slip, a freelance contract, or an insurance form lands in your inbox as a PDF, and somewhere near the bottom is a thin line waiting for your name. The old routine (print it, sign it, scan it back, hope the scanner is on) turns a two-minute task into a twenty-minute errand. You do not need any of that. You can sign a PDF electronically, for free, right in your browser, and it takes about as long as reading this sentence. This guide walks through exactly how to draw a real signature with your mouse, finger, or stylus in [the editor](/editor), drop it onto the signing line, add the date, and export a clean file: all without creating an account, paying a subscription, or uploading your document anywhere. First, though, it helps to know which kind of electronic signature you actually need, because the phrase means two very different things. Drawn signature vs. digital certificate signature When people say *e-sign*, they can mean one of two things, and the difference matters. A **drawn signature** is a picture of your handwriting placed on the page: the digital equivalent of signing with a pen. It shows intent and identity the same way an ink signature on paper does, and it is what the overwhelming majority of everyday documents ask for: leases, consent forms, invoices, offer letters, and school or club paperwork. A **digital certificate signature** is something else entirely. It use…","href":"/blog/sign-pdf-electronically","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","beginner","sign pdf","electronic signature","drawn signature","privacy","free pdf tools"]},{"id":"blog:fill-and-sign-a-government-form","title":"Fill and Sign a Government Form (Without a Printer or an Upload)","summary":"A start-to-finish walkthrough of filling and signing a dense benefits, tax, or immigration form entirely in your browser: auto-scan, Tab through fields, draw a real signature, and keep every private detail on your own machine.","body":"A dense government form carries a particular kind of dread. The rows are narrow, the checkboxes are tiny, and half the instructions are printed sideways in a shaded margin. A benefits renewal, a W-9, an I-9, a housing or immigration application: they all share the same design language: pack as much as possible onto one page and trust that you'll squint your way through it. The old routine is to print the thing, hand-write it in ballpoint, hope you didn't wander across a ruled line, then scan it back in on a machine that turns crisp black ink into gray smudge. There's a cleaner path that never touches a printer and (just as important for a page full of your name, address, income, and signature) never uploads the file anywhere. This is an end-to-end walkthrough of filling and signing one of these forms in [the editor](/editor): open it, let the scan find the fields, work down the page with **Tab**, handle the checkboxes, tighten the alignment on the tight rows, draw a real signature and date, then export a clean copy and verify it in a viewer before you send it. Why sensitive forms belong on your own machine Most \"fill your PDF online\" services work by uploading your document to a server, processing it there, and handing back a link. For a lunch menu, fine. For a form that lists your Social Security number, your household income, or your immigration status, that's a copy of a very sensitive document sitting on someone else's computer, subject to their retention policy and their…","href":"/blog/fill-and-sign-a-government-form","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","productivity-workflows","document-workflows","workflow","beginner","government forms","fill and sign","pdf editor","privacy","e-signature"]},{"id":"blog:highlight-and-white-out-pdf","title":"How to Highlight and White-Out Text in a PDF (Free, In-Browser)","summary":"Use the browser-local editor's text-aware highlighter and page-colored white-out to mark up or cover PDF text in seconds, plus the honest limit of erase.","body":"A contract lands in your inbox with one clause you need your co-signer to actually read, or an old intake form still shows last year's address tucked in the corner. You don't have the original Word file: just a flat PDF someone exported and forgot about. The reflex is to print it, drag a yellow marker across the line, dab correction fluid over the stale text, and feed the page back through a scanner. Ten minutes later you're holding a slightly gray, faintly crooked photocopy with a marker streak that wandered past the words. There's a cleaner way, and it never leaves your browser tab. The [Novus PDF editor](/editor) gives you two purpose-built tools for exactly this job: a **text-aware highlighter** that snaps a marker stroke neatly onto each line of text, and an **erase / white-out** tool that drops a page-colored cover box hugging whatever you want to hide. Both run entirely on your machine. Your file is never uploaded to a server, and closing the tab discards the document. Below is how each tool works, when to reach for which, and one honest limitation you need to understand before you white-out anything sensitive. Two tools, two very different jobs Highlighting and white-out get lumped together as \"marking up a PDF,\" but they have opposite intentions. Highlighting is about *drawing attention*. You want the words to stay perfectly readable, just wrapped in a band of color that says *look here*. White-out is about *taking attention away*. You want a typo, a stray mark, or a…","href":"/blog/highlight-and-white-out-pdf","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","beginner","highlight pdf","white-out pdf","erase pdf text","pdf editor","annotate pdf"]},{"id":"blog:redact-sensitive-info-in-pdf","title":"How to Redact Sensitive Info in a PDF (and the Truth About Cover Boxes)","summary":"A black box over text isn't redaction. Here's the honest truth about erase/white-out in PDFs, the only reliable ways to remove sensitive data, and how to lock files with AES-256.","body":"You're about to email a signed lease, a bank statement, or an insurance form, and exactly one line needs to disappear: an account number, a Social Security number, a colleague's salary. So you open the PDF, draw a neat filled rectangle over the offending text, and it looks gone. The page is clean. You hit send. That instinct is completely normal, and it's also the single most common way sensitive data leaks out of documents. The gap between *looks hidden* and *is actually removed* has embarrassed law firms, government agencies, and Fortune 500 companies who all shipped PDFs with a black box that anyone could peel back in seconds. This post is the honest version: what redaction really means, what Novus's cover tools do and don't do, and the short list of steps that genuinely get sensitive text out of a file, plus how to lock down who can open it in the first place. What \"redaction\" actually means Redaction is the **permanent removal** of content, not the visual hiding of it. The word comes from the era of black markers and photocopiers, where redaction meant the underlying words physically no longer existed on the copy you handed over. A real redaction deletes the characters or pixels so that no copy, no text search, no undo, and no extraction tool can bring them back. The key test is simple: if the sensitive value can be recovered by *any* means from the file you shared, it was not redacted. It was merely covered. That distinction matters because a PDF is not a flat picture. …","href":"/blog/redact-sensitive-info-in-pdf","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","security-privacy","security-privacy","guide","intermediate","redaction","pdf-security","privacy","white-out","protect-pdf"]},{"id":"blog:unlock-password-protected-pdf","title":"How to Unlock a Password-Protected PDF You're Allowed to Open","summary":"Remove the password from a PDF you're authorized to open. Learn how open and owner passwords differ, and unlock files locally in your browser. Nothing is ever uploaded.","body":"You know the drill. Every month the bank statement lands in your inbox, and every month you type the same password just to read it. Then your accountant asks for a copy, so now you either forward the password too (over email, the least private channel there is), or you find some way to strip the lock off first. Multiply that by payslips, insurance documents, and mortgage paperwork, and a security feature that was supposed to protect you starts to feel like a daily toll booth. When a document is genuinely yours and you already know the password, retyping it forever adds no real security. It just adds friction. This guide covers how to remove that password cleanly with the free, browser-local [Unlock PDF](/tools/unlock-pdf) tool: what the two kinds of PDF passwords actually do, why unlocking only works on files you're authorized to open, and how the whole thing happens without your file or your password ever leaving the tab. First, know which password you're dealing with A PDF can carry up to two passwords, and they do completely different jobs. People mix them up constantly, so before you unlock anything it helps to know which one is standing between you and the document. **The open password** (also called the *user password*) locks the whole document. Without it the file won't open at all: every reader, from your phone's viewer to Adobe Acrobat, demands the password before it will show a single page. This is the one you type to read that monthly statement. **The owner passwor…","href":"/blog/unlock-password-protected-pdf","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","security-privacy","security-privacy","guide","beginner","unlock PDF","remove PDF password","open vs owner password","decrypt PDF locally","PDF permissions password"]},{"id":"blog:rotate-pdf-fix-sideways-scans","title":"How to Rotate a PDF and Fix Sideways or Upside-Down Scans","summary":"Scanned pages landing on their side or upside down? Learn why it happens and how to rotate a PDF losslessly in your browser: all, odd, even, ranged, or clicked pages.","body":"You feed a stack of paper through the scanner, hit save, and open the PDF to check it, and half the pages are lying on their side. A couple are upside down. The one landscape spreadsheet in the middle is turned the wrong way, so you have to tilt your head or spin the laptop to read it. The content is all there and perfectly legible. It is just pointed in the wrong direction. Turning those pages back upright is one of the most common PDF chores there is, and it is also one of the few edits that costs you nothing in quality. This guide covers why scans land sideways in the first place, what actually changes inside the file when you rotate a page, and how to fix every page, or just the handful that are wrong, right in a browser tab, without uploading anything. Why scanned pages come in sideways Sideways pages are almost never your fault, and they are almost never a sign that something is broken. They are a byproduct of how paper gets digitized. A few usual suspects account for the vast majority of it: **Automatic document feeders** pull every sheet through in one fixed orientation. Load a landscape page into a feeder built for portrait and the scanner captures it turned 90 degrees. **Auto-rotate is off or guessing wrong.