{"data":{"items":[{"id":"95da900d-2630-47a8-b0de-fde2e809f22a","excerpt":"I hate Adobe so much I wrote my own PDF editor and open-sourced it — I got tired of Adobe.\n\nAcrobat is bloated, it wants a subscription to do basic things, and it phones home constantly. Most of the \"free\" alternatives are the same thing: give you a viewer, paywall the editor, harvest your email, or route your document","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/software/comments/1smusdz/i_hate_adobe_so_much_i_wrote_my_own_pdf_editor/","role":"pain","weight":1.5647917,"occurredAt":"2026-04-16T05:49:37.000Z","sourceKey":"reddit","sourceName":"Reddit","credibility":0.62,"venue":"software","intent":"feature_request","painScore":0.85,"sentiment":-1,"confidence":0.84583336,"matchedPatterns":["i_hate","missing_feature"],"statement":"I hate Adobe so much I wrote my own PDF editor and open-sourced it.","title":"I hate Adobe so much I wrote my own PDF editor and open-sourced it","body":"I got tired of Adobe.\n\nAcrobat is bloated, it wants a subscription to do basic things, and it phones home constantly. Most of the \"free\" alternatives are the same thing: give you a viewer, paywall the editor, harvest your email, or route your documents through somebody else's cloud.  \nWhat is \"Enhanced Security\" even doing?  \nWhy are there always multiple \"Creative Cloud\" processes running?\n\nSo I wrote my own PDF Editor and I just open-sourced it.\n\nKillerPDF: Portable Windows exe, about 10 MB zipped\n\nView PDFs with page thumbnails, zoom, keyboard nav  \nMerge multiple PDFs or split out selected pages, drag-and-drop reorder  \nDouble-click to edit text inline with font matching  \nText boxes, freehand drawing, highlight overlays with adjustable color and opacity  \nDraw and save reusable signatures, click to place anywhere  \nFull-text search with highlighted results, drag-select to copy  \nPrint with annotations flattened\n\nNo installer, no account, no subscription, no telemetry\n\nDownload: [https://pdf.killertools.net](https://pdf.killertools.net)  \nSource: [https://github.com/SteveTheKiller/KillerPDF](https://github.com/SteveTheKiller/KillerPDF)\n\nReleased under GPLv3 so forks stay open.  \nBuilt with WPF and .NET 8, uses PdfPig for text extraction, PdfSharpCore for writing, and Docnet/PDFium for rendering.\n\nThis is my second open-source release this week (first was KillerScan, a portable network scanner).  \nBoth built for my day job as a field tech at an MSP where I need tools that work without asking me to sign in or pay.\n\nFeedback welcome.  \nIf something renders wrong or a feature is missing, drop it in the GitHub issues.\n\nEDIT: Update, I have removed the .NET 8.0 dependency. It should now run without needing that!","offTopic":false},{"id":"2ccf04ba-1688-4903-a110-dabf18e93951","excerpt":"I got tired of Adobe Acrobat’s paywalls, so I built a free, 100% in-browser fillable PDF builder — Hello everyone,\n\nhttps://i.redd.it/pacsv0w20ykh1.gif\n\nLike a lot of people here, I’ve always found it frustrating that turning a basic static PDF into an interactive, fillable form usually requires an expensive Adobe Acro","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1vvexn5/i_got_tired_of_adobe_acrobats_paywalls_so_i_built/","role":"pain","weight":1.028631,"occurredAt":"2026-08-22T15:10:57.000Z","sourceKey":"reddit","sourceName":"Reddit","credibility":0.62,"venue":"webdev","intent":"feature_request","painScore":0.4435294,"sentiment":-0.05882353,"confidence":0.71258056,"matchedPatterns":["frustrating","missing_feature"],"statement":"* The code is open source on GitHub: sshrestha-design/justforms I’d love to get your feedback on the canvas editing UX, performance on large multi-page PDFs, or any features you feel are missing.","title":"I got tired of Adobe Acrobat’s paywalls, so I built a free, 100% in-browser fillable PDF builder","body":"Hello everyone,\n\nhttps://i.redd.it/pacsv0w20ykh1.gif\n\nLike a lot of people here, I’ve always found it frustrating that turning a basic static PDF into an interactive, fillable form usually requires an expensive Adobe Acrobat Pro subscription or sketchy online converters that upload your private documents to a remote server.\n\nTo fix this for myself, I built **JustForms** ([https://justforms.vercel.app/](https://justforms.vercel.app/)).\n\nIt’s a lightweight, fast web app that lets you drag and drop any PDF and add standard AcroForm fields in seconds.\n\n# What it does:\n\n* **Interactive Form Fields:** Add text inputs, dropdowns, checkboxes, and digital signature boxes.\n* **100% Client-Side & Private:** All parsing and rendering happens directly in your browser memory. No files, signatures, or confidential contract data are ever uploaded to a backend server.\n* **Figma-Style Editor UI:** Magnetic snapping lines, alignment guides, multi-select lasso, and `Alt + Drag` field duplication with auto-incrementing field names.\n* **Standard AcroForm Output:** Generated PDFs work natively in Apple Preview, Adobe Reader, web browsers, and standard PDF viewers.\n* **No Accounts / Free Forever:** Open the site, drop your file, export your fillable PDF, and leave.\n\n# Tech Stack & Source:\n\n* Built with modern frontend web standards and client-side PDF manipulation libraries.\n* The code is open source on GitHub: [sshrestha-design/justforms](https://github.com/sshrestha-design/justforms)\n\nI’d love to get your feedback on the canvas editing UX, performance on large multi-page PDFs, or any features you feel are missing.