PdfCraft v0.9.0

PdfCraft is a free, open-source PDF application designed as an alternative to Adobe Acrobat. Built from scratch in Rust, it combines PDF viewing, document organization, page management, file merging, splitting, and encryption tools in a native desktop application.

Unlike cloud-based PDF services, PdfCraft is designed to process documents locally without requiring an account, telemetry, or cloud processing. It supports Windows, macOS, Linux, and FreeBSD, with a WebAssembly version that runs in a browser.

PdfCraft is particularly interesting for users who want a lightweight, privacy-focused PDF workbench without a subscription. However, it is still an early-stage project, and users who depend on advanced PDF editing, digital signatures, or OCR should consider its current limitations before adopting it.

Features

PDF Viewing and Search

PdfCraft provides a document viewer with text selection, page navigation, and search-as-you-type functionality. Its text selection follows the document's reading order, making it easier to select and copy content from complex layouts.

The renderer is designed to handle international text, vertical Japanese writing, color emoji, and transparency. The application also includes a dark theme and two-page reading mode for a more comfortable reading experience.

A command palette provides quick access to tools and commands, reducing the need to navigate through multiple menus.

Organize and Rearrange Pages

PdfCraft includes a visual page organizer that makes managing PDF documents straightforward. Users can rotate, delete, insert, and reorder pages, with undo support for reversing changes.

These tools are useful for rearranging reports, removing unwanted pages, correcting scanned documents, and assembling documents in the desired order.

The application also supports incremental editing and atomic saves, alongside autosave and crash recovery features designed to reduce the risk of losing work.

Merge, Extract, and Split PDFs

PdfCraft allows users to combine multiple PDF files into a single document, extract selected pages, and split documents into smaller files.

Its document-processing engine aims to preserve important PDF structures during these operations, including links, form fields, layers, and bookmarks.

This makes it useful for administrative work, combining reports, preparing documents for submission, and separating large files into manageable sections.

However, complex documents should be checked after processing to ensure that their formatting and interactive elements remain intact.

PDF Security and Encryption

PdfCraft supports opening encrypted PDF files using older RC4 encryption and modern AES-256 encryption.

It also respects document permissions specified by the author. This is useful when working with protected documents that restrict certain operations.

Encryption support does not mean that PdfCraft provides every security feature available in professional PDF software. Users who require certificate-based digital signatures, advanced redaction, or specialized document-security workflows should verify those capabilities separately.

Forms, Layers, and Document Structure

PdfCraft is designed to preserve PDF features beyond ordinary page content. These include form fields, layers, links, and bookmarks when combining or splitting documents.

This is important because PDF files often contain interactive elements and structural information that can be lost when processed by simpler PDF utilities.

The project emphasizes document integrity, although its developers acknowledge that its rendering quality has not yet been comprehensively compared against Adobe Acrobat.

Command-Line Tools and AI Automation

PdfCraft includes a command-line interface for inspecting documents, extracting text, rendering pages, editing PDF files, combining documents, extracting pages, and splitting files.

For example, you can inspect a PDF's structure in JSON format:

pdfcraft-cli info document.pdf

Extract text from a specific page:

pdfcraft-cli text document.pdf --page 3

Rotate pages, delete a page, and update the document title:

pdfcraft-cli edit input.pdf \
  --rotate 1,2:90 \
  --delete 5 \
  --title "Q3" \
  --out output.pdf

These capabilities make PdfCraft useful for batch processing, scripts, and automated document workflows. Its agent-oriented architecture also makes it suitable for integration with compatible AI tools.