** Orientation detection leans on finding text; on pages that are mostly photos, tables, forms, or signatures, it has little to go on and frequently picks the wrong way, or gives up. **Phone scanning apps** trust the device's orientation sensor and the photo's EX…","href":"/blog/rotate-pdf-fix-sideways-scans","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","beginner","rotate pdf","scanned documents","pdf tools","fix orientation","browser pdf editor"]},{"id":"blog:add-page-numbers-to-pdf","title":"How to Add Page Numbers to a PDF (Free, In Your Browser)","summary":"Stamp clean, consistent page numbers onto any PDF free in your browser: pick the position, format, starting number, size, margin, and color. No uploads, no accounts.","body":"A printed stack slides off the desk, an attachment gets forwarded three times, a reviewer prints a report double-sided and drops it, and suddenly nobody can tell which page follows which. Page numbers are the small, unglamorous detail that quietly holds a document together, and they're exactly the thing most PDFs arrive without. Word processors add numbers live as you type. A PDF, though, is already finished. Once a report is exported, a scan is captured, or a packet is assembled from several sources, there's no footer setting left to toggle. You have to stamp the numbers on after the fact. That's the whole job of the [Page numbers](/tools/page-numbers) tool: it draws clean, consistent numbers exactly where you want them, entirely inside your browser tab, without ever uploading the file. When numbered pages actually matter Not every document needs pagination. But when it does, missing numbers stop being a cosmetic nitpick and start being a problem. A filing gets rejected, a printed handout falls apart, a reviewer can't cite a specific page over the phone. The common cases where numbering earns its keep: **Legal exhibits and filings.** Courts, registrars, and agencies routinely require every page to be numbered so it can be referenced precisely. Sequential page numbers keep a bundle citable and prevent pages from going missing unnoticed. **Reports and proposals.** A twenty-page report that will be printed, passed around a room, and marked up needs numbers so comments can point…","href":"/blog/add-page-numbers-to-pdf","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","beginner","page numbers","PDF pagination","legal exhibits","PDF tools","print-ready PDF","browser-local"]},{"id":"blog:pdf-vs-word-when-to-use-each","title":"PDF vs Word: When to Use Each (and How to Hand Off Between Them)","summary":"PDF or Word? One is for finishing and sending, the other for drafting and collaborating. Here's a clear rule for choosing, plus how to draft, export, and fill or sign without ever losing control of your file.","body":"You have just finished writing something that matters: a lease, a resume, an invoice, a grant application, a policy handbook. The words are done. Now comes a quieter decision that people rarely think about until it bites them: do you send it as a **Word document**, or do you turn it into a **PDF** first? It feels like a technicality. It is not. Sending the wrong format is how a resume that looked perfect on your screen arrives with the bullet points collapsed, how a contract's signature line drifts onto page three, and how someone accidentally edits a number in a document they were only supposed to sign. The good news is that the choice is genuinely simple once you understand what each format is *for*. Word (the `.docx` format, along with Google Docs and other editors that produce it) is a tool for **making** documents. PDF is a tool for **finishing** them. Get that distinction right and most of your document headaches disappear. This post lays out when to reach for each, how to hand off cleanly from one to the other, and why the old warning that \"you can't edit a PDF\" simply is not true anymore. Same document, two very different jobs A Word file is a *living* thing. Its whole purpose is to be changed: you type, delete, restructure, leave comments, accept tracked changes, and let a colleague rewrite your third paragraph. To make all that possible, a `.docx` file describes your document as flexible instructions (\"this is a heading, this paragraph flows here, this list has thes…","href":"/blog/pdf-vs-word-when-to-use-each","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","pdf-basics","pdf-fundamentals","explainer","beginner","pdf","word","docx","document-workflow","file-formats"]},{"id":"blog:what-is-a-pdf","title":"What Is a PDF? A Plain-English Guide to the Format That Runs the Business World","summary":"What a PDF actually is, why it looks identical everywhere, what lives inside the file, and which free browser-local tool to reach for when you need to change one.","body":"Open a PDF on a ten-year-old office laptop, a brand-new phone, or a shared library computer, and it looks exactly the same: same fonts, same layout, same page breaks. That reliability is the entire reason the format exists, and it is why PDFs quietly run contracts, invoices, tax forms, boarding passes, and academic papers across the whole business world. This guide explains what a PDF really is, in plain English: where it came from, what lives inside the file, why it is so good at preserving a document exactly, and, crucially, what to do when you need to change one. Along the way we'll point you to the free, browser-local [PDF tools](/tools) that handle the everyday jobs without uploading your files anywhere. The one-sentence answer **PDF** stands for **Portable Document Format**: a file type that stores a document's exact appearance (its text, fonts, images, and layout) so it renders identically on any device, no matter the software, operating system, or hardware used to open it. Think of it less like an editable word-processor document and more like a digital printout. A Word file describes *instructions* for building a page, which can shift depending on the reader's fonts and screen. A PDF captures the *finished* page, frozen and pixel-perfect, which is exactly what you want when a form, contract, or invoice must look the same for everyone. A short history: from print problem to open standard Adobe co-founder John Warnock kicked off an internal effort called 'The Camelot P…","href":"/blog/what-is-a-pdf","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","pdf-basics","pdf-fundamentals","explainer","beginner","what is a PDF","PDF format explained","portable document format","how PDFs work","PDF vs Word"]},{"id":"blog:merge-pdf-in-browser","title":"How to Merge PDF Files in Your Browser (No Uploads, No Sign-Up)","summary":"A step-by-step guide to combining PDFs entirely in your browser: reorder pages, handle password-protected files, and download a single document without uploading anything.","body":"Sooner or later every document trail needs merging: a signed form plus its supporting documents, a stack of monthly invoices, a scanned ID that arrived as three separate files. Combining them into one tidy PDF makes the whole set easier to email, file, and read. This guide shows how to merge PDFs the private way: **entirely in your browser**, with no uploads, no account, and no watermark. It takes about a minute. If you're new to the format, our explainer on [what a PDF actually is](/blog/what-is-a-pdf) makes a useful companion. When you actually need to merge PDFs Attaching a signed form to the documents it references, as a single file. Bundling receipts or invoices into one month-end PDF for bookkeeping. Joining chapters, appendices, or exhibits into a submission-ready document. Combining scanned pages that your phone saved as separate files. Why 'in your browser' matters Most free merge sites upload your files to a server, combine them there, and promise to delete them afterward. If those PDFs contain contracts, statements, or personal data, that's a lot of trust to place in a stranger's infrastructure. The [Merge PDF](/tools/merge-pdf) tool never uploads anything. Your files are read, combined, and rebuilt inside a local processing worker in your own tab. You could even go offline after the page loads and still merge. There's more on the mechanics on the [how it works](/how-it-works) page. How to merge PDFs, step by step Add your PDF files Open [Merge PDF](/tools/merge-pd…","href":"/blog/merge-pdf-in-browser","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","beginner","how to merge PDF","combine PDF files","merge PDF free","join PDF","merge PDF without upload"]},{"id":"blog:split-extract-organize-pdf-pages","title":"How to Split, Extract, and Organize PDF Pages Like a Pro","summary":"Split a PDF by range, extract just the pages you need, and reorder, rotate, or delete pages, all locally in your browser. Learn which tool fits each job.","body":"A single PDF often contains more than you need to share: a 40-page report when the recipient only wants the summary, a scanned bundle where two pages belong to a different file, chapters that should each stand alone. Splitting, extracting, and organizing pages fixes all of that, and you can do every bit of it in your browser. This guide untangles three closely related jobs and shows which free tool fits each. If you're going the other direction, combining files rather than breaking them apart, see our [merge guide](/blog/merge-pdf-in-browser). Split vs. extract vs. organize: what's the difference? The three terms overlap, so it helps to pin them down: **Split**: divide one PDF into smaller pieces, either a chosen range or a page-by-page breakdown. **Extract**: pull out just the specific pages you want and leave the rest behind. **Organize**: keep all the pages but change them: reorder, rotate, duplicate, or delete. Splitting and extracting are really the same operation seen from different ends, [Split PDF](/tools/split-pdf) handles both, while [Organize PDF](/tools/organize-pdf) is your page-level workshop. Splitting a PDF by range or into single pages [Split PDF](/tools/split-pdf) gives you two output styles. You can pull a range into **one combined PDF**, or break the selection into **separate files delivered in a ZIP**: handy when each page needs to travel on its own. Open the PDF Load your file into [Split PDF](/tools/split-pdf). Thumbnails of every page appear so you can…","href":"/blog/split-extract-organize-pdf-pages","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","tool-guides","pdf-operations","tutorial","beginner","split PDF","extract pages from PDF","delete PDF pages","reorder PDF","organize PDF"]},{"id":"blog:pdf-security-101","title":"PDF Security 101: How to Password-Protect, Unlock, and Share PDFs Safely","summary":"The two kinds of PDF passwords, how AES-256 encryption works, how to protect or unlock a document you own, and why browser-local processing matters for sensitive files.","body":"PDFs carry some of our most sensitive paperwork (tax returns, contracts, medical records, bank statements), so it's worth understanding how to lock one down, how to open one you're authorized to access, and how to share protected files without accidentally leaking them. This is a practical primer, not a cryptography lecture. By the end you'll know the two kinds of PDF passwords, roughly how the encryption works, and exactly which free, browser-local tool to use for each job. For the bigger picture on the format itself, start with [what a PDF is](/blog/what-is-a-pdf). The two kinds of PDF passwords PDF security starts with a distinction that trips a lot of people up. A PDF can carry **two different passwords**, and they do very different things: **Open (user) password**: required just to *open and read* the document. Without it, the file's contents stay encrypted and unreadable. **Permissions (owner) password**: lets the file open freely but *restricts