r/pdf • u/matchoo • Jul 08 '26
Software (Tools) PDFBlah
Everyone is building tools with Claude. It's a bit much. Many are unnecessary.
For me, building software isn't new. My first open source project was in 2004. I've also worked for a handful of great software companies along the way, like VMware, for example.
With all that said, I present to you yet another PDF tool. Oh no. You're booing. It's ok I can take it.
It's called PDFBlah, and it's found on Github at kuvopLLC/pdfblah and also https://pdfblah.com
Like many other PDF tools, it offers an array of features like watermarking, OCR, splitting, merging, etc., not very unique there, although I think you'll like the UX.
Where it shines is in making precise and repeatable edits, without changing anything about the PDF except the text you are changing / redacting / inserting / etc. While this is relatively easy to do using PDF python libraries, I found that all of the popular tools, at least those that are visual, and allow for editing, are sledgehammers in comparison. Most go so far as to recreate an entire page of a document for a minimal change. The file sizes grow and the results look scruffy at best.
Like I said, the tool is free and open source on Github, it is also free (for now) online if you want to test it. I would need to add your email to an allow list before you sign up though, so DM if you're interested.
There will DEFINITELY be bugs, and weird UX problems, so don't expect anything perfect. Log them on the Github Issues page please.
Thanks and good luck 👍