Download PdfCraft v0.9.0 - Software Mirrors
PdfCraft v0.9.0 for Windows pdfcraft-0.9.0-windows-x86.msi | 66.72 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-windows-x86-portable.zip | 78.64 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-windows-x64.msi | 68.66 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-windows-x64-portable.zip | 82.25 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-windows-arm64.msi | 64.65 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-windows-arm64-portable.zip | 78.74 MB
PdfCraft v0.9.0 for macOS pdfcraft-cli-0.9.0-macos-universal.zip | 58.66 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-macos-universal.dmg | 90.77 MB
PdfCraft v0.9.0 for Linux pdfcraft-cli-0.9.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz | 29.27 MB pdfcraft-cli-0.9.0-linux-aarch64.tar.gz | 27.82 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz | 81.8 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-x86_64.rpm | 82.43 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-x86_64.flatpak | 61.94 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-x86_64.deb | 82.85 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage.zsync | 273.11 kB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage | 77.96 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-riscv64.tar.gz | 79.54 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-riscv64.rpm | 80.19 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-riscv64.deb | 80.43 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-aarch64.tar.gz | 78.32 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-aarch64.rpm | 79.61 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-aarch64.flatpak | 58.27 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-aarch64.deb | 80.15 MB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-aarch64.AppImage.zsync | 261.77 kB pdfcraft-0.9.0-linux-aarch64.AppImage | 74.72 MB
PdfCraft v0.9.0 for BSD pdfcraft-0.9.0-freebsd-x86_64.tar.gz | 81.23 MB
Others Download related to PdfCraft v0.9.0 pdfcraft-web-0.9.0.zip | 13.78 MB
PdfCraft v0.9.0 Source Code PdfCraft v0.9.0 Source code (zip) PdfCraft v0.9.0 Source code (tar.gz)
PdfCraft v0.9.0 Release Notes: What's Changed Make a missing external oracle loud instead of a silent pass by @tanish2k09 in #2266 One way to write a synthetic PDF fixture by @tanish2k09 in #2275 Measure rendering against Poppler, and turn the pixel test on by @tanish2k09 in #2286 Say what the render-oracle score does and does not mean by @tanish2k09 in #2290 Pin that every JBIG2 conformance fixture decodes to the same picture by @tanish2k09 in #2300 The fonts README still called the standard-14 widths an estimate by @tanish2k09 in #2304 The text oracle scored us zero for honouring a no-copy document by @tanish2k09 in #2312 Fix oracle Clippy failure for four-byte pixel chunks by @sanyamsingh001 in #2342 Preserve precision when writing page transforms by @sanyamsingh001 in #946 Printing: a layer that is off in the document stays off on the sheets by @Byxis in #1135 Clear image leftovers by @not-a-feature in #1151 Tests: use 300 DPI synthetic scan for OCR searchability by @earlvanze in #1197 M8: Bound and reuse repeated redaction overlays by @LabDennis in #1426 M4: keep the last saved revision across undo (#1310, #1311, #1312) by @bartalos86 in #1435 M5: add comment and reply submission shortcuts by @Luchsen in #1457 M12: mark leaf tags as artifacts by @earlvanze in #1475 COS: index cross-reference entries on demand by @cyfung1031 in #1505 feat(ui): drop files on the Pages panel to insert pages by @tylerstoltz in #1547 Clamp extracted Indexed image samples to the declared palette range by @FredApps in #1581 Keep page labels and focused navigation consistent across reloads by @sanyamsingh001 in #1667 Keep the full final spread reachable with unequal page heights by @FredApps in #1672 Text selection: dragging to the top or bottom edge of the view scrolls it by @marcoarnulfo in #1675 Edit text & images: a dragged image's pixels follow its frame instead of waiting for the release by @marcoarnulfo in #1677 Text selection: a drag after a double- or triple-click extends by whole words or lines by @marcoarnulfo in #1689 fix(render, ui): form-heavy documents draw and fill fast (spot-colour images, widget placement, Fields panel) by @Piohrun in #1691 i18n(pt-br): fix 6 Brazilian Portuguese strings by @s17sh70x2jfl031ag in #1694 Sinhala and Tamil interface: draw with an installed font (part of #1688) by @manchitmr in #1706 M5: Fill & Sign text reads across on rotated pages by @alexanderalber in #1710 M14: add Vietnamese interface and date localization by @duydev in #1712 Edit text: the four-way arrow wherever a drag moves, and a sharp page while editing by @ch0kemeister in #1717 macOS: the standard About panel shows the website and Discord links (#1287) by @ch0kemeister in #1718 M6: detect form fields on scanned pages (#1721) by @alexanderalber in #1722 M2: Make literal text search linear and tolerate missing layout metadata by @LabDennis in #1725 fix(ui): clicking a theme card in Preferences picks that theme by @umesh429 in #1727 Issue #1676: put fallback faces on the interface baseline by @mtlcl410 in #1743 M7: fold repeated image transforms into one cm instead of nesting q by @komo1iddin in #1746 i18n: Taiwan vocabulary and the missing entries in zh-hant by @mtlcl410 in #1750 M7: keep the source operators of rows a text edit doesn't reach by @komo1iddin in #1754 M7: draw new characters with the source font's own embedded program by @komo1iddin in #1760 Automation: tell a tool name or an unknown id from a command without a tool in command_run by @marcoarnulfo in #1765 M7: reuse a page's font resource and program when embedding again by @komo1iddin in #1779 M2: Add word and character counts with optional content exclusions by @LabDennis in #1780 M7: read the page once per keystroke when measuring a text draft by @komo1iddin in #1781 M11: merge image fragments, and the Standard and Mobile optimizer presets (closes #1783) by @magdale76 in #1784 M7: rewrap Chinese and Japanese text between characters by @komo1iddin in #1827 M7: justify paragraphs whose font shows the space with another code by @komo1iddin in #1832 Edit image: give each flip button the icon of its own mirror axis by @marcoarnulfo in #1841 M10: A6 paper in the print dialog and doc_print by @marcoarnulfo in #1849 M7: Add / Update / Remove menu on Header and footer, Watermark, Background by @Byxis in #1857 fix(a11y): mark_decorative no longer panics on an unpaired ParentTree key (#1809) by @mtlcl410 in #1862 M2: a /Rotate that isn't a quarter turn counts as 0, as the page is drawn by @pauliusiv123-rgb in #1863 fix(cos): a nonpositive crypt-filter /Length no longer overflows (#1816) by @mtlcl410 in #1864 fix(audit): find rectangle covers closed with h or painted with b/b* (#1817) by @mtlcl410 in #1865 fix(sign): an unreadable extendedKeyUsage allows no purpose (#1807) by @mtlcl410 in #1866 audit: harden finding classes with golden tests and docs by @ejbarraza in #1892 fix(audit): an applied redaction at the end of a line is not a faux redaction by @CouchRiv in #1898 fix(a11y): bookmarks from structure keep the words of glyph-by-glyph headings by @CouchRiv in #1899 fix(audit): report faux-redaction rectangles in top-left page points by @CouchRiv in #1900 fix: render CCITT Group 4 images that declare /Rows 0 by @ehinderer in #1903 fix(automation): a missing path under --root says where it was looked for (#1890) by @mtlcl410 in #1907 M3: touchpad swipes glide on after the fingers lift on Wayland (#531) by @mlkonrad in #1909 fix(redact): the tail of a longer number is not a phone number (#1884) by @mtlcl410 in #1911 fix(forms): new text and date fields take Acrobat's Auto font size (#1888) by @mtlcl410 in #1912 feat(ui): a middle click closes a tab (#1853) by @mtlcl410 in #1920 fix(organize): bound how deep an import follows the object graph (#1800) by @mtlcl410 in #1921 M2: Bound