\n\nTry it out here: [https://justforms.vercel.app/](https://justforms.vercel.app/)","offTopic":false},{"id":"aae1f474-f5e4-4a07-ae22-4b65bf74991c","excerpt":"I built a PDF redactor that auto-detects names, SSNs, and account numbers without sending your file anywhere - works on your phone too. Free, no sign-up. — Plenty of redaction tools upload your file to their server first (no thanks for legal/medical/tax docs). Some keep the file local but send the text off to an AI, so","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/SideProject/comments/1vuowx9/i_built_a_pdf_redactor_that_autodetects_names/","role":"request","weight":1.0036215,"occurredAt":"2026-08-21T18:44:20.000Z","sourceKey":"reddit","sourceName":"Reddit","credibility":0.62,"venue":"SideProject","intent":"feature_request","painScore":0.36,"sentiment":0.6666667,"confidence":0.73795694,"matchedPatterns":["missing_feature","manual_process"],"statement":"And most of the truly local ones only let you draw black boxes by hand, which is how those \"redacted\" documents in the news keep getting un-redacted.","title":"I built a PDF redactor that auto-detects names, SSNs, and account numbers without sending your file anywhere - works on your phone too. Free, no sign-up.","body":"Plenty of redaction tools upload your file to their server first (no thanks for legal/medical/tax docs). Some keep the file local but send the text off to an AI, so the text still leaves. And most of the truly local ones only let you draw black boxes by hand, which is how those \"redacted\" documents in the news keep getting un-redacted. The text is still there under the box.\n\nSo I ended up building my own. The redact tool:\n\n* Auto-detects names, SSNs, emails, phone numbers, account numbers, dates, etc.\n* Runs 100% on your device, even the detection. Load the page, then turn on Airplane Mode and it still works. Your file never leaves.\n* Shows you every match for approval before applying anything (I wouldn't trust full-auto either), and anything it missed you just tap or drag across to redact yourself\n* Actually deletes the text instead of covering it, then generates a certificate you can verify to prove it's gone\n* Works on your phone (the detection engine is \\~2MB, not a 1GB ML model, so mobile handles it fine)\n\nThere are other browser-based PDF tools now (which is great, it should be the default), but I haven't found another one that does automatic detection without uploading anything and also works on a phone. If you know of one, tell me. I keep checking.\n\nIt grew into a full suite over the past several months: merge, split, compress, OCR, sign, compare versions, Bates numbering, metadata scrubbing... 25 tools in all, all local. I ship updates just about every week.\n\n(Full disclosure: there's a small anonymous ping for the bulk quota and basic analytics to my own server, but your document never leaves your device. Zero third-party scripts.)\n\nThe single-file tools are free with no daily limit and no account. Pro is $29/mo for bulk processing and bigger files.\n\nWould love feedback, especially if you handle sensitive documents for work. What's missing? I read everything and it genuinely steers what I build next. Thanks!\n\n[https://keptpdf.com](https://keptpdf.com)","offTopic":false},{"id":"69af3a64-3914-43da-9729-78ca61b79bf3","excerpt":"[App] [Promo] FastCam: Secure PDF Scanner App — Privacy-first document scanner (100% Private & No Sign Ups) — Hey everyone,\n\n​Most document scanning apps on the Play Store have become bloated, requiring mandatory account sign-ups, uploading personal documents to remote servers, or forcing monthly subscription paywalls ","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/HowToMen/comments/1vvxp50/app_promo_fastcam_secure_pdf_scanner_app/","role":"demand","weight":0.7316812,"occurredAt":"2026-08-23T04:48:03.000Z","sourceKey":"reddit","sourceName":"Reddit","credibility":0.62,"venue":"HowToMen","intent":"tool_discovery","painScore":0.18315789,"sentiment":-0.15789473,"confidence":0.61841387,"matchedPatterns":["looking_for"],"statement":"​If you're looking for a private scanner that respects your data and keeps your workflow offline, give it a try on the Play Store: ​I'd love to hear your feedback, feature requests, or questions in the comments below!","title":"[App] [Promo] FastCam: Secure PDF Scanner App — Privacy-first document scanner (100% Private & No Sign Ups)","body":"Hey everyone,\n\n​Most document scanning apps on the Play Store have become bloated, requiring mandatory account sign-ups, uploading personal documents to remote servers, or forcing monthly subscription paywalls just to merge two PDFs.\n\n​I built FastCam to give users a fast, completely secure, and offline alternative.\n\n​How FastCam Solves Common Scanner Frustrations:\n\n​Privacy & Security Risks\n\n​FastCam Solution: 100% On-Device Processing. All scans, crop optimizations, and PDF exports happen locally on your phone. Your IDs, tax forms, and contracts never touch an external server or cloud queue.\n\n​Subscription Fatigue\n\n​100% Free to use: No recurring $5/month paywalls for standard utility tools. You scan, convert, and export without aggressive payment popups blocking your work.\n\n​Slow Processing & Forced Accounts\n\n​FastCam Solution: Zero account creation required. Open the app, capture your document, and get an exported PDF in seconds—even without an active internet connection.\n\n​Cluttered & Bloated Interfaces\n\n​FastCam Solution: Automatic edge detection, clean page reordering, high-speed document compilation, and offline multi-page PDF merging built directly into a streamlined UI.\n\n​If you're looking for a private scanner that respects your data and keeps your workflow offline, give it a try on the Play Store:\n\n https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pickon.fastcam\n\n​I'd love to hear your feedback, feature requests, or questions in the comments below!","offTopic":true}],"breakdown":[{"sourceKey":"reddit","sourceName":"Reddit","count":4}],"total":4}}