Privacy
The Science of PDF Redaction: Why a Black Box Is Not Enough
A black box leaves text extractable, and even removed text leaks through glyph positions. What the research says — and why rasterization is the correct answer.
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PDF guides & know-how
Blog
Guides, tutorials and comparisons on private PDF
GDPR/Legal
PDF Tools for Lawyers: Client Confidentiality, No Upload
Case files can't go to a random PDF service. Redact exhibits, Bates-stamp productions, compare drafts and merge bundles locally — nothing leaves the device.
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GDPR/Legal
PDF Tools With No DPA Required: Local Processing Explained
Upload a PDF containing personal data and the cloud tool becomes your processor under GDPR Art. 28: DPA, records, transfers. Local processing removes the question entirely.
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Privacy
PDF Tools Without Upload: Every Tool Runs in Your Browser
Merge, compress, redact, OCR, AI summaries — every PDF tool runs locally in your browser. No upload, no account. Verify it yourself in the Network tab.
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Comparisons
Stirling PDF vs Document Flare: Privacy Without Self-Hosting
Same promise — your files never leave — but two models: Stirling PDF is self-hosted (Docker, server, maintenance), Document Flare makes the browser the server. An honest comparison.
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Tutorials
Clean a PDF before sharing: metadata, scripts and attachments
A shared PDF can reveal its author, dates, software and forgotten attachments. Learn to tell structural cleanup, content redaction and encryption apart — three different problems.
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Tutorials
Convert a PDF to Markdown locally: structure and limits
Extract structured text from a PDF as Markdown — headings, paragraphs, tables — directly in the browser, without sending the file.
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Tutorials
Search a PDF by meaning, locally
Discover local semantic PDF search: find passages by their meaning with embeddings running in your browser, without sending the document anywhere.
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Privacy
How Document Flare Processes a 200-Page PDF Without Leaving the Browser
A dive into the local architecture: file parsing, workers, PDF and OCR engines running in the browser. What actually happens when you drop a large document.
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