what you can do* with it: printing, copying text, modifying, or annotating. The document is readable; the actions are gated. A single PDF can use either or both. A public brochure might set only a permissions password to prevent edits, while a confidential report would set an open password so no one can read it without the key. How PDF encryption actually works When you add an open password, the PDF's contents are scrambled with an encryption algorithm. Modern tools use **AES-256**, the same standard governments and banks rely o…","href":"/blog/pdf-security-101","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","security-privacy","security-privacy","guide","intermediate","password protect PDF","encrypt PDF","unlock PDF","remove PDF password","PDF security"]},{"id":"blog:pdf-productivity-tips","title":"10 PDF Productivity Tips to Tame Your Document Workflow","summary":"Ten small habits (numbering, merging, splitting, rotating, protecting, and batching) that turn a messy pile of PDFs into a fast, repeatable, browser-local workflow.","body":"Nobody sets out to have a messy document workflow: it just accumulates. Files pile up with names like `scan_final_v3(2).pdf`, pages arrive sideways, and every share turns into a five-minute scramble. The fix isn't a fancy app; it's a handful of small, repeatable habits. Here are ten PDF productivity tips you can adopt today. Every one uses a free, browser-local tool, so nothing you touch gets uploaded. New to the tools? Our guides on [merging](/blog/merge-pdf-in-browser) and [splitting and organizing](/blog/split-extract-organize-pdf-pages) go deeper on the mechanics. Ten habits that tame your PDF workflow Number pages before you share A multi-page document without page numbers makes every 'see page 7' conversation harder. Run finished files through [Add Page Numbers](/tools/page-numbers): nine positions, a custom start value, and a live preview. Merge related documents into one file Instead of attaching five PDFs to an email, combine them with [Merge PDF](/tools/merge-pdf). One attachment is easier to send, file, and open. Split big PDFs so people find pages fast When only part of a document is relevant, send only that part. [Split PDF](/tools/split-pdf) extracts the pages you need as one file or a ZIP. Rotate sideways scans once Fix orientation at the source with [Rotate PDF](/tools/rotate-pdf) so you, and everyone downstream, stop tilting your head. It's lossless, so quality is untouched. Reorder pages for a logical flow Cover letter first, appendix last. [Organize PDF](/t…","href":"/blog/pdf-productivity-tips","kind":"Article","tags":["blog","productivity-workflows","document-workflows","workflow","beginner","PDF productivity","PDF workflow","add page numbers PDF","organize documents","PDF tips"]},{"id":"page:/blog","title":"Blog","summary":"Long-form guides to the editor, the browser-local tools, PDF security, and document workflows.","body":"Long-form guides to the editor, the browser-local tools, PDF security, and document workflows.","href":"/blog","kind":"Page","tags":["page","blog","archive"]},{"id":"page:/blog/archive","title":"Blog archive","summary":"Browse every Novus PDF Studio article by publication month, with direct links to each post.","body":"Browse every Novus PDF Studio article by publication month, with direct links to each post.","href":"/blog/archive","kind":"Page","tags":["page","blog","archive"]},{"id":"guide:use-pdf-power-tools","title":"Use the PDF power tools","summary":"Transform pages or document security without sending the file to a server.","body":"The editor is built for filling and marking up a single document. When the job is structural (combining several files, pulling out a page range, changing page order, turning a scan upright, numbering a finished packet, or adding and removing encryption), a focused tool is faster and safer, because each one does exactly one thing and shows you the result before anything downloads. Order of operations matters more than most people expect. Unlock before you edit, edit before you number, and protect last. Otherwise numbering lands on pages you later reorder, or encryption blocks the next tool in the chain. Open Tools and choose the focused workflow: Merge, Split, Organize, Rotate, Page Numbers, Protect, or Unlock. Choose PDF files and review page counts, thumbnails, encryption status, and operation settings. For protected inputs, enter an authorized password in the password field shown for that file. Set file order, page ranges, page selections, numbering, or permission options as required by the tool. Generate the result. Processing runs in a browser worker and the output downloads only after validation succeeds. Reopen important output to confirm page order and security before sharing or submitting it.","href":"/guides#use-pdf-power-tools","kind":"Guide","tags":["guide","new","organize","secure","basics"]},{"id":"guide:fill-a-government-form","title":"Fill a government form","summary":"The bread-and-butter workflow: a dense official form with small boxes and strict layout.","body":"Official forms are the hardest documents to fill by hand and the ones where a mistake costs the most time. They pack many small boxes into a fixed layout, they often arrive already part-completed by an office, and they are frequently the exact documents you would rather not upload to a stranger's server. Running the whole job in the tab solves the last problem outright and the first one with field detection. Check the boxes the scan filled in for you before you check the ones it left empty. A field that arrived with an existing value is showing you what the form already says, not what you typed. Reading past those is the most common source of a rejected submission. Upload the PDF from the editor's start screen. The AI scan runs automatically when the document opens. Review the detected fields. Fields that came with the form (even locked, completed ones) arrive pre-filled with their existing values. Click any field to fill it. The fill bar keeps focus so you can Tab through the document top to bottom. Toggle checkboxes with a single click; use the cross tool for boxes that expect an X instead of a checkmark. Zoom in for tight rows and use the numeric position controls to nudge a field into exact alignment. Export when done, then open the file once in a PDF viewer to confirm every value landed where it should.","href":"/guides#fill-a-government-form","kind":"Guide","tags":["guide","new","fill"]},{"id":"guide:sign-and-export","title":"Sign and export cleanly","summary":"Add a real drawn signature and produce a submission-ready file.","body":"A signature drawn now is represented as normalized vector strokes, so it has no background rectangle and stays sharp when resized. Legacy transparent bitmap signatures remain supported for compatibility. Typed text goes out in one of the fonts every PDF reader is required to support, so the file renders the same for whoever opens it. The export is vector wherever it can be. If the source document cannot be decrypted or its internal structure is damaged, the export falls back to rebuilding pages as images so the result is still correct: accurate on screen and on paper, but no longer selectable text. Open the finished file once and try to select a word if searchable text matters to you. Select the signature tool and click where the signature belongs. A drawing pad opens. Draw with a mouse, finger, or stylus. Redraw as many times as you like before accepting. Resize the placed signature to fit the line; the stroke stays sharp at any size. Add the date beside it with a text or number field using an export-safe font. Export to download, or print directly, then open the result once to confirm it looks the way you expect.","href":"/guides#sign-and-export","kind":"Guide","tags":["guide","new","sign","fill"]},{"id":"guide:erase-and-highlight","title":"Erase and highlight cleanly","summary":"Both tools are text-aware: they follow the words underneath instead of guessing.","body":"A freehand rectangle over text always looks freehand. Because both tools read the text layer beneath the cursor, a highlight snaps to the lines it actually covers and an erase box hugs the words you dragged over, so a marked-up page reads as deliberate rather than patched. That also means they behave differently on a photograph of paper, where there is no text layer to follow. Cover mode paints over the words while leaving the underlying PDF content recoverable. Remove mode rasterizes each affected page so the covered content is absent from the export, but it also removes selectable text, links, form fields, annotations, and tags on that page. Neither mode is a certified redaction workflow, so read the redaction guide and verify the finished file before sharing it. Pick the highlight tool and drag across the passage. One marker stroke snaps to each covered line, blending like a real highlighter. Click a single line with the highlight tool to mark the whole visible line in one go. Pick the erase tool and drag over unwanted text. The cover box hugs exactly what you covered. Match the erase color to the page background with the swatches if the paper isn't pure white. Adjust any placed highlight or erase box afterwards: move it, resize it, or delete it like any other element. Choose Cover for correction-fluid cleanup. Choose Remove only when you accept a rasterized page and its lost text, links, fields, annotations, and tags; then inspect the export before sharing it.","href":"/guides#erase-and-highlight","kind":"Guide","tags":["guide","everyday","markup"]},{"id":"guide:when-the-scan-misses","title":"When the AI scan misses fields","summary":"No detector is perfect. Here's the fast path from a noisy scan to a tidy form.","body":"The scan is a local detector, not a cloud model reading your page. It works from what the document actually contains (real form fields where they exist, drawn boxes and rules, and text labels), so its accuracy tracks how much structure the file carries. A digital form built for filling gives it plenty; a photograph of a printed page gives it almost nothing. One bad box is faster to delete than to rescan away. Rescanning is for documents whose structure changed; it is not an undo for a single misplaced field, and running it repeatedly on the same page will not produce a different answer. Run Rescan first. It merges newly found fields without duplicating the ones you already have. Missing a field? Add it manually with the text, number, check, or signature tools; manual fields behave exactly like scanned ones. Got a duplicate or misplaced box? Select it and delete or drag it. AI fields are never locked. If the scan is mostly noise on an unusual document, use “Clear AI fields” and place fields manually. Your own work is kept. Scanned-image PDFs (photos of paper) have no machine-readable text; manual tools are the right approach there.","href":"/guides#when-the-scan-misses","kind":"Guide","tags":["guide","advanced","fill"]},{"id":"guide:work-offline","title":"Install it and work offline","summary":"Set the app up once while you are connected so a lost signal stops nothing.","body":"Every document operation already runs on your device, so the network is only ever delivering the application itself. Installing Novus registers the site with your operating system as a standalone app and lets the browser keep the app's own files locally, which is why a merge, a fill-and-sign, or an export still finishes in airplane mode. It is also the cheapest privacy check available: work that completes