Hi folks!
I’m the creator of BentoPDF. It is an open source PDF toolkit that runs entirely in your browser. Your documents stay private, by design.
BentoPDF started as a small side project, but over time it has grown into something much bigger. With our latest major update, BentoPDF now includes 100+ tools, all running fully client-side.
You can do the basics like merge PDFs(while preserving bookmarks), split documents, extract or delete pages, reorder files, rotate pages, and compress PDFs. Thee are also some advanced tools.
You can edit and annotate PDFs directly in the browser: highlight text, add comments, draw shapes, insert images, fill(including XFA) and create forms, manage bookmarks, generate tables of contents, redact, add headers, footers, watermarks, and page numbers.
BentoPDF also supports an extensive range of file conversions. You can convert Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenOffice, Pages, CSV, RTF, EPUB, MOBI, comic book formats, and many more into PDFs, and also convert PDFs back into Word, Excel, images, Markdown, CSV, JSON, and plain text.
For images, BentoPDF supports a massive variety of formats, including HEIC, WebP, SVG, PSD, JP2, and and aalso other formats such as EPUB, CBR/CBZ. You can convert images to PDFs, extract images from PDFs in their original format, or rasterize PDFs with full DPI control.
There are also organization and optimization tools: OCR, PDF/A conversion, booklet creation, N-up layouts, page division, attachment management, layer (OCG) editing, metadata inspection and editing, repair tools, and advanced compression algorithms that rival commercial solutions.
The latest update also includes AI ready extraction tools to export PDFs to structured JSON, extract tables as CSV/Markdown/JSON, and prepare PDFs for RAG and LLM workflows.
All of this works entirely in the browser, without accounts, uploads, or tracking.
This is my first post here and I hope you like it. Any feedback or feature requests are appreciated. Thank you.
Github Link: https://github.com/alam00000/bentopdf
This looks great!
Can you use it to overlay text fields and fill them?
Most of my uses are basic. Like filling out a PDF form that doesn’t have proper form entry fields. These are usually older government or bureaucratic/healthcare/school forms.
I end up adding text boxes and entering values, or adding an X on top of a checkbox, adding a signature PNG file and scaling it to fit the size. Sometimes I have to add a highlight overlay. Then I save it all as a single flattened PDF file.
Amazingly, this is hard to do in Acrobat and a lot of apps. I end up using a janky, 10-yo desktop app that is no longer supported.
You mean XFA forms? Then yes it supports it
Went to look up what XFA forms were (https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-manager-learn/forms/document-services/pdf-forms-and-documents).
Most of the non-fillable forms I encounter are what that document lists as “Traditional” PDF forms, likely generated using older tools from print streams. For example, a school athletics release form, or a membership application for a small organization. None of them have any fillable PDF fields. The original expectation might have been to download and print out the PDF, hand-fill it, then fax the result back.
I’ll dig up a form like that I had to fill a few weeks ago and give it a try.
OK, just tried it with one of those old forms. Added a text field overlay and a signature. Even flattens before saving. Works great. Awesome, thanks!
Awesome!
Interesting!
Can this work server side as well? I’d love a good PDF toolkit to integrate as a backend into my open source system
Most important missing detail though: reliable conversion from HTML to PDF
I’m currently using wkhtnltopdf and it gets unreliable results at best, especially with layout (CSS)
Any suggestions on what tool could do that best?
Nope. But an API version will be released soon
This would be fantastic for at work. I saw in another comment that it’s a one time fee commercial use license. That’s fantastic. How it with merging PDFs with different page sizes and orientations? I would use it for merging drawing packages together, and there’s a mix of like, A0, A1, and A3.
It can merge any type of pages. Also, if there is bookmarks in your PDFs, then it also preserves it. There’s also an alternate merge feature in case you want (:
Love this idea!
Apologies if you’ve written this elsewhere, but do you have a write up of what inspired this project? Particularly why a selfhosted solution vs. client software?
My guess is:
- Compatible on all devices
- Unified editing experience on all devices
- ??
Thanks!
I have a bad habit of never writing blogs haha. I will post one very soon (:
deleted by creator
I could really use this, so I will definitely set this up. I saw there is an issue open for adding hyperlinks. Any word on how that is progressing (or not)?
8k Stars in 2 months. Wild…
PS: Your git is misconfigured and doesn’t line up with your GH account…
Thanks! Yes, I always forget to fix it xD
Thank you so much for your amazing work! I had to sign something a few weeks ago on a new PC and Bento is so easy
Thank you!
I’m stoked to give it a try. I left my last PDF application because they injected AI into it. So I’ve been shopping around a little. I’ve been using Okular, but it’s really limited, even as a viewer. This looks awesome. Nicely done! I hope you keep at it!
Thank you. You can also use the editor has a viewer
Great project. I like the 1-star reviews complaining about the lack of advertising and tracking.
haha thanks
Lol wait seriously? Surely those are a joke.
deleted by creator
I don’t suppose you’re able to sign PDFs with something like a CAC card right? Is that still wholly in the realm of acrobat?
Literally the only thing I need another software to do so I can finally uninstall the last Adobe product from my VM. I’m running Linux so getting this functionality in Linux would be ideal. But since no one else has done it, I assume Adobe has some kind of stranglehold on that process?
sorry but this is the first time I am hearing of a CAC card. Can you give me more details. I can check it out then
No problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Access_Card
Essentially it’s a physical token containing a certificate. I can then put that card into a CAC card reader and authenticate with it and a PIN that I setup on my card.
I can then also sign PDF signature blocks with the cert on the card. I have only found this ability in Adobe Acrobat. The signature block in Adobe is different from just their regular sign location for digital ink. I’ve never made a PDF with one of those blocks, I’ve only just signed them so I’m not sure what exactly that kind of signing block is called.
So bottom line, it’s a physical card with a certificate loaded on it. Adobe can read that cert and use it to sign signature blocks inside a PDF.
How about email conversion functionality? I get lots of law offices in the USA looking to push an outlook data file in and receive an organized lot PDF back out. On the roadmap?
This is actually coming up in next release
Heck yeah, appreciate your efforts, you’re creating a product to compete with software suites that are incredibly expensive to buy per user per year, you’re doing the needful
This is a wild coincidence. I was just looking for something like this. Time to go tinker.
🙌🏻
Looks great
Thank you!
