Edit PDF Text

Scalebar PDF Tools — 100% free

For architects and professionals who need to work with documents efficiently and confidentially. Compress drawings, add scale bars and title blocks, resize pages to ISO formats, add watermarks and more.

Your files never leave your browser — 100% local processing

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Upload a PDF file

Click here or drag and drop a file

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Frequently asked questions

No — nobody. Not us, not any third party. Every operation runs entirely inside your browser using JavaScript, so your PDF never leaves your device from the moment you open it to the moment you download the result. This is not just a privacy policy: the site has no backend server at all, making it technically impossible for your files to be transmitted or seen by anyone else.

Any modern Chromium-based browser (Chrome 90+, Edge 90+, Brave) or Firefox 90+ works well. Safari 16+ on macOS and iOS is also supported for most tools. For the Compress tool, which uses a Ghostscript WebAssembly engine, a recent Chromium browser gives the best results. If Ghostscript fails to load, the tool automatically falls back to a lighter pdf-lib compression.

There are no server-imposed limits because everything runs locally. Practical limits depend on your device's RAM. Files up to ~150 MB are handled without issues on most modern computers. Very large files (scanned plans at 300 dpi, for example) may be slow on low-memory devices. If a tool runs out of memory the browser will show an error message — you can try reducing the file first with the Compress tool.

Yes, this is the intended workflow. After any operation completes, click ↩ Keep working with this version to promote the result as the active file. Every subsequent tool will work on that modified version. A green banner at the top of the tool panel tracks your modification history so you always know which version you are working on.

It uses Ghostscript compiled to WebAssembly, running entirely in your browser. You can choose from four presets — Screen (72 dpi, smallest), eBook (150 dpi), Printer (300 dpi), and Prepress (high quality) — or switch to Custom mode to set your own DPI and JPEG quality. The presets map directly to Ghostscript's -dPDFSETTINGS options. If the WASM engine fails to initialise (for example, in some older browsers) the tool falls back to a metadata-strip compression using pdf-lib.

You enter the drawing scale (e.g. 1:100) and the tool automatically selects a "nice" bar length — a round number of metres or feet that represents roughly 20% of the page width at that scale. For example, on an A1 sheet at 1:100 the bar will be 10 m or 15 m, not 12.37 m. The bar is always drawn in PDF coordinate space with full rotation compensation so it appears correctly even on pages that have a 90°, 180° or 270° rotation flag. You can fine-tune the exact position with the X/Y offset controls (in % of page width/height).

Five visual styles are available: Classic (alternating filled/empty), Hatch (hatched dark segments), Staggered (bars alternate above/below a centre line), Dots (thin line with dots at each division), and Ticks (thin line with vertical ticks only). Any colour can be applied to all bar elements at once.

It adds an architectural title block to the bottom-right corner of your pages. The block width scales with the ISO paper format (A4 → 36 mm, A0 → 77 mm) and the height adjusts dynamically to fit all content without overflow. Fields include Project name, Site address, Drawing content (multi-line), Plan type and number, Scale, Date, Client signature, Designer signature, a north arrow (rotatable by degree input), and Project No. All text is automatically uppercased. Long field values wrap to multiple lines, and names in the signature area shrink automatically to fit their column.

White layer draws a filled white polygon directly on the page content stream. The original content is covered visually but remains in the file — it can potentially be recovered by someone with the right tools. Use this when you want a reversible, lightweight cover (e.g. to overwrite before printing).

Flatten page rasterizes the entire page to a bitmap at the chosen DPI and reconstructs it as a single image, permanently destroying all underlying vector content and text within the patch. This is the correct choice when you need to irreversibly redact sensitive information before sharing a file.

Yes. Use Reorder & Remove Pages to drag pages into the order you want and remove any you don't need, then click ↩ Keep working with this version. After that, open the Split PDF tool — it will show the reordered pages and let you click the gaps where you want to split.

All tools are free with no account required and no file limits. Scalebar PDF Tools is the only browser-based suite specifically built for architects — combining general PDF utilities with tools unique to architectural practice, such as metric and imperial graphic scale bars with multiple styles, ISO-format title blocks with north arrows and signature fields, and a coordinate-aware patch/redact tool that handles rotated drawing sheets correctly. The site is sustained by a small, non-intrusive Carbon Ads unit — a single ad served exclusively to technical and design audiences (no tracking pixels, no retargeting). If you find the tools useful, you can also leave a one-time tip via the support button. Neither is required to use any feature.

Click on any text block to edit it directly on the page. Click on a blank area to add new text.

