PaperKnife
Introduction: Privacy-first PDF utility (Zero-Server Architecture). Merge, split, compress, and edit PDFs 100% locally on your device. No uploads, no servers, no tracking.
Tags:
A privacy-first PDF utility: merge, compress, sign, and protect. Works 100% offline — no servers, no trackers.
Screenshots
Features
- Merge & split PDFs
- Compress with quality presets
- Password protect and unlock PDFs
- Convert PDF pages to images (JPG/PNG, 72–300 DPI)
- Draw, upload, and reuse signatures
- Watermarks, page numbers, metadata cleaning
- Deep OCR text extraction (full version only)
- And more!
All processing happens on your device. Your files never leave your phone.
Download
Get the latest APK: PaperKnife v1.1.0
- Full (GitHub releases): everything, including offline OCR.
- Lite (IzzyOnDroid): same app without the OCR engine — smaller download.
Or use the live site — installable as a PWA for offline access.
Run the web version locally
Requirements: Node.js 22+ and git. Everything below runs on your own machine.
git clone https://github.com/potatameister/PaperKnife.git
cd PaperKnife
npm ci # install dependencies (also used by CI)
npm run vendor:ocr # optional, only needed for Deep OCR (one-time)
npm run dev # start the local server (http://localhost:3000)
Notes:
npm run vendor:ocris optional — skip it and everything works except Deep OCR. The engine files (~30 MB) are never committed to git, so a fresh clone cannot do OCR until you run it. Re-running later is safe — it skips what is already there.npm run buildproduces a staticdist/folder you can serve with any static host (npm run previewto check it locally). No server component exists — it is plain files.- To build the Android APK yourself, you additionally need JDK 21 + Android SDK, then
npx cap sync androidafternpm run build. The OCR files (if vendored) are bundled into the full APK automatically.
Support
PaperKnife is a solo project — open-source, ad-free, and tracker-free. All support options live on the support page. If it saved you time or kept your data safe: chip in, star the repo, or share it with anyone who handles sensitive documents.
License
GNU AGPL v3 — free forever, auditable by anyone.
Made with care by potatameister
