How to use KTPDF

Opening a file

Three ways:

1. 1Drag the PDF onto the window.
2. 2Press ⌘O (Ctrl+O on Windows) and pick a file.
3. 3In the desktop app: double-click a PDF in Finder or Explorer.

Editing text that is already in the file

The text is really changed in the file, not covered up, so it stays selectable and searchable.

1. 1Turn on the edit-text tool: ⌥⌘T, or Ctrl+Alt+T on Windows.
2. 2Click the line you want to change.
3. 3Retype it, then press Escape or click elsewhere.
4. 4If the new text is longer than the old, a small label tells you.

Adding a text box or an image

Useful for filling in forms, adding a note, or dropping in a signature.

1. 1Pick the text tool and click where you want the box.
2. 2Type. The box grows as the text wraps.
3. 3Change font, size, colour and alignment in the bar at the top.
4. 4For an image, pick the image tool and choose a PNG or JPEG. Drag a corner to resize; hold Shift to resize freely.

Reordering, rotating and deleting pages

All done in the thumbnail column on the left. Everything can be undone.

1. 1Drag a thumbnail to move that page.
2. 2Click to select. Hold ⌘ to add one, Shift to take a range.
3. 3Rotate with ⌘L and ⌘R. The rotation is saved into the file.
4. 4Delete with ⌘Backspace. Adding blank pages or pages from another file is here too.

Merging and splitting

Both open a small panel over the document.

1. 1Merge (⇧⌘M): add the files, drag them into order, save.
2. 2Split (⇧⌘P): choose a page range to pull out, or cut the file into several.

Saving

The desktop app saves straight over the file you opened. In the browser it depends: Chrome and Edge can save over the original once you allow it, while Safari and Firefox download the new file to your Downloads folder.

Fonts and Vietnamese

The fonts built into the PDF standard have no Vietnamese, so whenever you add or change text, KTPDF embeds a real font into the file. The app uses the fonts on your computer. The browser version carries Arimo, Tinos and Cousine, which have the same character widths as Arial, Times New Roman and Courier New, so a file edited in one place lines up in the other.

What it cannot do

Scanned files have no text to edit — a scan is a photo of a page. Editing existing text does not reflow the paragraph around it yet, so replacing a short phrase with a much longer one can overrun the line. Password-protected files need the password removed first.