with the network off was never being sent anywhere. The first visit has to be online, and a page you have never opened may not be available offline. Advertising and analytics requests are deliberately never cached, so those areas stay blank without a connection. That is expected, not a broken page. On Chrome, Edge, or Android, accept the install prompt or use the browser menu's Install entry. On iPhone or iPad, open the site in Safari and choose Share, then Add to Home Screen. Open the editor once with a real PDF while you are still connected so its rendering engine is on the device. Visit the tool pages you expect to need. A single visit is enough to keep each one available. Copy the source documents onto the device rather than leaving them in cloud storage you will not be able to reach. Rehearse: switch on airplane mode and run one small export before you actually need it to work.","href":"/guides#work-offline","kind":"Guide","tags":["guide","advanced","offline"]},{"id":"guide:create-a-pdf-from-a-blank-page","title":"Create a PDF from a blank page","summary":"The one workflow here that starts with no file at all: choose the paper, stack the blocks, download a real PDF.","body":"Every other surface on this site opens a document you already have. The creation zone opens nothing. A document here is an ordered stack of blocks (headings, paragraphs, images, tables, shapes, rules, spacing and page breaks) flowed down the page until the room runs out, at which point the next page begins. Knowing that before you start typing explains both what is easy (rewriting, restyling or reordering one block without disturbing anything below it) and what is not (dropping something at an exact spot on the paper, which is a job for the editor once the file exists. The shape block is the one exception, and it takes coordinates rather than alignment). Nothing is saved. There is no account, no server and no autosaved draft. The document lives in this browser tab and closing it loses everything you typed. Download the PDF as soon as it is worth keeping, and treat the exported file as the copy of record. Open Create and choose one of the eight starting points. Picking one replaces the title, file name, page setup and every block below it, so choose before you write rather than after. Set the paper up: A4, Letter, Legal, A3, A5, Tabloid, or a custom size typed in points, portrait or landscape. Margins come as narrow, normal and wide presets or as four numbers you type yourself. 72 points is one inch. Build the document from the block buttons: heading, paragraph, list, image, table, shape, divider, spacing and page break. Each card carries arrows to move or delete it, content c…","href":"/guides#create-a-pdf-from-a-blank-page","kind":"Guide","tags":["guide","new","create","basics"]},{"id":"guide:make-a-form-people-can-fill-in","title":"Make a form people can fill in","summary":"Write the form in the creation zone, export it, then let the editor's field scan find the lines you ruled.","body":"A form is the one document where creating and filling meet. The creation zone rules the answer lines; the editor's scan reads them back. That scan is rule-based rather than a model call (it merges the form fields already embedded in a PDF, the boxes and rules drawn into the page, and the labels sitting in the text), and a long run of underscores is one of the shapes its text pass looks for. That is why the intake-form template rules its answers with underscores inside a Courier block instead of with decorative lines: the rule is text, and text is what comes back as a field. A scan is a starting point, not a promise. Check the placed fields before anyone types into them: every field, scanned or added by hand, can be moved, resized or deleted, and a blank the scan did not find is faster to place yourself than to argue with. Start from the intake-form template, or add your own paragraph, set it to Courier, and rule each answer line with underscores. Do not try to line the rules up by padding with spaces. A paragraph collapses every run of whitespace to a single space before it is measured, so the padding is gone by the time the font matters and a monospaced face does not rescue it. The run of underscores survives, it is one unbroken word, so the scan still finds each rule; the rules simply start wherever their label ends. If you want the rules in a straight column, put the form in a table block instead: labels in the first column, a run of underscores in the second, borders set …","href":"/guides#make-a-form-people-can-fill-in","kind":"Guide","tags":["guide","everyday","create","fill"]},{"id":"tutorial:merge-pdfs-in-order","title":"Merge PDFs in order","summary":"Combine several PDFs into one file, in the exact order you choose, with a full preview before you download.","body":"Open Merge PDF and add two or more files Drag files or use arrows to set the order Choose Merge and download the verified result","href":"/tutorials#merge-pdfs-in-order","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","new","organize"]},{"id":"tutorial:extract-exact-page-ranges","title":"Extract exact page ranges","summary":"Pull just the pages you need out of a larger PDF, either into a single file or as separate PDFs in a ZIP.","body":"Open Split PDF and enter ranges such as 1-3,5 Choose one PDF or separate PDFs in a ZIP Generate the selected pages Ranges are inclusive and use the page numbers you see in the preview, not the printed numbers on the page. Those two disagree whenever a document has a cover sheet.","href":"/tutorials#extract-exact-page-ranges","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","organize"]},{"id":"tutorial:reorder-and-delete-pages","title":"Reorder and delete pages","summary":"Drag pages into the order you want and drop the ones that should not ship, working from thumbnails rather than page numbers.","body":"Open Organize PDF and choose a file Drag a thumbnail to move it; use the page controls to remove one Generate the reordered document and check the preview Reordering here and numbering later is the right sequence. Page numbers applied before a reorder end up shuffled with the pages they were printed on.","href":"/tutorials#reorder-and-delete-pages","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","organize"]},{"id":"tutorial:turn-sideways-pages-upright","title":"Turn sideways pages upright","summary":"Rotate a whole document, or just the pages a scanner fed in the wrong way, without re-encoding the page content.","body":"Open Rotate PDF and choose a file Pick 90°, 180°, or 270° and the pages to apply it to Generate and confirm the thumbnails are upright Rotation changes the page's orientation flag rather than redrawing it, so a scan loses no quality however many times you turn it.","href":"/tutorials#turn-sideways-pages-upright","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","organize","fill"]},{"id":"tutorial:number-a-finished-packet","title":"Number a finished packet","summary":"Stamp consistent page numbers onto a document once its page order is final.","body":"Open Page Numbers and choose a file Set the position, starting number, and which pages to skip Generate and check the first and last numbered page Do this last. Numbering is the step that assumes the page order will not change again.","href":"/tutorials#number-a-finished-packet","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","organize"]},{"id":"tutorial:protect-a-pdf-with-aes-256","title":"Protect a PDF with AES-256","summary":"Encrypt a document with a password and control whether recipients can print, copy, or edit it.","body":"Enter different open and owner passwords of at least eight characters Choose printing, copying, modification, and annotation permissions Protect the PDF and keep the owner password secure The password is used in your browser and is never sent anywhere, which also means nobody can recover it for you. Store it before you close the tab.","href":"/tutorials#protect-a-pdf-with-aes-256","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","secure"]},{"id":"tutorial:unlock-a-pdf-you-have-the-password-for","title":"Unlock a PDF you have the password for","summary":"Remove encryption from a document you are authorized to open, so the other tools and the editor can work on it.","body":"Open Unlock PDF and add the protected file Enter the password in the field shown for that file Generate the unlocked copy and keep the original Unlock first, then edit, then protect again if the finished file needs it. Most \"the tool did nothing\" reports are an encrypted input reaching a tool that cannot open it.","href":"/tutorials#unlock-a-pdf-you-have-the-password-for","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","secure","fill"]},{"id":"tutorial:fill-your-first-field","title":"Fill your first field","summary":"Get typing on a form in seconds. The AI scan finds the fields so you can go straight to filling them in.","body":"Upload a PDF and wait for the scan badge to finish Click the first dashed field Type into the fill bar: it saves as you type","href":"/tutorials#fill-your-first-field","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","new","fill"]},{"id":"tutorial:tick-a-checkbox-or-untick-it","title":"Tick a checkbox (or untick it)","summary":"Toggle detected checkboxes with a click, and switch to a cross for forms that expect an X.","body":"Click any detected checkbox once to toggle it Need an X instead? Delete the check and place a cross tool box","href":"/tutorials#tick-a-checkbox-or-untick-it","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","new","fill"]},{"id":"tutorial:draw-a-signature","title":"Draw a signature","summary":"Add a real, hand-drawn signature with a mouse, finger, or stylus, then size it to fit the signing line.","body":"Choose the signature tool and click the signing line Draw in the pad: redo until it looks right Drag the corners to fit the line","href":"/tutorials#draw-a-signature","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","new","sign"]},{"id":"tutorial:highlight-a-paragraph","title":"Highlight a paragraph","summary":"Mark up text like a real highlighter. One stroke snaps neatly to each line it covers.","body":"Pick the highlight tool Drag from the first word to the last One marker stroke snaps to each line automatically","href":"/tutorials#highlight-a-paragraph","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","new","markup"]},{"id":"tutorial:erase-a-printed-value","title":"Erase a printed value","summary":"Cover an outdated value with a page-colored box that hugs exactly the text you drag over.","body":"Pick the erase tool Drag over the text to remove: the box hugs it Match the cover color to the paper with the swatches Cover behaves like correction fluid and leaves underlying content recoverable. Remove rasterizes the affected page so the covered content is absent, with the trade-off that text, links, fields, annotations, and tags on that page are lost. Inspect the export before sharing it.","href":"/tutorials#erase-a-printed-value","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","markup"]},{"id":"tutorial:rescan-after-edits","title":"Rescan after edits","summary":"Ask the AI to look again after you change the document. New fields merge in without touching your work.","body":"Click Rescan in the toolbar New fields merge in without duplicating your work","href":"/tutorials#rescan-after-edits","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","new","organize","fill"]},{"id":"tutorial:nudge-a-field-into-place","title":"Nudge a field