Free PDF Tools Online: Merge, Compress, Convert (No Upload) — 67 Tools + 100 File Viewer | Craftisle Blog

Last week I got an email: "I just merged 47 PDF invoices into one file on pdfcraft. It took 30 seconds. My coworker paid for Acrobat to do the same thing."

pdfcraft and viewer.craftisle.com handle the two document problems that come up most: "I need to do something with this PDF" and "I need to open this file but I don't have the app."

pdfcraft: 67 PDF tools

All tools use pdf-lib and qpdf.wasm. Both run in your browser via WebAssembly. Files don't leave your machine.

Organize (24 tools)

The daily drivers:

Merge — combine PDFs with drag-drop reorder. Up to 100 files.
Split — by page range or extract individual pages.
Extract Pages — thumbnails, multi-select.
Organize — rearrange, duplicate, delete in a grid view.
OCR — Tesseract.js under the hood. Multi-language. Scan quality matters — a clean 300 DPI scan OCRs well; a blurry phone photo won't.
Alternate Merge, Overlay, N-Up, Grid, Booklet — specialized layout tools. Booklet maker handles saddle stitch.

Edit & Annotate (16 tools)

Edit PDF — highlight, underline, strikethrough, shapes, freehand, images. Not a text editor — can't modify existing text inline. Add annotations and new content only.
Sign — draw, type, or upload. Multiple signatures per doc. No digital certificate signing (PKI not supported).
Crop, Bookmarks, TOC, Page Numbers, Watermark, Header/Footer — standard document finishing tools.
Form Filler & Creator — works on XFA forms. Create fillable forms with text fields, checkboxes, dropdowns. Flatten after filling.

Conversion (31 tools)

Converts to PDF from: JPG, PNG, WebP, SVG, BMP, HEIC, TIFF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, EPUB, MOBI, Markdown, EML/MSG.

Converts from PDF to: JPG, PNG, WebP, BMP, TIFF, SVG, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, JSON, Markdown.

Special tools: Extract Images (exports all images as ZIP), Extract Tables (to JSON/Markdown/CSV), AI PDF Reflower (mobile reading reflow).

Optimize (10 tools)

Compress — configurable level. A 30MB scanned PDF drops to 4-8MB at Medium. Below 3MB, text readability suffers.
Linearize — byte-serving for fast web viewing.
Repair — recovers data from corrupted PDFs. Works on structural damage, not bit flips.
PDF/A conversion — archive-standard with font embedding. Good for long-term document preservation.
Font to Outline — converts text to vector paths. Guarantees rendering but makes the file unsearchable.

Security (9 tools)

Encrypt/Decrypt — password protection with AES.
Sanitize — strips metadata, annotations, scripts, attachments.
Redact — search and permanently remove text. Unlike annotations, redactions can't be reversed.
Flatten — makes annotations and form fields permanent.
Timestamp — RFC 3161 trusted timestamping.

File Viewer: 100+ formats

Five viewers:

PDF Viewer — zoom 25-500%, rotation, search, fullscreen.
DOCX/XLSX/PPTX Viewer — Office formats with formatting preserved. Formulas rendered as values.
3D & CAD — STL, OBJ, PLY, GLTF, GLB, DWG, DXF, DAE, FBX. Orbit/pan/zoom controls. DWG rendering isn't pixel-perfect, but good enough for preview.
Image — PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG, WebP, BMP, ICO, PSD, AI.
Code & Data — JSON, XML, YAML, HTML, CSS, JS, TS, Python, CSV, TSV.

What pdfcraft isn't

Acrobat replacement. You can't edit existing PDF text. Annotation only.
Unlimited. PDFs over 100MB will be sluggish — WASM loads the full file into memory.
Offline. Needs initial page load. No service worker yet.

FAQ: Free PDF Tools Online

How to merge PDF files free online without uploading?

Use pdfcraft Merge — drag-drop up to 100 PDF files, reorder with drag-and-drop, click merge. All processing runs in your browser via WebAssembly. Files never leave your machine. No daily limits (unlike iLovePDF's 2 files/day free tier).

Best free PDF compressor without file upload?

pdfcraft Compress lets you pick compression level (Low/Medium/High). A 30MB scanned PDF typically drops to 4-8MB at Medium. Below 3MB, text readability suffers. Client-side only — no server ever receives your document.

How to OCR a PDF free online?

Use pdfcraft OCR — powered by Tesseract.js, supports multiple languages. Scan quality matters: a clean 300 DPI scan OCRs well; a blurry phone photo won't. No Adobe subscription needed.

Free PDF to Word converter online?

pdfcraft Convert exports PDF to DOCX format. Formatting is preserved but not pixel-perfect — complex layouts may need manual cleanup. Works entirely in browser.

iLovePDF alternative free no limits?

pdfcraft (pdf.craftisle.com) offers all 67 PDF tools free with no daily caps. iLovePDF free tier limits to 2 tasks/day. pdfcraft processes in-browser (privacy), iLovePDF uploads to servers.

Try pdfcraft Compress — drop a PDF, pick Medium compression, check the size difference.