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PDF guides

Explanations rather than tutorials. Each one answers a question a tool page cannot, and links to the tool when there is something to do.

• Are online PDF tools safe?How to tell an upload tool from a browser tool, and what each one costs you.
• Compressing a PDF to fit an email limitWhy PDFs get large, what compression changes, and when it cannot help.
• Merging PDFs without uploading themOrder, bookmarks and quality: what a merge actually changes.
• Splitting a PDF by page rangeRange syntax, ZIP output, and split versus extract.
• JPG or PNG for scanned documentsWhich format to scan into, and what each one costs.
• Password-protecting a PDF properlyOpen password versus permissions, and what each really stops.
• Rotating a PDF so it stays uprightPage rotation as a stored attribute, and why viewers disagree.
• Cropping a PDF without losing textWhat a crop box does, and the redaction distinction that matters.

8 guides so far. New ones appear here as they are written.