100 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
100 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
<p align="center">
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<a href="https://killerpdf.net"><img src="docs/wordmark.png" width="640" alt="KillerPDF wordmark: a free, open-source PDF editor for Windows"></a>
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</p>
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KillerPDF is a free, open-source PDF editor for Windows. View, annotate, OCR, merge, split, edit text, draw, sign, fill forms, print, flatten, and open password-protected PDFs without an Adobe subscription. Install it or run it portable from the same Windows download. No runtime installation is required, and the app never phones home.
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Full how-tos live on the [help page](https://killerpdf.net/help.html); internals, formats, and limits on the [technical page](https://killerpdf.net/technical.html).
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## Features
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- High-quality PDFium rendering with four view modes (Single, Continuous, Two-Page with a book layout option, Grid), tabbed documents, and a split pane for two documents side by side
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- Annotate with inline text editing and font matching, word-wrapping text boxes, drawing, lines, highlights, images, and page-number or watermark stamps. Highlights use the Multiply blend so the text underneath stays readable, and every tab has its own undo and redo history.
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- Built-in OCR (Tesseract bundled, no cloud): make searchable PDFs, OCR a page or region to the clipboard, extract all text; extra languages download on demand
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- Organize pages: merge, split, insert, rotate, crop, extract, delete, drag-and-drop reordering; drop a folder or `.zip` onto the window to merge its contents
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- Export one page or a multi-page selection as PNG or JPEG directly from the Pages panel
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- Transform: rotate, scale, flip, deskew by drawing a level line, perspective correction for photographed pages, and a LEVELS section (black point, white point, midtones) for pale scans
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- Forms: fill text, checkbox, radio, and comb fields as live controls and save back; digital signatures with a cloud certificate (Certum SimplySign), plus drawn or imported signatures and initials
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- Print with a real in-app preview, paper size and source selection, scale / position / margins / pages-per-sheet options at 300 DPI; Save Flattened rasterizes to a fully uneditable PDF
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- Full-text search with highlighting, and column-aware text selection that copies multi-column pages in reading order
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- Night-mode inversion works independently in each split pane. Thirteen themes, live accent colors, and toolbar styles provide 33 looks, while the resizable sidebar can dock on either side.
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- Localized UI in 12 languages (contribute via `TRANSLATING.md`); full keyboard shortcut overlay on F1 with list and visual keyboard views
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- Opens password-protected PDFs (prompts instead of erroring) and repairs damaged ones
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- Runs portable, or self-installs per-user (no UAC) or machine-wide (`/silent` for scripted deployment); registers as a PDF handler and uninstalls cleanly
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- Standards-safe saves: every release is tested against a 2,900-file veraPDF conformance corpus with a zero-regressions requirement. See [validation/RESULTS.md](validation/RESULTS.md).
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- Local-only: no account, no telemetry, no phone-home
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## Command line
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Every core operation also runs headless from a terminal, with meaningful exit codes, even while the app is open:
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```powershell
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KillerPDF.exe --merge out.pdf a.pdf b.pdf scan.jpg
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KillerPDF.exe --extract-pages in.pdf 1-3,5 out.pdf
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KillerPDF.exe --split in.pdf pages\
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KillerPDF.exe --decrypt locked.pdf open.pdf [--password p]
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KillerPDF.exe --to-image in.pdf imgs\ --dpi 300 --format jpg
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KillerPDF.exe --flatten in.pdf flat.pdf
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KillerPDF.exe --print in.pdf --printer "HP LaserJet" --pages 1-4 --copies 2
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KillerPDF.exe --ocr scan.pdf searchable.pdf --lang eng
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KillerPDF.exe --batch-resave inDir\ outDir\ --log report.csv
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KillerPDF.exe --help
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```
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Full reference on the [help page](https://killerpdf.net/help.html).
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## Screenshots
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| --- | --- |
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| <br>**Grid view and twelve languages** - Survey a whole document at once, with the menu bar hidden and the interface switchable between twelve languages. | <br>**Split panes and Transform** - Work in two independent panes while previewing rotation, scale, flip, skew, perspective, and Levels before applying. |
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| <br>**Annotation colors and forms** - Draw with exact colors while viewing fillable fields, comb boxes, and the brochure's live form examples. | <br>**Image picker and previews** - Browse images, inspect a large preview, and return directly to the open document. |
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## Requirements
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- Windows 10 or 11 (x64)
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- No runtime install. Everything needed is inside the EXE (targets .NET Framework 4.8, which ships with every supported Windows release).
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## Download
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WinGet:
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```powershell
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winget install killerpdf
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```
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Chocolately:
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```powershell
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choco install killerpdf
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```
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- Prebuilt binary: <https://github.com/SteveTheKiller/KillerPDF/releases/latest/download/KillerPDF.exe>
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- Source (GPL3 corresponding source for this release): <https://github.com/SteveTheKiller/KillerPDF/releases/download/v1.7.5/KillerPDF-1.7.5-src.zip>
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## Build from source
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```powershell
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git clone https://github.com/SteveTheKiller/KillerPDF.git
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cd KillerPDF
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dotnet publish -c Release
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```
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Output lands in `bin/Release/net48/publish/`. Normal publishing produces the development single-file build plus a versioned `KillerPDF-<version>-src.zip`. The release pipeline builds a verified multi-file payload and packs it into one portable `KillerPDF.exe`; installed shortcuts launch the inner app directly for faster startup.
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Requires the .NET 8 SDK or later to build (even though the output targets .NET Framework 4.8).
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The PDF write engine (PdfSharpCore, MIT) is vendored under `third_party/PdfSharpCore/` and builds as part of the solution; it carries six standards-conformance patches, each marked `KillerPDF patch` in the source. Origin commit and details are recorded in `third_party/PdfSharpCore/VENDORED.txt`.
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## Translations
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UI strings live in `Strings/` (one XAML `ResourceDictionary` per locale). To add or improve a language, see [TRANSLATING.md](TRANSLATING.md). Missing keys fall back to English, so a partial translation is fine.
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## Changelog
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See [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md).
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## License
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GPLv3. See [LICENSE](LICENSE). If you fork, modify, or redistribute KillerPDF, your version must also be released under GPLv3 with source available. No exceptions for commercial rebrands.
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