PDF EDITOR PRO
==============

A complete PDF toolkit that runs on your own computer. Your files are never
uploaded anywhere - there is no account, no sign-up, and it works offline.


HOW TO START IT
---------------

Windows:      double-click  start.bat
Mac / Linux:  run           ./start.sh

Your browser opens automatically. Keep the little black window open while you
work - closing it stops the program.


FIRST TIME ONLY
---------------

You need Node.js installed. If start.bat tells you it is missing:

  1. Go to https://nodejs.org
  2. Download the big green "LTS" button
  3. Run the installer and click Next until it finishes
  4. Double-click start.bat again

That is a one-time step. Everything else is already included in this folder.


WHAT IT DOES
------------

Organise    Merge PDFs, split them, delete / rotate / reorder pages,
            extract page ranges

Edit        Change existing text directly on the page, add new text,
            watermarks, page numbers, headers and footers, and stamp a
            signature or logo image

Convert     Shrink big PDFs, turn pages into images, turn images into a PDF,
            pull all the text out into a .txt file

Secure      Password-protect with AES-256, open protected files, edit the
            document properties, flatten filled-in forms

Undo is Ctrl+Z. Save is Ctrl+S.


EDITING TEXT
------------

Open a PDF, click "Edit text" on the left, then click any highlighted line,
type the new wording and press Enter. Click Apply when you are done.

Worth knowing:
  - It replaces one line at a time. It does not reflow paragraphs, so a much
    longer replacement is shrunk to fit rather than pushed onto a new line.
  - Scanned documents are pictures, not text, so there is nothing to edit.
    This program has no OCR.
  - Arabic and Hindi are not supported for editing. Accented European text
    is fine.


PASSWORDS
---------

Setting a password takes effect when you click "Save PDF", not while you are
editing - so you can keep working after setting one.

There is no way to recover a lost PDF password. Write it down.


TROUBLESHOOTING
---------------

Nothing happens when I double-click start.bat
    Node.js is probably not installed. See "First time only" above.

The browser opened but the page is blank
    Wait a few seconds and refresh. The program takes a moment to warm up.

It says the files are missing
    Unzip the download again and keep every folder together. Running
    start.bat from inside the ZIP without unzipping does not work.

My antivirus is suspicious
    It is a local web server, so some antivirus tools ask about it. Nothing
    connects to the internet - you can even unplug it and the program works.