page-tree traversal memory for repeated children (#1798) by @LabDennis in #1926 Compare files: side by side, scrolled and zoomed together by @regendorf-ux in #1927 M11: measure every use of an image drawn through deeply nested forms (#1811) by @mlkonrad in #1933 fix(edit): flattening keeps a widget it cannot draw and an undrawn reply (#1794) by @mtlcl410 in #1934 fix(control): a deadline and a cap for connections that have not authenticated (#1806) by @mtlcl410 in #1939 Issue #305: an update keeps the File Explorer menu choices, and the image menu gets a switch by @jcl-bit in #1941 fix(sign): a signed revision of a password-protected file opens with the document's key (#1808) by @mtlcl410 in #1945 feat(organize): Insert pages from file brings the file's bookmarks by @CouchRiv in #1947 XFA: flatten a form into a plain PDF, or convert it to a static form by @ysrdevs in #1948 feat(cli): page lists take ranges, and a missing page is named as typed (#1923) by @mtlcl410 in #1950 M9: signature labels follow the interface language, and one the font can't draw is refused, never written as ? by @kekeandzeyu in #1951 Keep native open replies queued while dialogs and pickers are active by @sanyamsingh001 in #1953 M2: bound ASCII85 decoding by the stream's output limit (#1796) by @Ridzzz0Alam in #1954 M4: write each page label dictionary as an indirect object by @marcoarnulfo in #1959 M6: auto-size text fields shrink and wrap typed text on screen, as on the page by @dsskaggs-ai in #1964 Print: print as image (Advanced), with grayscale pictures by @regendorf-ux in #1965 fix(automation): no top-level oneOf in form_set_props input schema (#1961) by @andreero0 in #1967 CLI: run --script --report prints one JSON document for the run (#1891) by @vangel76 in #1974 Issue #1910: Organize opens on the current page by @alehel in #1975 Signature pad: Undo button and Ctrl/Cmd+Z take back the last stroke (#1963) by @vangel76 in #1978 View: show page size when hovering the bottom-left of the page view (#1855) by @vangel76 in #1979 Export to Word: show pictures on positioned pages, bound the pictures (#1936) by @vangel76 in #1981 M2: keep the raw crop minimum in physical points by @sanyamsingh001 in #1982 Comments: font size for text boxes in Comment Properties (#1908) by @vangel76 in #1984 Viewer: a press on a page makes it the current page (#1956) by @vangel76 in #1985 View: Single Page wheel turns to the next page at the edge of a zoomed-in page (#1924) by @vangel76 in #1986 Draw: a released pen stroke stays on screen until the page raster has it (#1858) by @vangel76 in #1987 Forms: simplified field notation written as real JavaScript, not AFMakeNumber(0) by @regendorf-ux in #1995 Edit: crop an existing page image with its handles by @regendorf-ux in #2002 Redaction Tool Properties: the mark's appearance, and Make properties default by @regendorf-ux in #2008 fix(ui): wrap long filenames and metadata in Document Properties (#2011) by @Osaym in #2012 M2: clip intersection starts its row walk at the first shared row by @cyfung1031 in #2026 fix(render): a Multiply highlight inside a transparency group keeps the text (#1968) by @mtlcl410 in #2027 M7: list Edit text & images first under Modify page by @lava in #2028 Linux/BSD: open files from later launches in the running PdfCraft (#1726) by @tydude001 in #2037 fix(forms): read each JavaScript name tree node once by @Dev-next-gen in #2040 Wait for remote-link errors before asserting in UI tests by @sanyamsingh001 in #2041 M2: heavy-sheet generator and page timing harness (item 8 of storytold/pdfcraft#623) by @cyfung1031 in #2042 perf(xfa): make som index lookup linear by @osaidahmed in #2047 i18n(es): translate the new print and Add text strings, Type on the signature pad, tú register by @txiki739 in #2049 fix(ui): preserve Ctrl+Alt+Q during digital ID creation by @sampaiodias in #2055 chore(contributors): credit mtlcl410 by display name by @mtlcl410 in #2065 M4: read page transitions and display times (/Trans, /Dur) into