Stirling PDF
A full PDF toolbox (merge, split, compress, password, redact, OCR and 50+ more) that runs as a web page on your own PC, so documents never go to an upload site.
What you can do with it
- Black out account numbers before sending a document
- Shrink a big PDF for an email or upload limit
- Make scanned letters searchable with OCR
Worth knowingOpen-core: the core is MIT but some enterprise folders have their own licence, and paid Team/Enterprise plans exist for organisations. On 9 Oct 2026 the newest 3.1.0 server jar was broken on Windows (merge fails, issue #8321), so our mission uses 2.14.3.
The full tutorial
01Download Stirling PDF and its own copy of JavaFREE02Add the OCR engine (only needed for scans)MEMBERS03Make a one-click launcher and start itMEMBERS04Merge, split and shrinkMEMBERS05Lock it, black out the private bits, and read scansMEMBERS
Stop uploading your documents to random PDF websites · ~30 min · tested 2026-10-09
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