Posts

Why I built a free, offline PDF tool.

Image
  Fed up with PDF software constantly pushing "Premium Memberships"? So was I! Need to add a watermark? VIP. Want to sign a document? VIP. Even just converting a format? VIP. Since nobody was making a clean, straightforward tool, I decided to build one myself. Check out the screenshot below—this is the constant "Upgrade to Premium" nagging I got while using a certain popular PDF software: With the rise of AI, I realized that core engine code I wouldn't have dared to write before is totally doable now—as long as you have enough Tokens. After getting completely annoyed by all the paywalls, I decided to hand-code this myself. I did build an online version first, but I know many people worry about security when processing files online. Even though my online version processes everything locally in the browser using JS (no files are ever uploaded to the cloud), I figured an offline app would be even better. So, in my spare time, I let AI help me with the vibe coding. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

User Feedback Is the Best Requirements Doc: A Quick Fix for Watermarks and Signatures in Qudo PDF Tools

Image
  The best moment in indie development isn't when the code finally runs — it's when you see someone actually using your product and taking the time to share feedback. Today, a user pointed out two issues with Qudo PDF Tools: tiled watermarks were appearing messy and overlapping, and manually drawn signatures sometimes showed up upside down. As soon as I saw the report, I dropped what I was working on. For a tool that focuses on privacy and local-first PDF editing, watermarks and signatures are often used for contracts, official documents, and other sensitive files — so the experience has to be reliable. After a few hours of debugging, a new version is now live: Tiled watermark layout improved.  Watermarks in tiled mode are now spaced evenly and rendered cleanly, without visual clutter. Signature orientation fixed.  The bug that caused handwritten signatures to appear inverted has been resolved. Your signature will now appear exactly as you drew it. Big thanks to the user ...
Post a Comment
Read more

[Open Source] Qudo PDF Toolbox - Offline, Fully Local Desktop PDF Toolkit

Image
  Project Introduction https://github.com/xuejiazhi-qudo/qudo-pdf-tools   Qudo PDF Tools (qudo-pdf-tools) is an offline, fully local desktop PDF toolkit. It runs as a standalone Windows desktop application, with all processing performed on the local machine—no server-side components, no internet connection, and no telemetry data collection. Files never leave the device from start to finish. It is more than just a format-conversion utility; it is a desktop application capable of genuine PDF editing. Inserted text and images are floating elements that can be dragged, resized, and double-clicked to modify their content. Existing text, text blocks, and images on the page can also be directly clicked to edit text or dragged to new positions. The interface supports real-time switching between Chinese and English. Open Source License AGPL-3.0 License (dependent components include PyMuPDF and pdf2docx. Free for personal and open-source use without restrictions; for closed-source comme...
1 comment
Read more