Hey HN,
We're excited to share PDFTool, a new Chrome Extension designed for secure and private PDF manipulation, with all processing happening entirely locally in your browser.
In an age where concerns about data privacy are paramount, especially with major players like Adobe increasingly integrating AI features that could (and have sparked fears about) use your documents for training, we felt there was a critical need for a PDF tool that truly respects your privacy.
PDFTool's core philosophy is simple: your PDFs never leave your device. Unlike many online PDF services that require you to upload your sensitive documents to their servers (and then, who knows what happens to them?), PDFTool performs all operations right there in your Chrome browser, leveraging WebAssembly for efficient processing.
This means:
- Maximum Privacy: Your financial statements, legal documents, personal records – they remain exclusively on your machine. No uploads, no cloud storage, no third-party servers seeing your data.
- Offline Functionality: Once the extension is loaded, you can even disable your internet connection and continue working on your PDFs. This is a clear indicator that no data is being sent out.
- No AI Training Concerns: You don't have to worry about your confidential PDFs being inadvertently used to train large language models or other AI systems. Your data is yours.Currently, PDFTool provides essential functionalities directly in your browser:
- Merging PDFs: Combine multiple PDFs securely.
- Splitting PDFs: Extract pages or ranges from a document.
- Fill and Sign : Fill and Sign PDFs locally.
We believe this approach is a game-changer for anyone who values their digital privacy and needs quick, reliable PDF tools. It's built to be straightforward and functional, without the bloat or data leakage risks of many alternatives.
We're eager for your feedback and contributions.