DocInfo by @mtlcl410 in #2074 M4: set page transitions and display times (/Trans, /Dur) through the engine and the tools by @mtlcl410 in #2083 M12: the geometry of page transitions (ISO 32000-2 table 164) by @mtlcl410 in #2084 M3: a document that asks to open in Full Screen mode asks first (/PageMode /FullScreen) by @mtlcl410 in #2086 chore(packaging): give test-msi.ps1 a UTF-8 BOM so Windows PowerShell 5.1 parses it by @mtlcl410 in #2092 fix(organize): keep page labels on their pages when pages are deleted by @marcoarnulfo in #2093 fix(ui): check boxes over text should show the pointing hand, not the I-beam by @alehel in #2099 M3: preserve coordinate clicks across slow frames by @sanyamsingh001 in #2100 fix(a11y): mark_decorative finds MCIDs in named property lists (#1813) by @jonathanwxh-cell in #2106 fix(ui): header, footer and watermark dialogs refuse undrawable text … by @jonathanwxh-cell in #2107 M7: Hebrew in Add text (#128) by @michaelsh1 in #2109 fix(sign): a signed page's resources are page content whatever keys a later revision writes (#1787) by @mtlcl410 in #2115 fix: Space Audit lines up its columns and counts form fonts as fonts by @alehel in #2118 test(ui): wait for the save to write the file instead of a fixed frame count by @lhymes in #2122 fix(render): a soft mask fades a gradient fill again by @marcoarnulfo in #2132 OCR: Downsample to shrinks a page box given in pixels by @marcoarnulfo in #2135 Fix multi-select choice index ordering by @sanyamsingh001 in #2144 M3: Improve Back/Forward page navigation (fixes #2080) by @srt8hellcat2-ui in #2151 fix(fonts): keep a subset Type 0 font for glyphs /W leaves to /DW by @marcoarnulfo in #2153 M1: every PDF leaves the engine checked, and every writer uses one staging-file writer (#2166) by @mtlcl410 in #2182 M9: harden .p12 digital IDs (#1847) by @Ridzzz0Alam in #2201 packaging: RPM requires library sonames, so openSUSE can install it by @tydude001 in #2205 fix(edit): keep the runs of untouched text between two edits by @marcoarnulfo in #2209 Forms: fields that share a name take the same value by @marcoarnulfo in #2217 M3: Save asks before writing over a changed file, one tab per file, locked autosaves (#2166) by @mtlcl410 in #2218 fix(redact): size image clearing with checked arithmetic (#2177) by @atahabilder1 in #2221 fix(forms): open a text field on press so dragging over it selects text by @marcoarnulfo in #2226 fix(test): reload tests pin the English interface like every other harness by @abc2cb in #2239 M7: the Edit tab turns on Edit text & images, as in Acrobat by @abc2cb in #2241 fix(edit): keep Edit text & images boxes drawn while page input waits by @abc2cb in #2242 fix(organize): draw a rotated page large and centred in its grid cell by @abc2cb in #2243 M4: lay out Organize pages as Acrobat's panel by @abc2cb in #2248 feat(ui): Shift on a corner handle keeps proportions for comments, stamps, and form fields by @adrianiglesiass in #2252 Refuse header/footer Bates numbers that would overflow u64 by @Silvertree2010 in #2253 fix(preflight): read device colour from content operators, not whitespace-split bytes by @guillehr2 in #2260 docs: catalog hashes in ATTRIBUTION.toml are updated by hand by @vangel76 in #2271 Tabs: show the drop line in front of the first tab (#2225) by @vangel76 in #2278 M0: the every-command test never opens a real file dialog by @abszar in #2281 Export All Images: zero-pad the page number so files sort in page order (#2208) by @snipeTR in #2295 edit: commit the open paragraph when a click switches text boxes by @midasmatterhorn in #2302 Read WinAnsi 0xAD as a hyphen, so search and redaction can see it by @tanish2k09 in #2305 fix(engine): give a host with no clock or time zone a real one (Session::with_wall_clock) by @bonfim6P in #2317 feat(automation): Automation::render_pixels returns a page as RGBA, without the PNG round trip by @bonfim6P in #2318 M14: Italian catalog: complete the missing entries by @kcobelli-pixel in #2320 fix(ui): stop dropping