PdfCraft 0.7.1

updated Oct 14, 2026 67.4MB file size 22 downloads

PdfCraft is a free, open-source PDF workbench for Windows, macOS and Linux that merges, splits, fills, redacts, signs and prints PDF files offline, built as an alternative to Adobe Acrobat, beside the free Acrobat Reader.

PdfCraft is a free, open-source PDF workbench built as an alternative to Adobe Acrobat.

It views, organises, fills, comments on, redacts, signs and now prints PDF files, with no subscription, no account and no cloud upload.

It is still an alpha, so it is strongest at everyday PDF chores and weakest at editing the text already on a page.

What PdfCraft Actually Does - in Plain Terms

Most people only need a PDF viewer until they have to merge two files, fill in a form or sign something. Those jobs usually mean paying for Acrobat, and PdfCraft covers many of them for free.

View. Several page layouts, a distraction-free Read mode, deep zoom that stays sharp, search, bookmarks and light or dark themes.
Organise. Rotate, delete, insert and reorder pages, and combine, split or extract documents.
Forms and comments. Fill in and create forms, including many older XFA forms, and add threaded comments and attachments.
Security. Open password-protected files, set passwords and permissions, and redact sensitive text properly rather than just covering it.
Signatures. Digital signatures with a drawn, typed or image signature on the page.
Printing. Prints to your Windows printers at actual size, with two-sided and scaling options.

Everything happens on your own PC. There is no account, no telemetry and no upload to a cloud service, which matters for contracts and personal documents.

What Is New in 0.7.1

Version 0.7.1 is a big release, with around 150 changes since 0.6.0.

Printing. Real Windows printer support, actual-size printing that no longer freezes the window, two-sided binding and scale controls.
Text. Arabic, Hebrew, Thai and Devanagari text is now shaped correctly, and text found by OCR can be edited.
Signing. Visible signatures can be drawn, typed or added as an image, and Fill & Sign gains a scan tab.
Redaction and security. Ten issues from a security audit fixed, plus case-sensitive and whole-word redaction search.
Interface. Dockable panels, a theme picker, a command palette and opening several files at once.
Windows. An "Edit with PdfCraft" entry in File Explorer's right-click menu, and new interface languages including Czech, Greek and Turkish.

What it cannot do well yet:

Editing existing text is limited, especially in Chinese, Japanese or right-to-left languages, and OCR only reads Latin-alphabet text. It cannot turn Office files into PDFs, and Word export loses the layout.

Which File to Download

The PdfCraft download page has an installer and a portable zip for 64-bit, 32-bit and ARM Windows, plus macOS and Linux builds. Most PCs want the 64-bit MSI installer.

The MSI needs administrator rights and adds "Edit with PdfCraft" to the right-click menu without changing your default PDF app. The portable zip keeps its settings in a folder next to the program, so it runs from a USB stick.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

The tell is how much the finished file matters. For legal filings, print-shop artwork or anything that must match Acrobat exactly, use a mature PDF editor and keep PdfCraft for everyday jobs.

For simply reading and signing everyday PDFs, Adobe Acrobat Reader is free and familiar. Your browser opens PDFs too, and Microsoft Edge adds highlighting and drawing.

To write a document and export it as PDF, WordCraft does that from DOCX. For e-books rather than documents, Calibre converts between PDF, EPUB and other reader formats.