PDF editor for field techs. View, annotate, merge, split, edit text, draw, sign, print, flatten, and open password-protected PDFs without an Adobe subscription or a phone-home. Install or run portable. Single Windows EXE, ~6 MB zipped, no runtime install required.
Part of killertools.net.
- High-quality rendering via PDFium (Docnet.Core)
- Merge multiple PDFs and split out selected pages, drag-and-drop page reordering
- Inline text editing with font matching against the original document
- Text boxes, freehand drawing, and highlight overlays with adjustable color, size, and opacity
- Draw and save reusable signatures or import a PNG/JPG/BMP image as a signature, click to place anywhere on a page
- Zoom preset dropdown with scroll-wheel sync
- Full-text search across the entire document with result highlighting, drag-select to copy text
- Unsaved-changes protection with dirty tracking and title bar indicator
- Close file without quitting (Ctrl+W)
- Print with annotations flattened into the output
- Save Flattened PDF: rasterizes every page at 150 DPI via PDFium into a fully uneditable document
- Password-protected PDF support: prompts for password instead of erroring, decrypted copy held in temp for the session
- Self-installing EXE: Install or Run dialog on first launch, installs per-user to %LOCALAPPDATA% (no UAC), registers as PDF file handler, adds Start Menu shortcut, self-uninstalls cleanly
- Windows 10 or 11 (x64)
- No runtime install. Everything needed is inside the EXE (targets .NET Framework 4.8, which ships with every supported Windows release).
- Prebuilt binary: https://github.com/SteveTheKiller/KillerPDF/releases/latest/download/KillerPDF.zip
- Source (GPL3 corresponding source for this release): https://github.com/SteveTheKiller/KillerPDF/releases/download/v1.3.0/KillerPDF-1.3.0-src.zip
git clone https://github.com/SteveTheKiller/KillerPDF.git
cd KillerPDF
dotnet publish -c ReleaseOutput lands in bin/Release/net48/publish/. The publish step produces a single Costura-bundled KillerPDF.exe plus a versioned KillerPDF-<version>-src.zip for GPL3 source distribution.
Requires the .NET 8 SDK or later to build (even though the output targets .NET Framework 4.8).
See CHANGELOG.md.
I hate Adobe. Acrobat is bloated, tries to hijack file associations, wants a subscription to do basic things, and phones home constantly. Most of the "free" alternatives are either ad-riddled, cloud-based, or rebrands of the same PDF engine sold under three different names.
KillerPDF is what I wanted: local-only, portable, no account, no telemetry. The PDF equivalent of Notepad.
GPLv3. See LICENSE. If you fork, modify, or redistribute KillerPDF, your version must also be released under GPLv3 with source available. No exceptions for commercial rebrands.