How to use PdfCraft

Open and read a PDF

PdfCraft opens most PDFs instantly and renders complex scripts and transparency faithfully.

1. 1

   Start PdfCraft and drag a PDF onto the window, or click Open. On Windows you can also right-click a PDF and choose “Edit with PdfCraft”.

2. 2

   Scroll through pages, or use the thumbnails and bookmarks panels to jump around.

3. 3

   Zoom with the controls on the right edge, or pinch on a trackpad.

4. 4

   Open several files at once. Each one gets a tab; right-click a tab to close it or reopen the last closed file.

Tip: Press ⌘K to search every tool and command by name. It is the fastest way to find anything.

Search inside a document

Search is find-as-you-type: results appear while you are still typing.

1. 1

   Open the find bar from the toolbar or the command palette.

2. 2

   Type a word or phrase. Every match is highlighted immediately.

3. 3

   Press ⌘G to jump to the next match.

4. 4

   Select and copy text. Selection follows reading order, so columns and right-to-left text copy correctly.

Tip: Scanned PDFs have no text layer. Run Scan & OCR first, which currently handles Latin scripts.

Rotate, delete, insert and move pages

Organize pages shows every page at once, and every change can be undone.

1. 1

   Open Organize pages from All tools or with ⌘K.

2. 2

   Select pages: click one, ⌘-click to add pages, ⇧-click to select a range.

3. 3

   Rotate, delete, or insert blank pages or pages from another file with the page toolbar.

4. 4

   Move pages earlier or later. Made a mistake? ⌘Z undoes it, even after you save.

Tip: The Edit menu names each step, for example “Undo Rotate pages”, so you always know what you are undoing.

Combine, extract and split PDFs

Links, form fields, layers and attachments all survive a combine or split.

1. 1

   Combine: open Combine files, add any number of PDFs and combine them. Each file gets its own bookmark.

2. 2

   Extract: select pages in Organize pages and choose Extract to copy them into a new document.

3. 3

   Split: divide a document every n pages, or before the pages you choose.

Tip: For batches, use the command line. The commands are in the automation lesson below.

Fill forms and add comments

Forms, comments, layers and attachments are all supported.

1. 1

   Open Fill & Sign, click a field and type. Checkboxes, radio buttons and lists behave as the author designed.

2. 2

   Open Add comments for sticky notes, highlights, underlines, shapes and ink.

3. 3

   Toggle layers and open attachments from the panels on the right.

4. 4

   Save. Your entries are appended to the file.

Tip: Dynamic XFA forms, common in some government PDFs, are not fully supported yet.

Open password-protected PDFs

PdfCraft opens and saves encrypted documents from 40-bit RC4 up to AES-256.

1. 1

   Open the file as usual. PdfCraft asks for the password.

2. 2

   Enter the open password to view the document.

3. 3

   Author restrictions show a clear notice and are honored. Enter the owner password to lift them; your edits stay encrypted.

Tip: Document Properties shows the encryption method, which password opened the file and each permission.

Save, autosave and crash recovery

Saves are incremental and atomic, so a crash or power cut never corrupts your file.

1. 1

   Press ⌘S to save. Changes are appended and the original bytes stay intact.

2. 2

   Changes are autosaved every minute, and unsaved tabs show a dot.

3. 3

   If PdfCraft ever quits unexpectedly, it offers to recover your work next time.

Tip: Change the interface language in Preferences: ⌘, on a Mac, Ctrl+, elsewhere.

Automate with the command line

pdfcraft-cli brings the same engine to scripts, and an opt-in MCP server lets AI agents use it too.

# Structure of a PDF as JSON
pdfcraft-cli info form.pdf

# Reading-order text of page 3
pdfcraft-cli text paper.pdf --page 3

# Rotate pages 1-2, delete page 5, set the title
pdfcraft-cli edit in.pdf --rotate 1,2:90 --delete 5 --title "Q3" --out out.pdf

# Combine, extract, split
pdfcraft-cli combine report.pdf appendix.pdf --out combined.pdf
pdfcraft-cli extract report.pdf --pages 1,3,5 --out highlights.pdf
pdfcraft-cli split   report.pdf --every 10 --out-dir parts/

# More: run, tools, mcp, ui
pdfcraft-cli --help

Tip: Run pdfcraft-cli tools to list every available operation.