Convert pages to images

Format:

Resolution:

Text watermark

Watermark text:

Font size (pt):

Opacity (0.05–1):

Color (hex):

Position:

Apply to:

Logo watermark

The logo is automatically converted to grayscale before embedding. Select an image of your logo.

Image file (PNG, JPG):

📁 Choose image…

Opacity (0.05–1):

Scale (% of page width):

Rotation (degrees):

Position:

Apply to:

Resize to standard format

Rescales each page to the selected ISO or standard format, fitting the content within the new dimensions.

Target format:

Orientation:

Fit mode:

Reorder & remove pages

Drag thumbnails to reorder. Check the box on any page to mark it for removal.

Graphic scale bar

Adds an architectural scale bar to every page. Page rotation is automatically detected and compensated so the bar always appears in the correct visual position.

Page size (or auto-detect):

Drawing scale (1 : X):

Base position:

Apply to:

Fine-tune offset — as % of visual page width/height (negative moves left/down):

Horizontal offset X (%):

Vertical offset Y (%):

Example: X = +5 moves the bar 5% of the page width to the right. Y = −2 moves it 2% downward.

Style:

Colour:

Graphic scale bar (feet)

Adds an imperial scale bar in feet. Page rotation is automatically detected and compensated so the bar always appears in the correct visual position.

Page size (or auto-detect):

Drawing scale (1 : X):

Base position:

Apply to:

Fine-tune offset — as % of visual page width/height (negative moves left/down):

Horizontal offset X (%):

Vertical offset Y (%):

Example: X = +5 moves the bar 5% of the page width to the right. Y = −2 moves it 2% downward.

Style:

Colour:

Split PDF

Load thumbnails, then click the gap between any two pages to mark a split point. Each section will be exported as a separate PDF.

Merge PDFs

Upload multiple PDF files. Drag the preview cards to reorder them, then merge into one document.

📁 Choose PDF files (multiple allowed)…

Image to PDF

Convert one or more images into a PDF — one page per image, sized to fit.

📁 Choose images (JPG, PNG, WebP)…

Page size:

Image fit:

Patch / Redact

Draw a white polygon over any area of a page to cover unwanted content.

White layer (non-destructive)

A white shape is drawn on top of the page. The original content still exists in the PDF file below the patch — it is not visible on screen or in print, but it can be recovered by someone who edits the file. Use this for layout adjustments.

Flatten page (permanent redaction)

The entire page is rasterized to an image and reconstructed — original vector content below the patch is permanently destroyed and unrecoverable. Use this for sensitive documents. Note: the page becomes an image, which increases file size.

Page to patch:

Render resolution (flatten only):

Title block (viñeta)

Adds an architectural title block to the bottom-right corner. Width adapts to page format, height adjusts automatically to content. Empty fields are left blank.

Project name:

Site:

Drawing content (one item per line — auto-uppercased):

Type:

Plan number:

Scale:

Date:

Client name:

Designer name:

North arrow rotation (°) 0° = up, clockwise:

Project No.:

Apply to:

Page size override:

Page grid

Adds a reference grid to your drawing. In scale spacing mode, specify the drawing scale and the real-world distance between grid lines — the paper spacing is calculated automatically so the grid represents real dimensions correctly. When drawn below existing content the grid is inserted at the start of the page content stream, appearing under all CAD lines and fills.

Grid spacing mode:

Drawing scale:

Grid interval (real-world distance):

Page border (mm) grid starts here:

Paper spacing (calculated):

Line colour:

Line weight (pt):

Position:

Apply to:

Plan numbering

Stamps a sequential plan number on each PDF. Works in batch: upload multiple PDFs and each receives its own number. Downloads as a ZIP.

Prefix:

Starting number:

Padding digits:

Position:

Font size (pt):

Color:

Apply to:

Revision cloud

Stamps a revision cloud with a numbered triangle marker on your PDF pages. The cloud is placed at the chosen corner. Adjust size to cover the desired area.

Revision number / letter:

Corner:

Cloud width (mm):

Cloud height (mm):

Arc radius (mm):

Margin from corner (mm):

Line colour:

Apply to:

SCALEBAR PDF TOOLS

Scalebar PDF Tools — 100% free

Upload a PDF file

Frequently asked questions

Edit PDF text

Convert pages to images

Text watermark

Logo watermark

Resize to standard format

Reorder & remove pages

Graphic scale bar

Graphic scale bar (feet)

Split PDF

Merge PDFs

Image to PDF

Patch / Redact

Title block (viñeta)

Page grid

Plan numbering

Revision cloud

OTHER TOOLS — same file