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Common Tasks
Looking for a specific tool by name? See the sidebar. This page is organized the other way around: by what you're trying to do.
"My PDF is too big to email." Use Compress PDF. Pick the Web or Screen quality preset for the smallest result, or turn on Target file size if you need to hit a specific limit.
"I need to send just a few pages, not the whole document."
Use Split PDF: enter a page range like 1-3, 5 and each range is saved as its own file.
"I have several PDFs I need to send as one file." Use Merge PDFs: pick the files, arrange the order, done.
"A page came out sideways or upside down." Use Rotate PDF (or Rotate Image if it's a photo, not a PDF).
"I need to turn a PDF page into a picture I can drop into a chat or a slide." Use PDF to JPG.
"I have scanned photos of pages I need as one PDF." Use JPG to PDF.
"I need to permanently black out an SSN, account number, or other sensitive text before sharing a document." Use Redact PDF, and only this one. Crop PDF just hides content outside the visible page (it's still in the file), and covering text with a shape in Edit PDF just draws over the original text without removing it. Redact PDF is the only tool that actually flattens the page so nothing's left to recover.
"My scanned document has ugly borders or margins." Use Crop PDF.
"I need to reorder, delete, or duplicate pages before sending a document." Use Organize PDF.
"I need to add page numbers before printing." Use Page Numbers.
"I want to mark a document DRAFT or CONFIDENTIAL." Use Watermark.
"I need to sign a form without printing it out." Use Sign PDF: note this stamps a picture of your signature onto the page; it's not a legally-binding digital signature. For that, use a dedicated e-signature service.
"I need to fix a typo or update some text in a PDF and don't have the original source file." Use Edit PDF. Just know that "deleted" text is covered with a white box, not actually removed from the file: if the goal is removing sensitive text rather than fixing a typo, use Redact PDF instead.
"I need to turn a Word document into a PDF" (or the reverse). Use Convert Document.
"I want a Markdown, HTML, JSON, or plain-text version of a PDF or DOCX for notes/publishing." Use Convert Document: these formats work fully offline, no extra software needed.
"My PDF or Word document is really long and I want it split into one file per chapter." Use Convert Document's split by chapter option when converting to Markdown/HTML/JSON/DOCX.
"I can't convert my EPUB/MOBI, or to DOC/ODT/RTF." Those formats need LibreOffice or Calibre installed: see that page, or why a conversion option might not be available.
"I need to convert a screenshot between PNG, JPG, and WebP." Use Convert Image.
"My PDF won't open, or another tool says it's corrupted." Use Repair PDF first: it fixes most structural issues by re-writing the file. If it still has problems afterward, the damage was likely something no repair pass can reconstruct.
"Compressing didn't make my file any smaller." See why your file may not get smaller: usually because the PDF is mostly text (little to recompress), or was already close to optimal.
"I need to shrink a photo before uploading it somewhere with a size limit." Use Compress Image.
"I need a transparent image to stay transparent after converting." Export as PNG or WebP, not JPG: JPG has no transparency support and fills transparent areas with white. Applies to both Compress Image, and Convert Image.
See also: Using PaperOtter · Troubleshooting · FAQ
Home 🏠 | Common Tasks 🎯 | Required Dependencies | Using PaperOtter | Troubleshooting | FAQ ❓
Feature guides: see the sidebar for a page-by-page walkthrough of every tool.