Decision Guide

Which PDF tool do you actually need?

Skip the feature matrix. Pick your situation. Get the right tool in one click. 12 common use cases, all solved with free, browser-based tools.

I need to email a PDF that's too large

Most email providers cap attachments at 10-25MB. You need a PDF that's small enough to send without losing readability.

Recommended tool

What you get:

  • • Reduce file size by 50-90% with our browser-based compressor
  • • Choose target size, image quality, or DPI — no server upload
  • • Batch compress up to 20 files at once

I need to combine multiple PDFs into one

You have a cover letter, resume, and portfolio PDF — and the employer wants a single file.

Recommended tool

What you get:

  • • Drag-and-drop reorder up to 100 PDFs
  • • No upload, no watermark, no daily limit
  • • Preserves bookmarks, metadata, and form fields

I scanned a document and need to search the text

A scanned PDF is just an image. You need OCR to convert the pixels into searchable, copyable text.

Recommended tool

What you get:

  • • Powered by Tesseract.js WebAssembly — runs locally
  • • Supports 100+ languages including Spanish, French, German, Chinese
  • • Preserves original layout and image quality

I need to permanently remove sensitive information

Black-box overlays can be removed. You need true redaction that destroys the underlying text.

Recommended tool

What you get:

  • • Permanent text removal — not just visual hiding
  • • Search-and-redact for systematic SSN, credit card patterns
  • • Audit trail showing what was removed and where

I need to sign a contract without printing it

The old way: print, sign, scan, email. The new way: e-sign in seconds, legally binding in most jurisdictions.

What you get:

  • • Draw, type, or upload your signature
  • • Cryptographic signature embedded in the PDF
  • • PAdES-compliant for EU legal use

I need to fill out a PDF form

Government, tax, or job application forms that you can't edit in Word. You need to type into the fields and save.

Recommended tool

What you get:

  • • Click any field and type — text fields, checkboxes, dropdowns
  • • Save the filled form locally
  • • No data sent to any server

I have a 500-page PDF and need just a few pages

You need to extract specific pages from a long document — chapters, invoices, a signature page, etc.

What you get:

  • • Select individual pages or page ranges
  • • Split by bookmarks, every N pages, or by file size
  • • Output as a single PDF or a zip of multiple PDFs

I need to password-protect a sensitive PDF

You're sharing financial, medical, or legal documents and need encryption.

Recommended tool

What you get:

  • • AES-256 encryption — the same standard banks use
  • • Two passwords: one to open, one to restrict printing/editing
  • • No upload — encryption happens in your browser

I have a JPG/PNG and need it as a PDF

You scanned a receipt, took a screenshot, or have photos that need to be in PDF format.

What you get:

  • • Single image or batch — combine 100+ images into one PDF
  • • Auto-rotate based on EXIF orientation
  • • Adjust page size, margins, and image quality

I need to share a PDF page as an image

You want to embed a PDF page in a slide, post, or social media image.

What you get:

  • • Extract single pages or all pages as images
  • • Choose resolution from 72 DPI (screen) to 300 DPI (print)
  • • Output as JPG (small) or PNG (lossless)

I need to reorder, delete, or rotate pages

You scanned a multi-page document out of order, or with pages rotated wrong.

What you get:

  • • Drag-and-drop page thumbnails to reorder
  • • Delete unwanted pages (blank pages, duplicates)
  • • Rotate individual pages or the whole document 90/180/270°

I forgot the password to a PDF I own

You have a PDF you know the password to but it's locked from editing/printing. You need to remove the restrictions.

Recommended tool

What you get:

  • • Remove owner password (the one restricting edits)
  • • Keep the user password (the one needed to open)
  • • No upload, no brute-force — you must already know the password

How JadePDF compares to the alternatives

We don't try to be everything. We focus on the 12 use cases above and make them fast, free, and private. Here's how that stacks up.

Feature JadePDF iLovePDF Smallpdf Adobe Acrobat
Price Free Freemium (limits) Freemium (limits) $20/month
File upload None (80%) Required Required Required
Watermark Never On free tier On free tier Never
Daily limit None Yes (varies) 2 tasks/day None
Signup Not required Not required Required for batch Required
Verifiable in DevTools Yes No No No (closed source)