cached tiles when zooming away and back (#2196) by @Hathor875 in #2323 test(ui): wait for the text layer by state, not for a fixed second (#1277) by @mtlcl410 in #2327 fix(print): the Print dialog waits for the printer list instead of offering Save as PDF (#160) by @mtlcl410 in #2332 M3: arrow keys follow the Scroll speed preference (#985) by @mtlcl410 in #2333 Requeue render requests after parse cancellation by @sanyamsingh001 in #2334 feat(automation): accessibility_tags lists tags a page at a time, with filters by @CouchRiv in #2335 feat(automation): bookmarks and links say where on the page they go by @CouchRiv in #2344 fix(ui): on macOS, dragging a tab moves the tab, not the window by @tisca26 in #2347 M10.5: convert print previews to grayscale by @earlvanze in #2351 Preserve literal spaces in page-label prefixes by @sanyamsingh001 in #2355 crypt: property tests for encrypted content, crypt filters and damaged ciphertext by @amoisttowe1 in #2358 fix(ui): a shape just drawn resizes from its handles without the Select tool by @cortenburg28-arch in #2362 fix(cli): render comments the app renders when /AP is missing by @earlvanze in #2382 Fix util.printd panic on an escaped multi-byte character by @Silvertree2010 in #2386 Reject impossible dates such as Feb 30 in FormCalc Date2Num and Parse by @Silvertree2010 in #2388 M5: Make Properties Default in Comment Properties by @DCM4711 in #2031 M1: keep unknown trailer entries on a full save (#1338) by @bartalos86 in #1431 Tests: viewer find test waits by a deadline (flaky under load) by @echelon in #779 Add permission-aware selected-text Copy to Edit and context menus by @FredApps in #1244 M6: expose dropdown and list-box field alignment (#1208) by @DWAA1660 in #1263 M14: correct localization and installer parity statuses (gap 24) by @rp6186030 in #1211 M1: repair exhausted xref hints without object-number overflow (#1337) by @DWAA1660 in #1359 M10: Windows print jobs show per-sheet progress; printers list faster (follow-up to #944) by @TKIPisalegacycipher in #1236 Keep selected form values and page content through later edits (#1319, #1305, #1324, #1306) by @bartalos86 in #1452 M7: keep line breaks when editing a multi-line paragraph (#1443) by @rp6186030 in #1486 MCP: confine file access with --automation-read-root and --automation-write-root by @isaac-levine in #1448 fix(macos): Cmd+Q asks about unsaved changes (#1136) by @Mahmud-Baspehlivan in #1533 M3: scroll the view when drawing at an edge; take back a polygon's last point by @philip-tam in #1549 M2: preserve inline-image pixels when rewriting page content by @MMexicann in #1562 Perf: defer marker and link index scans until first use by @cyfung1031 in #1434 M12: tag unstructured AcroForm widgets by @earlvanze in #1451 M12: find untagged accessibility content by @earlvanze in #1463 feat(ui): preference to hide author-only highlight hover previews (#1432) by @Totopo27 in #1466 Print: 4 x 6 in label paper and a Label layout for shipping labels by @Ace40063 in #1583 M12: show structure tag content by @earlvanze in #1496 Keep added text selectable over form fields by @FredApps in #1528 M7: Cut, Redact, Create Link and Recognize Text in the picture menu; keep the menu open by @philip-tam in #1621 M6: preserve XFDF field text around XML comments by @storybored379 in #1647 M14: store XDG preferences in configuration directory (#1395) by @DWAA1660 in #1536 M7: grow text boxes and edit existing text by @YouseifUS in #1539 M6: make list boxes directly selectable and scroll to selection (#1524) by @lollinoo in #1543 Complete the Arabic (العربية) catalog: every missing row translated by @hasan-sdaif in #1559 M1: edit finds the pages a damaged file's readers find by @marcoarnulfo in #1664 M14: Fix(nixos): discover installed UI fallback fonts on NixOS by @tomasmark79 in #1553 M6: preserve carriage returns in form CSV exports by @MMexicann in #1563 M6: export valid XML tags for Unicode field names by @MMexicann in #1588 Keep annotations readable under