Organise pages
Drag pages into order, rotate, delete, duplicate or crop them, or pull a few out into a new PDF. Merge several files into one, or split one by page ranges, bookmarks or file size. You can undo every step.
Free · Mac and Windows · Works offline
Edit your PDFs
without uploading them.
Most free PDF tools want your file on their server first. AW PDF Editor does the work on your own computer, with no account and no internet connection. Lab reports, ID copies and contracts stay with you.
Version 0.1.0 · Free, with no limits and no account · Open source under the GNU AGPL
- Mac: macOS 11 or newer, Apple Silicon (111 MB)
- Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit (78 MB)
- English, Assamese, Bengali and Hindi OCR included
What it does
The PDF jobs that come up every week.
All of this runs on your computer. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Convert both ways
Turn photos, scans, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files into one PDF. Export a PDF to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images or text when you need to reuse what's in it. Office files need Microsoft Office or LibreOffice on your computer.
Mark up and fill
Highlight, comment, draw, stamp "Reviewed" or "Received" with your name and the date, add text or a logo, and fill in forms. Add a watermark or page numbers to every page.
Make scans searchable
OCR reads the text in scanned pages so you can search, copy and highlight it. The scan itself looks exactly as before. English, Assamese, Bengali and Hindi are built in.
Redact properly
Black out names, phone numbers, Aadhaar and PAN numbers, or any area you mark. The text and image underneath are removed from the file, not just covered, and the app checks that before it saves.
Fix a line of text
Click a line and correct it, in the same place and style. It works best for small corrections like a date or a number, and it's still a beta.
Make files smaller
Shrink scans and photo-heavy PDFs to fit e-mail and upload limits, at one of three strengths. Your original stays as it was.
Do it for a whole folder
Compress, OCR, number or export many PDFs in one go. The results go into a folder you pick, and nothing gets overwritten.
Signing
When the PDF needs your DSC signature
A picture of a signature isn't a digital signature. When a document has to be signed with your USB DSC token, the Sign with DSC button saves it and opens it in AW Signer. AW Signer is free for 15 PDFs a month. The editor never touches your token or your PIN.
Privacy
Your files don't leave your computer
There's no account, no upload and no tracking, and the app doesn't go online by itself. AW PDF Editor is free software under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3 or later, and comes with no warranty. The source code is on GitHub.
Questions
Short answers.
Is it really free?
Yes. There's no paid plan, no page limit and no watermark on your files. We make AW Signer, which has a paid Pro plan for people who sign a lot; the editor is our free tool next to it.
Windows says "Windows protected your PC". Is that safe?
That message appears for new programs that aren't signed with a code-signing certificate yet. Click More info, then Run anyway. If you'd like to check the file first, compare its SHA-256 below with the one Windows shows (certutil -hashfile in Command Prompt).
Do I need Microsoft Office?
Only to turn Word, Excel or PowerPoint files into PDFs. If you don't have Office, install the free LibreOffice and the editor uses that. Everything else works without either.
Can it edit any text in a PDF?
It can correct a line in place, which covers most small fixes. Rewriting whole paragraphs is better done in the original Word file. Text editing is marked beta while we improve it.
Does redaction really remove the text?
Yes. On save, the text, image pixels and drawings under each box are deleted from the file, and the app then checks that no text is left underneath. If any is, it refuses to save.
Is there an Intel Mac version?
Not yet. This first version is for Macs with Apple Silicon (M1 or newer).
File checksums (SHA-256)
Mac, AW-PDF-Editor-0.1.0-mac-arm64.dmg:f4177e2bcfdcc5b5c9a300227620679c8be8d835489383c6447de3c669e6a210
Windows, AW-PDF-Editor-0.1.0-windows-x64-setup.exe:6db47929a927c244a2704e59460112f0eb5d57aa5dad0ff2a00719020f93b26a