into place","summary":"Get a field pixel-perfect using numeric position controls or the corner resize handles.","body":"Select the field Use the numeric position controls for exact X/Y Or drag the corner handles to resize","href":"/tutorials#nudge-a-field-into-place","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","new","fill"]},{"id":"tutorial:zoom-into-a-dense-form","title":"Zoom into a dense form","summary":"Work comfortably on tight, small-boxed forms and snap back to a full-page fit in one click.","body":"Use Zoom In / Zoom Out under the canvas Click the percentage to snap back to fit","href":"/tutorials#zoom-into-a-dense-form","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","new","fill"]},{"id":"tutorial:export-or-print","title":"Export or print","summary":"Finish up with a download or a direct print, and give the result a quick check before you submit.","body":"Click Export for a download, or Print for paper Open the export once in a viewer to double-check values Exports keep real text wherever the source allows it. A document that cannot be decrypted or whose structure is damaged is rebuilt as page images instead: correct on screen and on paper, but no longer selectable.","href":"/tutorials#export-or-print","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","basics"]},{"id":"tutorial:keep-working-with-no-connection","title":"Keep working with no connection","summary":"Install Novus as a standalone app so the tools and editor still open when the network does not.","body":"Accept the install prompt, or use Share → Add to Home Screen on iOS Open the editor once with a real PDF while still online Switch on airplane mode and run one export as a rehearsal The first visit has to be online and ad slots stay blank offline, but every document operation is unaffected. It was already running on your device.","href":"/tutorials#keep-working-with-no-connection","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","offline"]},{"id":"tutorial:start-a-document-from-a-template","title":"Start a document from a template","summary":"The creation zone opens on eight starting points, including letters, notes, invoices, intake forms, applications and consent records, each written as scaffolding to replace.","body":"Open Create and click a template card Replace every square-bracketed placeholder with your own words Add or delete blocks until the shape fits Choosing a template replaces the whole document: title, file name, paper size, margins, page numbering and every block. Pick one before you start writing rather than after.","href":"/tutorials#start-a-document-from-a-template","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","create","fill"]},{"id":"tutorial:add-a-heading-and-a-paragraph","title":"Add a heading and a paragraph","summary":"The two blocks every document in the creation zone is built from, each styled on its own.","body":"Click Heading and choose level 1, 2 or 3: 24, 18 or 15 points Click Paragraph and type into the box; it starts at 14 points Set the font, size, colour and alignment for that block alone Text wraps to the column measured in the real font, and the line breaks you type survive: a blank line stays a blank line, while runs of spaces inside a line collapse the way they do in any flowed text.","href":"/tutorials#add-a-heading-and-a-paragraph","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","create"]},{"id":"tutorial:place-a-logo-or-a-photograph","title":"Place a logo or a photograph","summary":"Put an image on a page you are building in the creation zone, at the width you choose.","body":"Click Image, then choose a file of up to 20 MB Set a width in points, or leave it blank to fill the column Align it left, centre or right PNG and JPEG go in as they are; WebP, AVIF, GIF and SVG are converted to PNG in the tab first, so an unusable file is caught while you are still choosing it. The alt-text box is kept with the block but is not yet written into the exported PDF.","href":"/tutorials#place-a-logo-or-a-photograph","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","create","fill"]},{"id":"tutorial:separate-sections-with-a-rule","title":"Separate sections with a rule","summary":"A real drawn line in the creation zone, instead of a row of underscores that re-wraps the moment the font changes.","body":"Click Divider Set the thickness in points and the width as a percentage of the column Colour it, and align it left, centre or right A rule carries eight points of air, four above and four below, so it reads as a separator rather than as an underline for the paragraph above it.","href":"/tutorials#separate-sections-with-a-rule","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","create"]},{"id":"tutorial:control-where-one-page-ends-and-the-next-starts","title":"Control where one page ends and the next starts","summary":"Page breaks and spacing blocks in the creation zone, and what the layout does with a block that will not fit.","body":"Click Page break where a new sheet should start Click Spacing for a gap measured in points Watch the page count beside the preview heading An image or a rule that does not fit the room left moves to the next page whole; a paragraph splits line by line instead. A page break at the very top does not produce a blank page.","href":"/tutorials#control-where-one-page-ends-and-the-next-starts","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","create"]},{"id":"tutorial:set-the-paper-size-and-the-margins","title":"Set the paper size and the margins","summary":"Match the printer before you write: the creation zone offers six paper sizes plus a custom one, both orientations, and margins per edge.","body":"Choose a paper size, or Custom and type a width and height in points Pick portrait or landscape Use the narrow, normal or wide preset, or type each edge yourself Margins are measured to the text itself, so a 72-point top margin puts the top of the first line one inch below the paper edge. Margins too large to leave any room are ignored, and the preview says so rather than silently inverting the page.","href":"/tutorials#set-the-paper-size-and-the-margins","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","create"]},{"id":"tutorial:number-the-pages-of-a-document-you-built","title":"Number the pages of a document you built","summary":"Page numbering in the creation zone: six positions, three formats, and the option to leave a title page unnumbered.","body":"Tick “Number the pages” in Page setup Choose a position and a format: 1, Page 1, or 1 of 4 Tick “Leave the first page unnumbered” for a title page Numbers are stamped on at export rather than during layout, so they never appear in the preview. Check them in the downloaded file. With the first page left unnumbered the count covers only the numbered pages: a three-page document reads “1 of 2” then “2 of 2”.","href":"/tutorials#number-the-pages-of-a-document-you-built","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","create","organize","fill"]},{"id":"tutorial:name-the-file-and-export-it","title":"Name the file and export it","summary":"Download what you built in the creation zone under a name you choose, and see how many pages you actually got.","body":"Type a file name: “.pdf” is added for you Click Download PDF Read the confirmation line: it names the file and its page count Characters a file system will not accept (slashes, colons, quotes and the like) become hyphens, and an empty name falls back to “document.pdf”.","href":"/tutorials#name-the-file-and-export-it","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","create"]},{"id":"tutorial:put-a-table-on-the-page","title":"Put a table on the page","summary":"The creation zone has a real table block: cells that wrap inside their own column, rows that grow to their tallest cell, and borders that are drawn rather than typed.","body":"Add a Table block and type the rows Turn the header row on if the first row names the columns Choose the borders: all, horizontal only, or none This is the thing a monospaced paragraph cannot be. A long cell wraps inside its column instead of running into the next one, and the row grows to fit; columns are sized from what is in them unless you weight them yourself. Padding a Courier paragraph with spaces will not stand in for it. A paragraph collapses every run of whitespace to a single space, so the padding is destroyed before the font is consulted.","href":"/tutorials#put-a-table-on-the-page","kind":"Tutorial","tags":["tutorial","everyday","create"]},{"id":"tip:tab-through-the-document","title":"Tab through the document","summary":"After filling a field, focus jumps to the next empty one. You can complete simple forms without touching the mouse.","body":"After filling a field, focus jumps to the next empty one. You can complete simple forms without touching the mouse.","href":"/learn#tip-tab-through-the-document","kind":"Tip","tags":["tip","everyday","fill"]},{"id":"tip:click-a-line-to-highlight-it","title":"Click a line to highlight it","summary":"With the highlight tool armed, a single click marks the entire visible text line. No dragging needed.","body":"With the highlight tool armed, a single click marks the entire visible text line. No dragging needed.","href":"/learn#tip-click-a-line-to-highlight-it","kind":"Tip","tags":["tip","everyday","markup"]},{"id":"tip:clear-ai-fields-keep-yours","title":"Clear AI fields, keep yours","summary":"The “Clear AI fields” button removes only scanned suggestions. Anything you placed manually stays put.","body":"The “Clear AI fields” button removes only scanned suggestions. Anything you placed manually stays put.","href":"/learn#tip-clear-ai-fields-keep-yours","kind":"Tip","tags":["tip","everyday","fill"]},{"id":"tip:filled-forms-import-their-values","title":"Filled forms import their values","summary":"Upload a form that is already (even partially) completed and the scan brings the existing answers in as editable fields.","body":"Upload a form that is already (even partially) completed and the scan brings the existing answers in as editable fields.","href":"/learn#tip-filled-forms-import-their-values","kind":"Tip","tags":["tip","everyday","fill"]},{"id":"tip:airplane-mode-is-a-privacy-test","title":"Airplane mode is a privacy test","summary":"Disconnect and run an export. If it finishes, the work was happening on your device. No marketing claim can fake that result.","body":"Disconnect and run an export. If it finishes, the work was happening on your device. No marketing claim can fake that result.","href":"/learn#tip-airplane-mode-is-a-privacy-test","kind":"Tip","tags":["tip","everyday","offline"]},{"id":"faq:is-novus-pdf-studio-really-free","title":"Is Novus PDF Studio really free?","summary":"Yes. The editor and all twelve PDF tools are completely free with no accounts, subscriptions, or export limits. The site is funded by advertising served through","body":"Yes. The editor and all twelve PDF tools are completely free with no accounts, subscriptions, or export limits. The site is funded by advertising served through Adsterra.","href":"/faq#is-novus-pdf-studio-really-free","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","basics"]},{"id":"faq:do-my-documents-get-uploaded-to-a-server","title":"Do my documents get uploaded to a server?","summary":"No. PDFs are opened, scanned, edited, and exported entirely in your browser. Closing the tab discards unsaved work. If you explicitly choose Save on this device","body":"No. PDFs are opened, scanned, edited, and exported entirely in your browser. Closing the tab discards