It all started as a personal project. My daughter is working in the financial industry with a high volume of document throughput. Once she asked me to recommend a tool to shuffle PDF pages. I was under an impression that it is no longer a problem and there would be tons of tools out there. Surprisingly – I didn’t find any I liked.
At that time (a year ago) I was going through a JavaScript learning curve – so, I decided to give it a try and soon I created a desktop JavaScript application, using Electron framework. Then, I realised – there is some potential in this application and what if I can make it completely browser-based without any library installation and without the need to upload any document files. So, I took it as a challenge – and that was the primary driving force behind the project.
Yes, I am going to keep it free. Most of the functionality used by ordinary users will be free. It’s too early to speak about the future of the project. As of today – it’s more about technology limitation test.
There may be some features which will be used by professional agents, then we may introduce a paid subscription, but only for the specific functionality intended for professionals.
This is a very challenging application – both for resources and the latest libraries. It was tested on the latest versions of Chrome, Brave and Opera browsers. Even Firefox is not up to date yet. But as time goes by – I hope most of the browsers will be compatible. As a matter of fact – most mobile devices already have the much-needed libraries and work well with PDFWRENCH. Although – PDF page manipulation is not a good fit for small mobile devices. Our primary target is desktop users.
Absolutely – new features are in the pipeline. Although we think – since the merging functionality is already there, cosmetic changes are a plus.
What we are targeting – is the Digital Signature functionality along with PDF page editing / annotation functionality. It’s a very challenging goal – to create a web-based full-scale Digital Signature application without file upload. We have an idea, a road map and some of the core functionality already tested. About time frame – we are optimistic. Expectations are for a new release every month.
I am working as a Data Architect consultant, but with a passion for modern technology, currently focused on JavaScript. Located in the wonderful city of Toronto, Canada. This project was started as a solo development. Currently, it’s more of a family business – my youngest daughter is helping me. She is a talented programmer – more on web design with a passion for security.Thanks, Andrei!
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Comments (4)
Commented:
Very interesting tool!
Although I read Andrei's comment during your interview with him that Firefox is not up-to-date yet, that wasn't top-of-mind when I clicked on the link (with Firefox, my default browser) and was greeted with this:
But the good news is that it's a perfect error message, making it crystal clear to the user exactly what the issue is. As soon as I switched to Chrome...no problem!
A great feature is that it can handle an image file just as easily as a PDF file, although only JPG (aka JPEG) and PNG...not BMP, GIF, TIF/TIFF, or any others. Since JPG and PNG are by far the most common image files that I use, I didn't find that limitation to be an issue...and the ability to drag-and-drop JPGs and PNGs into pages of the PDF is superb!
Thanks for finding this tool and taking the time to write this excellent article on it...ENDORSED! Regards, Joe
Author
Commented:Best, Andrew
Commented:
Thank you so much for another enlightening reference that I will be honored to add to my Knowledge Base. Very informative and easy to understand.
Thank you Andrew,
Basem Khawaja
Author
Commented:Best, Andrew