Every PDF tool you need,
running inside your browser.
Compress, convert, merge, sign, redact and read scans. Choose a tool and open a file — it is processed on this device and never uploaded.
Why this is different
No document is uploaded. This can be independently verified.
Comparable services transmit your file to a server and undertake to delete it subsequently. PaperJET has no server to which a document could be sent: the tools are compiled to WebAssembly and execute within this browser tab, on your own device. Nothing is queued, nothing is capped, and the work continues if you go offline after the page has loaded.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Are documents uploaded to a server?
No. Every tool executes within your own browser using WebAssembly. The file is read from local storage by the browser and is not transmitted, so no server holds a copy of it. This may be verified by disconnecting from the network once the page has loaded; the tools continue to function normally.
Is PaperJET free to use?
Yes. All tools are provided free of charge, with no account required, no watermark applied and no file size limit.
Can a scanned PDF be processed?
Yes. The OCR tool reads the text from a scan and can return the same scan with an invisible text layer applied, so that the document appears unchanged while becoming searchable and available for copying.
Can a PDF be converted to Word or Excel?
Yes, where the PDF already contains text. Where the file is a scan, the OCR tool should be used instead; the interface will indicate which case applies.
Is there a file size limit?
No. As processing is performed on your own device rather than on a server, the constraint is the available memory of that device rather than an upload cap.
Compress a PDF to under 50 KB
50 KB is a severe limit, usually found on older portals that were built when uploads were expensive. A single scanned page can reach it. A multi-page document generally cannot, and no tool can make it without throwing away what is on the pages. PaperJET will try, and will tell you plainly which of those two happened rather than returning a smear and calling it success.
How to compress a PDF to under 50 KB
- Open the PDF. The 50 KB limit is already selected.
- Compress. More settings are tried at this limit than at any other, so it takes longer.
- Read the result carefully. If the limit was not met, the size shown is the smallest legible version.
50 KB is about the size of a small photograph. A single page scanned in black and white will fit. Two pages in colour will not. If the form wants several documents, upload them as separate files where it allows it.
A greyscale or colour scan of a plain printed page carries information nobody needs. Scanning in black and white, or using a scanner app's document mode, can cut the starting size by most of itself before compression begins.
PaperJET stops at a floor below which printed text stops being readable. A 50 KB file that the clerk at the other end cannot read has failed, even though it uploaded.
Questions about the 50 KB limit
Can any PDF be compressed to 50 KB?
No, and any tool that claims otherwise is either discarding pages or returning something unreadable. A single simple page will fit. A long or photographic document will not.
What should I do if my file will not reach 50 KB?
Reduce what is in it. Extract only the page the form asks for, or rescan in black and white at a lower resolution. Both attack the problem at the source rather than degrading the result.
Is my document uploaded?
No. All of it runs in this browser tab, on your own device.
Why do other sites claim they can always hit 50 KB?
Because they will return a file at that size regardless of whether it can still be read. The number is easy to hit; a document that is still a document at the end is the harder part.