unsaved work. If you explicitly choose Save on this device, a local IndexedDB session remains on that device until you delete it or the browser clears site data; passwords are never saved.","href":"/faq#do-my-documents-get-uploaded-to-a-server","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","secure","fill"]},{"id":"faq:can-novus-work-with-password-protected-pdfs","title":"Can Novus work with password-protected PDFs?","summary":"Yes. Unlock accepts an authorized password and verifies that the result reopens without credentials. Other tools request a password for protected inputs when mo","body":"Yes. Unlock accepts an authorized password and verifies that the result reopens without credentials. Other tools request a password for protected inputs when modification is permitted. Protect creates AES-256 encrypted output; permission flags depend on the receiving PDF viewer for enforcement.","href":"/faq#can-novus-work-with-password-protected-pdfs","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","secure"]},{"id":"faq:how-does-the-ai-scan-work","title":"How does the AI scan work?","summary":"The scan combines three sources: form fields already embedded in the PDF, drawn boxes and underlines detected in the page geometry, and labels detected in the t","body":"The scan combines three sources: form fields already embedded in the PDF, drawn boxes and underlines detected in the page geometry, and labels detected in the text. The results are merged, de-duplicated, and placed as editable fields.","href":"/faq#how-does-the-ai-scan-work","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","organize","fill"]},{"id":"faq:what-about-forms-that-are-already-filled-out-or-locked","title":"What about forms that are already filled out or locked?","summary":"The scan imports existing form fields together with their values, including completed forms that were saved as read-only, so you can review, correct, and re-exp","body":"The scan imports existing form fields together with their values, including completed forms that were saved as read-only, so you can review, correct, and re-export them.","href":"/faq#what-about-forms-that-are-already-filled-out-or-locked","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","fill"]},{"id":"faq:the-scan-missed-a-field-or-placed-an-extra-one-what-do-i-do","title":"The scan missed a field or placed an extra one. What do I do?","summary":"Use Rescan to merge newly detected fields, or add a field manually with the toolbar. Every field, AI or manual, can be moved, resized, restyled, or deleted.","body":"Use Rescan to merge newly detected fields, or add a field manually with the toolbar. Every field, AI or manual, can be moved, resized, restyled, or deleted.","href":"/faq#the-scan-missed-a-field-or-placed-an-extra-one-what-do-i-do","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","organize","fill"]},{"id":"faq:how-do-the-highlight-and-erase-tools-work","title":"How do the highlight and erase tools work?","summary":"Drag across the area you care about. Highlight snaps one marker stroke to each text line it covers and blends with the page like a real highlighter; erase hugs ","body":"Drag across the area you care about. Highlight snaps one marker stroke to each text line it covers and blends with the page like a real highlighter; erase hugs the text under your selection and covers it with a page-colored box.","href":"/faq#how-do-the-highlight-and-erase-tools-work","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","markup"]},{"id":"faq:does-erasing-permanently-remove-text","title":"Does erasing permanently remove text?","summary":"Cover mode does not: it paints an opaque box while leaving the underlying content recoverable. Remove mode rasterizes each affected page so the covered content ","body":"Cover mode does not: it paints an opaque box while leaving the underlying content recoverable. Remove mode rasterizes each affected page so the covered content is absent from the exported page, but selectable text, links, form fields, annotations, and tags on that page are lost. Verify the export before using it for sensitive material.","href":"/faq#does-erasing-permanently-remove-text","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","markup","fill"]},{"id":"faq:which-fonts-are-available-for-export","title":"Which fonts are available for export?","summary":"PDF-safe built-in fonts: Helvetica, Times Roman, and Courier. These keep exports reliable across viewers.","body":"PDF-safe built-in fonts: Helvetica, Times Roman, and Courier. These keep exports reliable across viewers.","href":"/faq#which-fonts-are-available-for-export","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","basics"]},{"id":"faq:will-my-exported-pdf-look-like-the-preview","title":"Will my exported PDF look like the preview?","summary":"Yes. Exports are vector-based: text stays crisp and selectable, highlights use the same multiply blending you see on screen, and signatures embed as drawn.","body":"Yes. Exports are vector-based: text stays crisp and selectable, highlights use the same multiply blending you see on screen, and signatures embed as drawn.","href":"/faq#will-my-exported-pdf-look-like-the-preview","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","sign","markup"]},{"id":"faq:why-do-i-see-ads","title":"Why do I see ads?","summary":"Advertising is what keeps the tools free. Ads are served by Adsterra and are clearly distinguishable from the tools. Your documents are processed entirely in yo","body":"Advertising is what keeps the tools free. Ads are served by Adsterra and are clearly distinguishable from the tools. Your documents are processed entirely in your browser. They are never seen by us or by the ad network, and never influence which ads appear.","href":"/faq#why-do-i-see-ads","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","basics"]},{"id":"faq:how-do-i-get-help-or-report-a-problem","title":"How do I get help or report a problem?","summary":"Email pdf@novusstreamsolutions.com or use the contact page. Because documents never leave your device, please describe the issue rather than sending the file it","body":"Email pdf@novusstreamsolutions.com or use the contact page. Because documents never leave your device, please describe the issue rather than sending the file itself unless you are comfortable sharing it.","href":"/faq#how-do-i-get-help-or-report-a-problem","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","basics"]},{"id":"faq:which-browsers-are-supported","title":"Which browsers are supported?","summary":"Current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari on desktop and mobile. Large PDFs render best on desktop, but the editor includes touch controls for phone","body":"Current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari on desktop and mobile. Large PDFs render best on desktop, but the editor includes touch controls for phones and tablets.","href":"/faq#which-browsers-are-supported","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","basics"]},{"id":"faq:can-i-use-it-for-government-or-legal-forms","title":"Can I use it for government or legal forms?","summary":"Yes. That is the main use case. Always review field placement, values, dates, and signatures before submitting any official document.","body":"Yes. That is the main use case. Always review field placement, values, dates, and signatures before submitting any official document.","href":"/faq#can-i-use-it-for-government-or-legal-forms","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","sign","fill"]},{"id":"faq:can-i-make-a-pdf-from-scratch-without-uploading-a-file","title":"Can I make a PDF from scratch, without uploading a file?","summary":"Yes. The creation zone starts from a blank page: choose the paper, add headings, paragraphs, lists, images, tables, shapes, rules, spacing and page breaks, then","body":"Yes. The creation zone starts from a blank page: choose the paper, add headings, paragraphs, lists, images, tables, shapes, rules, spacing and page breaks, then download a real PDF whose text is selectable and searchable. Eight starting points come with it. Like everything else here it runs inside the browser tab, with no account and no upload.","href":"/faq#can-i-make-a-pdf-from-scratch-without-uploading-a-file","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","create"]},{"id":"faq:can-i-make-a-table-in-the-creation-zone","title":"Can I make a table in the creation zone?","summary":"Yes. There is a table block with real cells and drawn borders. A cell wraps inside its own column rather than running into the next one, the row grows to its ta","body":"Yes. There is a table block with real cells and drawn borders. A cell wraps inside its own column rather than running into the next one, the row grows to its tallest cell, and a header row can be repeated at the top of every page the table continues onto. Columns are sized from what is in them unless you give them weights yourself, and borders can be drawn on every edge, on the horizontal rules only, or not at all. What it is not is a spreadsheet: there are no formulas, no merged cells and no sorting. The invoice and intake templates now use real measured table blocks; neither pads a Courier paragraph with spaces to fake columns.","href":"/faq#can-i-make-a-table-in-the-creation-zone","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","create","organize","fill"]},{"id":"faq:which-fonts-can-i-use-in-the-creation-zone","title":"Which fonts can I use in the creation zone?","summary":"Helvetica, Times and Courier are built in; an unsupported built-in-font character is replaced with a question mark and a preview warning. You can also embed a l","body":"Helvetica, Times and Courier are built in; an unsupported built-in-font character is replaced with a question mark and a preview warning. You can also embed a local TTF or OTF by supplying separate regular, bold and italic files, plus bold italic if you need that combination; missing variants are never synthesized. Files are limited to 10 MB each, remain in the tab, and are not persisted implicitly. Export checks glyph coverage, and you are responsible for a font licence that permits embedding.","href":"/faq#which-fonts-can-i-use-in-the-creation-zone","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","create","markup"]},{"id":"faq:what-happens-to-an-image-i-add-in-the-creation-zone","title":"What happens to an image I add in the creation zone?","summary":"PNG and JPEG are embedded as they are; WebP, AVIF, GIF and SVG are converted to PNG in your browser first, so an unusable file is caught while you are still cho","body":"PNG and JPEG are embedded as they are; WebP, AVIF, GIF and SVG are converted to PNG in your browser first, so an unusable file is caught while you are still choosing it. The limit is 20 MB per image. Each image sits on its own line at the width you set, text does not wrap around it and two images do not sit side by side, and an image taller than the page is scaled down to fit rather than split across two. The alt-text box is kept with the block but is not yet written into the exported PDF.","href":"/faq#what-happens-to-an-image-i-add-in-the-creation-zone","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","create","organize"]},{"id":"faq:is-a-document-i-am-building-in-the-creation-zone-saved-anywhere","title":"Is a document I am building in the creation zone saved anywhere?","summary":"No. There is no account, no server and no autosave, so the draft exists in that browser tab and nowhere else. Closing the tab