Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor

4 hours ago (breezepdf.com)

Edit, sign, merge, compress, redact, OCR, fill forms, extract tables, and 30+ more tools — all in the browser, no sign-up. Files never leave your computer. Now with a desktop app (macOS/Windows/Linux) and a CLI/SDK for developers.

Last time this was posted it was in it's infancy, and how I've added a bunch more to it

38 comments

philjohnson

Reply
maxloh  3 hours ago

Several open-source alternatives already exist. All are powered by pdf-lib, with the first two also utilizing PyMuPDF.

- BentoPDF (12.3k stars): https://github.com/alam00000/bentopdf

- PDFCraft (3.6k stars): https://github.com/PDFCraftTool/pdfcraft

- PDFLince (31 stars): https://github.com/GSiesto/pdflince

Since this project likely uses the same stack, I’m not sure what the selling point of a more limiting product is.

  • philjohnson  3 hours ago

    Well, if you aren't a developer you're not going install a PDF editor by going to GitHub, especially if having a desktop app means downloading the code yourself. Also, all of these you listed were created within the last 6 months, which is after when BreezePDF was initially created anyways. Lots of options out there, everyone can choose however they see fit!

thangalin  3 hours ago

Related: My FOSS tool allows uploading PDF files to a private server for annotating within a browser. Annotations are saved server-side in JSON format, which can be viewed and modified by anyone with the URL.

https://repo.autonoma.ca/repo/notanexus/blob/HEAD/README.md

The software uses PHP and PDF.js for displaying and annotating. Screenshot:

https://i.ibb.co/gL39qGdc/notanexus.png

raphman  2 hours ago

Looks nice.

Redacting text seems to actually work. However, editing existing text results in both the original text and the edited version being shown in the PDF after download.

(The page downloads mupdf (WASM) for rendering the PDF. When "downloading" (= saving) the PDF, the page first checks whether the allowed three downloads have been reached via a POST request (no PDF data uploaded), then it downloads PyIodide and some Python wheels (pdfrw, defusedxml) before creating the PDF file.

  • philjohnson  2 hours ago

    Thanks! Looking into text removal issue, fixing now.

    Yes, PDF data is never uploaded to the servers. It's the entire reason I created the project, after seeing the all the main results you see when you search on Google upload your data to their servers.

  • colesantiago  2 hours ago

    Isn't MuPDF AGPL assuming that BreezePDF is open source in compliance of this license?

    I believe AGPL'd software cannot be sold without a license unless there is full disclosure of the source code.

    If that is the case, the OP is likely in violation of MuPDF's AGPL license if he is selling and distributing binaries without contacting sales.

    • philjohnson  2 hours ago

      The MuPDF part is separated from the rest of the code as a completely separate file communicated to over web workers, so the separation means the rest of the code does not need to be open source.

beh  3 hours ago

Is this any different from your other submission of the same tool[0] or simply a duplicate?

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43880962

  • philjohnson  3 hours ago

    Last year there were a couple features, but it was pretty limited. In the year since, I've added a ton more features, created desktop app and CLI. So it was a major overhaul since last time, which is why I posted it again

    • tomhow  2 hours ago

      The HN rule is that a repost of a past submission is a dupe if it last had significant attention and discussion in the preceding 12 months.

      The exception is that if it is a major upgrade, such that it is effectively a new/different product.

      If this is the case, you need make it clear in your introduction post, how that is the case. You should reference the previous post ("Hey HN, we posted this project here a few months ago and at that time the state of the app was ___". Since then we've added ____, changed ____ and removed ____").

      If you can write an intro like that and if the community agrees it's sufficiently changed, it can have some more front page time (because the discussion can be substantially different from what it was last time).

      1 reply →

souvlakee  2 hours ago

>This will use 1 of your free monthly downloads. You have 3 remaining.

If this is in [my] browser, why should I pay?

  • philjohnson  2 hours ago

    If I go to the grocery store and I grab bananas off the shelf, they're already in my hand, so why should I pay?

  • hackernewds  2 hours ago

    you should pay because you did not build it. same as how you pay for a burger that digests in your intestines

    • colesantiago  2 hours ago

      souvlakee should vibe code his own clone of BreezePDF and perhaps open source it for the community for free.

      Problem solved.

hackernewds  2 hours ago

Bit bummed to see many posts pitching their own products (often paid) rather than give OP feedback which is the spirit of a ShowHN. There should be a blanket policy of disallowing that.