reading colours (#1548) by @edurbs in #1557 Comments panel: page groups fold from their chevron by @marcoarnulfo in #1614 M3: Wayland: stop retaining Ctrl zoom for pixel-only wheel input by @tomasmark79 in #1569 Tests: the signing test's password meets the 8-character minimum (#2417) by @wstock in #2420 fix(parity): merge the keys concurrent merges left twice in acrobat-features.toml by @mtlcl410 in #2419 fix(i18n): zh-hant had two keys twice after concurrent merges by @mtlcl410 in #2414 Tests: repair stale save and search regressions without weakening validation by @FredApps in #2484 Fix main UI regressions in paging, fonts and test expectations by @FredApps in #2502 i18n: fill Vietnamese and Lithuanian coverage gaps on main by @FredApps in #2510 Read the Annex D.2 alias codes as the ink they draw, in both tables by @tanish2k09 in #2656 Score reading order in the text oracle, which word F1 cannot see by @tanish2k09 in #2680 Record the day's two changes in the roadmap and gap 12 by @tanish2k09 in #2682 fix(render): faster sampled functions, image decodes across zoom levels and patch meshes (vendored hayro-interpret patches 31–33) by @Piohrun in #2436 fix(ui): validated signature display, snapshot tab reuse by @chiranjeevi-max in #1895 ci: add nix check workflow by @dylanmtaylor in #2727 test: retain open regressions and deterministic fixtures by @skylartaylor in #2067 M8: the redaction audit finds a cover over one word of a long line (#2662) by @mtlcl410 in #2698 Resolve remote links and document-supplied output names safely by @skylartaylor in #3083 M6: preserve complete plain XML form values by @MMexicann in #2686 deny: acknowledge the new zbus unmaintained advisories by @skylartaylor in #3091 M6: preserve whitespace in XML and XFDF attributes by @MMexicann in #1917 fix(filters): preserve output-limit errors in raw Flate fallback by @MMexicann in #2267 Read stream-boundary comments as the renderer does, and isolate new marks from appended graphics state by @skylartaylor in #3102 New Contributors @Luchsen made their first contribution in #1457 @tylerstoltz made their first contribution in #1547 @s17sh70x2jfl031ag made their first contribution in #1694 @manchitmr made their first contribution in #1706 @alexanderalber made their first contribution in #1710 @duydev made their first contribution in #1712 @ehinderer made their first contribution in #1903 @regendorf-ux made their first contribution in #1927 @andreero0 made their first contribution in #1967 @vangel76 made their first contribution in #1974 @alehel made their first contribution in #1975 @Osaym made their first contribution in #2012 @lava made their first contribution in #2028 @tydude001 made their first contribution in #2037 @Dev-next-gen made their first contribution in #2040 @osaidahmed made their first contribution in #2047 @txiki739 made their first contribution in #2049 @sampaiodias made their first contribution in #2055 @jonathanwxh-cell made their first contribution in #2106 @michaelsh1 made their first contribution in #2109 @lhymes made their first contribution in #2122 @atahabilder1 made their first contribution in #2221 @abc2cb made their first contribution in #2239 @adrianiglesiass made their first contribution in #2252 @Silvertree2010 made their first contribution in #2253 @abszar made their first contribution in #2281 @midasmatterhorn made their first contribution in #2302 @bonfim6P made their first contribution in #2317 @kcobelli-pixel made their first contribution in #2320 @tisca26 made their first contribution in #2347 @amoisttowe1 made their first contribution in #2358 @cortenburg28-arch made their first contribution in #2362 @DCM4711 made their first contribution in #2031 @TKIPisalegacycipher made their first contribution in #1236 @isaac-levine made their first contribution in #1448 @Ace40063 made their first contribution in #1583 @hasan-sdaif made their first contribution in #1559 @tomasmark79 made their first contribution in #1553 Full Changelog: v0.8.0...v0.9.0