loses it. Download the PDF as soon","body":"No. There is no account, no server and no autosave, so the draft exists in that browser tab and nowhere else. Closing the tab loses it. Download the PDF as soon as it is worth keeping. It is the same trade the rest of the site makes: nothing is uploaded, which also means nothing can be restored for you.","href":"/faq#is-a-document-i-am-building-in-the-creation-zone-saved-anywhere","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","create"]},{"id":"faq:why-don-t-page-numbers-show-in-the-creation-zone-s-preview","title":"Why don't page numbers show in the creation zone's preview?","summary":"Because they are stamped on at export rather than during layout: the preview draws the laid-out pages, and the exporter adds the numbers to the finished documen","body":"Because they are stamped on at export rather than during layout: the preview draws the laid-out pages, and the exporter adds the numbers to the finished document afterwards. Turn numbering on, download the file, and check them there. One quirk worth knowing. If you leave the first page unnumbered, the “1 of 4” format counts only the numbered pages, so a three-page document reads “1 of 2” and “2 of 2”.","href":"/faq#why-don-t-page-numbers-show-in-the-creation-zone-s-preview","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","create","organize","fill"]},{"id":"faq:can-i-open-an-existing-pdf-in-the-creation-zone","title":"Can I open an existing PDF in the creation zone?","summary":"No. The creation zone only builds new documents; it has no way to open a PDF at all. Use the editor for a file you already have, or a focused tool for structura","body":"No. The creation zone only builds new documents; it has no way to open a PDF at all. Use the editor for a file you already have, or a focused tool for structural work. A document you create here is an ordinary PDF, so it can go straight back through any of them afterwards.","href":"/faq#can-i-open-an-existing-pdf-in-the-creation-zone","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","create"]},{"id":"faq:can-i-sign-a-document-i-built-in-the-creation-zone","title":"Can I sign a document I built in the creation zone?","summary":"Yes. Export it, then open that file in the editor and place a drawn signature on the line, or start from the signing page at /sign-pdf, which walks through the ","body":"Yes. Export it, then open that file in the editor and place a drawn signature on the line, or start from the signing page at /sign-pdf, which walks through the same job. What you get is an electronic signature, your handwriting on the page, and not a certificate-backed digital signature; that page explains the difference in full before you rely on either.","href":"/faq#can-i-sign-a-document-i-built-in-the-creation-zone","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","create","sign"]},{"id":"faq:sign-pdf-how-do-i-electronically-sign-a-pdf-for-free","title":"How do I electronically sign a PDF for free?","summary":"Open the PDF in the editor, choose the signature tool, draw your signature once, and place it on the signing line. Export the file when you are done. There is n","body":"Open the PDF in the editor, choose the signature tool, draw your signature once, and place it on the signing line. Export the file when you are done. There is no account, no watermark, no page limit and no cost, because the work happens in your browser rather than on a server someone has to pay for.","href":"/sign-pdf#how-do-i-electronically-sign-a-pdf-for-free","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","sign"]},{"id":"faq:sign-pdf-is-an-electronic-signature-legally-binding","title":"Is an electronic signature legally binding?","summary":"In most everyday contexts, yes: an electronic signature generally carries the same weight as signing a printed copy by hand. Rules differ by country and by docu","body":"In most everyday contexts, yes: an electronic signature generally carries the same weight as signing a printed copy by hand. Rules differ by country and by document type, and some categories (wills and certain property or family-law instruments are the usual examples) are excluded or need extra formalities. This is general information rather than legal advice; if the document matters, check what it or your jurisdiction requires.","href":"/sign-pdf#is-an-electronic-signature-legally-binding","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","sign","fill"]},{"id":"faq:sign-pdf-what-is-the-difference-between-an-electronic-and-a-digital-signature","title":"What is the difference between an electronic and a digital signature?","summary":"An electronic signature is your mark on the document: the handwritten signature this tool places. A digital signature is a cryptographic construct: a certificat","body":"An electronic signature is your mark on the document: the handwritten signature this tool places. A digital signature is a cryptographic construct: a certificate issued to you, bound to the file, that identifies the signer and makes later edits detectable. This tool does electronic signatures only. If a form asks specifically for a digital or certificate-based signature, use software your organisation has issued you.","href":"/sign-pdf#what-is-the-difference-between-an-electronic-and-a-digital-signature","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","sign","fill"]},{"id":"faq:sign-pdf-do-i-need-to-print-and-scan-the-document","title":"Do I need to print and scan the document?","summary":"No, and that is most of the point. Printing and scanning costs you a printer, a scanner, and a grey, skewed, hard-to-read copy of a document that started out cr","body":"No, and that is most of the point. Printing and scanning costs you a printer, a scanner, and a grey, skewed, hard-to-read copy of a document that started out crisp. Signing it in place keeps the text selectable and the pages exactly as they were.","href":"/sign-pdf#do-i-need-to-print-and-scan-the-document","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","sign","fill"]},{"id":"faq:sign-pdf-is-my-document-uploaded-anywhere","title":"Is my document uploaded anywhere?","summary":"No. It is opened, edited and re-exported inside your browser tab. There is no upload, no account and no stored copy. You can confirm it by signing a document wi","body":"No. It is opened, edited and re-exported inside your browser tab. There is no upload, no account and no stored copy. You can confirm it by signing a document with your network disconnected, and everything still works.","href":"/sign-pdf#is-my-document-uploaded-anywhere","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","sign"]},{"id":"faq:sign-pdf-can-i-sign-a-password-protected-pdf","title":"Can I sign a password-protected PDF?","summary":"Yes, if you know the password. Enter it when the file is opened and the document is decrypted in memory; it is never sent anywhere. If you do not have the passw","body":"Yes, if you know the password. Enter it when the file is opened and the document is decrypted in memory; it is never sent anywhere. If you do not have the password, no tool can legitimately open it for you.","href":"/sign-pdf#can-i-sign-a-password-protected-pdf","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","secure","sign"]},{"id":"faq:sign-pdf-can-i-add-my-initials-to-every-page","title":"Can I add my initials to every page?","summary":"Yes. Draw your initials as a signature and place a copy on each page that needs one, resizing to fit. There is no per-page or per-document limit.","body":"Yes. Draw your initials as a signature and place a copy on each page that needs one, resizing to fit. There is no per-page or per-document limit.","href":"/sign-pdf#can-i-add-my-initials-to-every-page","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","sign"]},{"id":"faq:sign-pdf-can-i-sign-on-a-phone-or-tablet","title":"Can I sign on a phone or tablet?","summary":"Yes, and a touchscreen is usually the best way to do it: a signature drawn with a finger or stylus looks far more like your real one than a signature drawn with","body":"Yes, and a touchscreen is usually the best way to do it: a signature drawn with a finger or stylus looks far more like your real one than a signature drawn with a mouse.","href":"/sign-pdf#can-i-sign-on-a-phone-or-tablet","kind":"FAQ","tags":["faq","new","sign"]},{"id":"step:upload-a-pdf","title":"Upload a PDF","summary":"Choose any form or document from your device. It opens directly in a browser workspace with the full page preview in view, so you always see the real layout whi","body":"Choose any form or document from your device. It opens directly in a browser workspace with the full page preview in view, so you always see the real layout while you work. Nothing is uploaded: the file is read locally by your browser, and closing the tab discards unsaved work. A session remains only if you explicitly choose Save on this device; it stays in local IndexedDB until you delete it or the browser clears site data, and it never includes a password.","href":"/how-it-works#step-1","kind":"How it works","tags":["step","new","secure","fill"]},{"id":"step:scan-for-fields","title":"Scan for fields","summary":"The AI scan reads the page three ways at once (the form fields already embedded in the PDF, the boxes and underlines drawn in the page geometry, and the labels ","body":"The AI scan reads the page three ways at once (the form fields already embedded in the PDF, the boxes and underlines drawn in the page geometry, and the labels detected in the text), then merges them into editable fields for text, numbers, checkmarks, and signatures. Forms that are already filled import their existing values too, so you can review and correct them rather than starting over.","href":"/how-it-works#step-2","kind":"How it works","tags":["step","new","sign","organize","fill"]},{"id":"step:refine-manually","title":"Refine manually","summary":"Scanned fields are a starting point, not a locked layout. Move, resize, duplicate, restyle, or add fields wherever the source PDF needs exact placement, and swi","body":"Scanned fields are a starting point, not a locked layout. Move, resize, duplicate, restyle, or add fields wherever the source PDF needs exact placement, and switch freely between scanned and manual fields without losing your work. Clear only the AI fields when a scan is noisy, or reset the whole workspace and start fresh.","href":"/how-it-works#step-3","kind":"How it works","tags":["step","new","fill"]},{"id":"step:sign-and-export","title":"Sign and export","summary":"Draw a signature, finish the remaining fields, then download or print a finished copy for review or submission. Exports are vector-based, so text stays crisp an","body":"Draw a signature, finish the remaining fields, then download or print a finished copy for review or submission. Exports are vector-based, so text stays crisp and selectable, highlights keep the same blending you see on screen, and the result looks exactly like the preview.","href":"/how-it-works#step-4","kind":"How it works","tags":["step","new","sign","markup","fill"]},{"id":"page:/editorial-policy","title":"Editorial policy","summary":"How Novus Stream Solutions Editorial Team reviews and maintains product guidance.","body":"The Novus Stream Solutions Editorial Team maintains Novus PDF Studio's product documentation, tutorials and PDF explainers. The team checks product claims against the current browser-local implementation and tests, prefers primary specifications and vendor documentation, and