Free online PDF tools against an app that keeps the file on your Mac
The free PDF tool sites compared in November 2026: file size limits, hourly and daily caps, how long they keep your upload, and what an on-device app does differently.
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Generating PDFs from JSON: why it is still painful in 2026
How developers and businesses turn data into PDFs today, the services, libraries and browser engines they use, and the problems they keep running into: page breaks, fonts, forms, accessibility, signing and price per document.
Scanning documents on iPhone: the apps compared
With one well-known scanner app retired in 2026, what is left for scanning paper on an iPhone: the built-in scanner, the free and paid scanner apps, what they charge, and where the scan goes.
Signing a PDF with a USB token or smart card on a Mac: who actually supports it
The two ways a Mac talks to a signing token, PKCS#11 and CryptoTokenKit, which PDF apps document each one, what PAdES means for the file, and where Better PDF stands.
What a PDF editor should cost on a Mac in 2026
What the main PDF apps for Mac cost in November 2026: one-time licences against subscriptions, what each free tier gives you, and what three years costs if you mostly read, fill and sign.
What we are building next: Better PDF Designer and the SDK
Upcoming, not shipped: Better PDF Designer, for designing a document once on the Mac and filling it from JSON or CSV, and the Better PDF SDK, the same engine for developers. Everything on device, no price per document.
How to fill and sign a PDF form on a Mac
Fill and sign any PDF form on macOS without a subscription: fields vs flat forms, typing on a scan, placing a signature, saving a copy and what flatten means.
How to make a scanned PDF searchable on a Mac
Make a scanned PDF searchable on macOS with on-device OCR: what the invisible text layer is, why language and scan quality matter, and the steps.
How to sign a PDF with a digital certificate on a Mac
Sign a PDF on macOS with a keychain certificate, smart card or USB token: the steps, what a certificate signature proves, PAdES and time-stamps.
Is it safe to upload a PDF to an online converter?
What happens to a file on a PDF converter site, when uploading is fine and when not, how to spot an on-device tool, and Mac options with no upload.
Reading PDFs at night without wrecking your eyes
How to read PDFs on a Mac in the dark: why dark mode leaves the page white, why inverting the screen ruins images, night reading, warm tint and e-ink.
Better PDF 1.0: read it, sign it, done
Better PDF is a native PDF app for Mac: read without glare, fill any form and sign with a certificate or USB token, for free. Pro adds editing, OCR and signature styles for one payment.
Certificate signing in Better PDF: keychain certificates, USB tokens and signature styles
How Better PDF signs with a keychain certificate, smart card or USB token, what it writes into the file, and how signature styles set the way a signature looks.
Reading PDFs on E-ink, and why we built an E-ink mode
E-ink monitors make long PDFs easier on the eyes, but most Mac apps are drawn for glossy screens. Better PDF's E-ink mode is pure black on white, with no motion and whole-page turns.
