What PDF Manipulation Features Does Signature PDF Offer?

Updated

Signature PDF (pdf.24eme.fr) is a free, open-source online tool that does more than signing. Alongside adding signatures, initials, stamps, and text, it lets you organize pages, edit metadata, compress files, convert images to PDF, and run OCR on scanned documents. All of these features run in the browser, and the site requires JavaScript to function.

Signing and Markup Features

The signing side of the tool covers both individual and collaborative use:

  • Add a signature to a PDF
  • Add initials for quick sign-off
  • Add a stamp
  • Type text directly onto the document
  • Strike through text
  • Allow multiple people to sign via a shared link
  • Sign with the server certificate
  • Add a watermark

The shared-link option is what makes it usable for multi-party signing: instead of passing a file back and forth, you send one link and each signer adds their mark.

Organize: Page-Level Editing

The Organize section handles the structural work on a PDF:

  • Combine multiple PDF files into one
  • Reorder pages
  • Extract pages
  • Rotate pages
  • Change or standardize the paper size
  • Delete pages
  • Generate a booklet

This is the set to reach for when a document's page order, orientation, or page count is wrong, or when you need to merge several files into a single deliverable.

Metadata: Add, Edit, or Remove

The Metadata feature lets you add, edit, or remove metadata from a PDF. Use it to correct a wrong title or author, strip identifying information before sharing, or fill in missing document properties.

Compress: Reduce File Size

The Compress feature compresses and reduces the size of a PDF. This is useful when a file is too large to email or upload.

Convert Images to PDF and OCR

Two additional features extend what you can do with non-text or image-based files:

  • Convert images to PDF — turn image files into a PDF document
  • OCR (text detection in images contained in the PDF) — detect text inside images embedded in a PDF, which is the step that makes a scanned document searchable or copyable

How to Choose Which Feature to Use

Goal Feature to use
Get a document signed by one or more people Sign (signature, initials, stamp, shared link)
Merge, split, reorder, rotate, or resize pages Organize
Fix or strip document properties Metadata
Make a file smaller Compress
Turn images into a PDF Convert images to PDF
Make a scanned PDF's text detectable OCR

What to Know Before You Start

  • The site is free and open-source software under the AGPL-3.0 license, and the source code is published.
  • The interface is available in many languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and others.
  • JavaScript must be enabled — the site states it is not functional without it.
  • The available evidence does not describe account requirements, file-size limits, or storage behavior, so treat those as unconfirmed rather than assuming the tool is unlimited or login-free.