corrects material errors openly. The byline identifies the responsible organization; it does not imply a named expert or professional adviser. Review and accountability Product-technical claims are checked against the current application before publication. The editorial team verifies workflows against the current code, registries, tests and locally produced output. A feature is not described as available merely because it appears on a roadmap. Articles explain limitations where they affect a reader's decision, including the distinction between covering content and removing it, electronic and certificate-backed signatures, and selectable text versus tagged PDF structure. PDF guidance is educational product documentation, not legal, tax, immigration, medical or financial advice. Readers remain responsible for the requirements of the organization receiving a document. Corrections Specific correction reports go to the team that can amend the article and its product references. Report the page URL, the statement at issue and a primary source or reproducible product result when possible. The correction link on every article prepares an email with the article URL. Material corrections update the article's modif…","href":"/editorial-policy","kind":"Page","tags":["page","support","editorial","corrections","primary sources","AI assistance","freshness"]},{"id":"page:/","title":"Novus PDF Studio","summary":"Home: the twelve browser-local PDF tools, the fill-and-sign editor, and how local processing keeps documents on your device.","body":"Home: the twelve browser-local PDF tools, the fill-and-sign editor, and how local processing keeps documents on your device.","href":"/","kind":"Page","tags":["page","product"]},{"id":"page:/editor","title":"PDF Editor","summary":"Fill, sign, highlight, white-out, and export any PDF. An AI scan detects form fields (including values already filled in); manual tools cover everything the scan cannot. Password-protected files open with your password, locally.","body":"Fill, sign, highlight, white-out, and export any PDF. An AI scan detects form fields (including values already filled in); manual tools cover everything the scan cannot. Password-protected files open with your password, locally.","href":"/editor","kind":"Page","tags":["page","product"]},{"id":"page:/sign-pdf","title":"Sign a PDF","summary":"Draw an electronic signature and place it on any PDF in the browser, with the distinction between an electronic signature (what this does) and a certificate-backed digital signature (what it cannot do) stated up front, plus the eight questions people actually search for.","body":"Draw an electronic signature and place it on any PDF in the browser, with the distinction between an electronic signature (what this does) and a certificate-backed digital signature (what it cannot do) stated up front, plus the eight questions people actually search for.","href":"/sign-pdf","kind":"Page","tags":["page","product"]},{"id":"page:/create","title":"Create a PDF","summary":"Build a PDF from a blank page: paper size, orientation and per-edge margins, headings and paragraphs, measured tables, vector boxes and lines, page numbering, and 8 starting templates. Exports selectable text in the browser.","body":"Build a PDF from a blank page: paper size, orientation and per-edge margins, headings and paragraphs, measured tables, vector boxes and lines, page numbering, and 8 starting templates. Exports selectable text in the browser.","href":"/create","kind":"Page","tags":["page","product"]},{"id":"page:/about","title":"About","summary":"Why the whole product runs in the browser, how a free advertising-funded model works without a paid tier, what it deliberately does not do, and who builds it in London, Ontario.","body":"Why the whole product runs in the browser, how a free advertising-funded model works without a paid tier, what it deliberately does not do, and who builds it in London, Ontario.","href":"/about","kind":"Page","tags":["page","product"]},{"id":"page:/features","title":"Features","summary":"Every capability in one place (the standalone tools, the editor's fill, sign, mark, highlight and erase workflows) with explicit limits, including recoverable Cover mode and the document-structure trade-offs of page-rasterizing Remove mode.","body":"Every capability in one place (the standalone tools, the editor's fill, sign, mark, highlight and erase workflows) with explicit limits, including recoverable Cover mode and the document-structure trade-offs of page-rasterizing Remove mode.","href":"/features","kind":"Page","tags":["page","product"]},{"id":"page:/tool-map","title":"Tool map","summary":"A complete index of every page on the site, generated from the same route registry as the sitemap so it cannot drift: tools, editor, guides, tutorials, FAQs, articles, support and legal.","body":"A complete index of every page on the site, generated from the same route registry as the sitemap so it cannot drift: tools, editor, guides, tutorials, FAQs, articles, support and legal.","href":"/tool-map","kind":"Page","tags":["page","product"]},{"id":"page:/contact","title":"Contact","summary":"pdf@novusstreamsolutions.com: response times by request type, what to include in a bug report for each tool, and what support can and cannot do given zero server-side access to your files.","body":"pdf@novusstreamsolutions.com: response times by request type, what to include in a bug report for each tool, and what support can and cannot do given zero server-side access to your files.","href":"/contact","kind":"Page","tags":["page","support"]},{"id":"page:/mcp-server","title":"MCP server","summary":"The Model Context Protocol endpoint for AI clients: the address, how to add it to a client, every tool it exposes, and why it cannot touch a document.","body":"The Model Context Protocol endpoint for AI clients: the address, how to add it to a client, every tool it exposes, and why it cannot touch a document.","href":"/mcp-server","kind":"Page","tags":["page","support"]},{"id":"page:/accessibility","title":"Accessibility","summary":"Keyboard operation, screen-reader support, contrast and reduced-motion commitments against WCAG 2.2 AA, plus an honest list of the barriers that remain, including untagged exports and scanned-image PDFs.","body":"Keyboard operation, screen-reader support, contrast and reduced-motion commitments against WCAG 2.2 AA, plus an honest list of the barriers that remain, including untagged exports and scanned-image PDFs.","href":"/accessibility","kind":"Page","tags":["page","support"]},{"id":"page:/security","title":"Security","summary":"Local-only processing, AES-256 encryption applied in the browser, the difference between enforced encryption and advisory permission flags, why erasing is not redaction, and how to report a vulnerability.","body":"Local-only processing, AES-256 encryption applied in the browser, the difference between enforced encryption and advisory permission flags, why erasing is not redaction, and how to report a vulnerability.","href":"/security","kind":"Page","tags":["page","support"]},{"id":"page:/press","title":"Press kit","summary":"Boilerplate at three lengths, verified product facts, brand mark and colours, and the claims we ask writers not to make, including calling the erase tool redaction.","body":"Boilerplate at three lengths, verified product facts, brand mark and colours, and the claims we ask writers not to make, including calling the erase tool redaction.","href":"/press","kind":"Page","tags":["page","support"]},{"id":"page:/social","title":"Social accounts","summary":"Every account Novus Stream Solutions runs, 23 of them, with the handle for each. The same list this site's Organization markup asserts as sameAs, so the human-readable page and the machine-readable claim cannot disagree.","body":"Every account Novus Stream Solutions runs, 23 of them, with the handle for each. The same list this site's Organization markup asserts as sameAs, so the human-readable page and the machine-readable claim cannot disagree.","href":"/social","kind":"Page","tags":["page","support"]},{"id":"page:/ai-policy","title":"AI access policy","summary":"The crawl policy in prose: the 19 AI agents named in robots.txt split into bulk crawlers and the AI browsers fetching for a reader who is waiting, why blocking the second kind would cost a visitor here something real, what a crawl of this site does and does not collect, and what attribution we ask for. Generated from the same list robots.txt is generated from.","body":"The crawl policy in prose: the 19 AI agents named in robots.txt split into bulk crawlers and the AI browsers fetching for a reader who is waiting, why blocking the second kind would cost a visitor here something real, what a crawl of this site does and does not collect, and what attribution we ask for. Generated from the same list robots.txt is generated from.","href":"/ai-policy","kind":"Page","tags":["page","support"]},{"id":"page:/languages","title":"Languages","summary":"Which of the 5 languages on the shared Novus list this site actually renders, which are reserved but not published (and therefore stated rather than linked), why a language belongs in the address instead of a cookie, and the separate question of what language your document can be in, including the 3 the OCR tool reads.","body":"Which of the 5 languages on the shared Novus list this site actually renders, which are reserved but not published (and therefore stated rather than linked), why a language belongs in the address instead of a cookie, and the separate question of what language your document can be in, including the 3 the OCR tool reads.","href":"/languages","kind":"Page","tags":["page","support"]},{"id":"page:/status","title":"Status","summary":"What can actually fail when every tool runs in your browser: site delivery is the only service on our side, and a self-check list maps common symptoms to where the fault really is.","body":"What can actually fail when every tool runs in your browser: site delivery is the only service on our side, and a self-check list maps common symptoms to where the fault really is.","href":"/status","kind":"Page","tags":["page","support"]},{"id":"page:/privacy","title":"Privacy policy","summary":"Documents never leave the device. Optional Save on this device sessions use local IndexedDB only after a user action and never store passwords; Google Analytics is consent-gated and Google AdSense is not currently loaded.","body":"Documents never leave the device. Optional Save on this device sessions use local IndexedDB only after a user action and never store passwords; Google Analytics is consent-gated and Google AdSense is not currently loaded.","href":"/privacy","kind":"Page","tags":["page","legal"]},{"id":"page:/terms","title":"Terms of use","summary":"Acceptable use, the authorized-document rule for the unlock tool, and the verify-before-submission expectation.","body":"Acceptable use, the authorized-document rule for the unlock tool, and the verify-before-submission expectation.","href":"/terms","kind":"Page","tags":["page","legal"]},{"id":"page:/cookies","title":"Cookie preferences","summary":"Every first-party cookie, local-storage key, service-worker cache and opt-in IndexedDB document store the site uses, plus analytics and advertising controls.","body":"Every first-party cookie, local-storage key, service-worker cache and opt-in IndexedDB document store the site uses, plus analytics and advertising controls.","href":"/cookies","kind":"Page","tags":["page","legal"]}]}