Performance and Compatibility

PdfCraft is written in Rust, with its PDF parsing, rendering, and editing logic organized into reusable libraries. The graphical interface is built on top of this underlying engine.

The project emphasizes faithful document rendering, reliable file operations, and local processing. Its developers report zero crashes across a test corpus of 983 PDF files, although this result should not be interpreted as a guarantee of compatibility with every PDF document.

Supported platforms include Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD, and modern web browsers through WebAssembly. Available packages include Windows installers and portable archives, a universal macOS disk image, Linux AppImage packages, Debian packages, RPM packages, and other distribution formats.

PdfCraft is still in early development. Its roadmap identifies renderer improvements, stronger compatibility testing, editing existing PDF content, digital signatures, OCR, Office-related workflows, preflight tools, and XFA support as areas for further development.

Consequently, it is best viewed as a promising PDF workbench rather than a complete replacement for every Adobe Acrobat workflow.

System Requirements

• Operating systems: Windows, macOS, Linux, and FreeBSD.

• Browser support: WebAssembly build for modern browsers.

• Windows architectures: x86, x64, and ARM64.

• Linux architectures: x86-64 and ARM64.

• macOS: Universal build for Intel and Apple silicon.

• Build requirements: Rust 1.90 or newer, along with the project's documented development dependencies.

The project does not establish a comprehensive minimum RAM or processor specification in the information reviewed. Basic PDF viewing should be suitable for a broad range of modern computers, but performance will depend on document complexity and system resources.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Free and open-source under permissive licenses.

• Native applications for major desktop operating systems.

• Local document processing without mandatory accounts or cloud uploads.

• PDF viewing with text search and selection.

• Page rotation, deletion, insertion, and reordering.

• PDF merging, extraction, and splitting.

• Support for encrypted PDFs and document permissions.

• Designed to preserve links, form fields, layers, and bookmarks.

• Autosave, crash recovery, and undo support.

• Command-line tools for scripting and batch processing.

• WebAssembly version for browser-based use.

Cons

• Still in early development, with some features planned rather than implemented.

• PDF rendering quality has not yet been comprehensively benchmarked against Adobe Acrobat.

• Advanced editing of existing PDF content remains a development priority.

• Digital signatures, OCR, and specialized document workflows are not yet comprehensive.

• Compatibility with complex forms and unusual PDF documents requires further testing.

• Professional publishing and document-preflight capabilities are limited.

How to Install

The easiest way to install PdfCraft is to visit its official website and download the package for your operating system.

Windows users can choose an installer or portable archive. macOS users can download the universal disk image, while Linux users can select AppImage, DEB, RPM, or another available package.

To build PdfCraft from source, install Rust 1.90 or newer and run:

git clone https://github.com/storytold/pdfcraft.git
cd pdfcraft
cargo run --release -p pdfcraft

For command-line PDF processing, build or install the CLI package provided by the project. Consult the official documentation for supported commands, build dependencies, and platform-specific installation instructions.

Final Verdict

PdfCraft is a promising open-source PDF editor for users who want to read, organize, combine, split, and secure documents without relying on a cloud service or paid subscription.

Its strongest advantages are local processing, cross-platform availability, careful handling of PDF structure, and a command-line interface that supports automation. These features make it appealing to developers, privacy-conscious users, and anyone who regularly manages PDF documents.

The main limitation is maturity. PdfCraft does not yet cover every advanced capability offered by established PDF applications, particularly for editing existing content, digital signatures, OCR, and specialized document workflows.

For everyday PDF viewing and organization, PdfCraft is worth trying. Users who need a complete professional PDF solution should evaluate its current feature set against their specific requirements before replacing their existing software.

Free

Download

Software Informations:
Developer:
ArtCraft
Operating System:
Windows / macOS / Linux / BSD
Date Added:
2026-10-18T07:07:22.058Z
Categories:

Related to PdfCraft v0.9.0:

Post a Comment/Report Broken Link: