Edit, organize, annotate, protect, and manage PDFs locally.
PeaBox PDF Studio is a local-first desktop PDF toolkit designed for everyday document editing and management without requiring users to upload documents to an online PDF service.
It combines PDF viewing, focused text correction, page management, annotations, OCR-assisted search, document metadata, watermarks, headers and footers, page numbering, and encrypted PDF export in a native desktop application.
Current release: v1.5.0
- Why PeaBox PDF Studio?
- Core Principles
- Features
- Technology Stack
- System Requirements
- Installation
- Running the Application
- User Guide
- Editing Existing Text
- Working with Pages
- Annotations and Redaction
- OCR and Scanned PDFs
- Document Properties
- Watermarks
- Headers and Footers
- Page Numbers
- PDF Password Protection
- Saving Documents
- Recommended Workflow
- Privacy and Security
- Known Limitations
- Troubleshooting
- Project Structure
- Development Setup
- Testing
- Packaging and Deployment
- Roadmap
- Version History
- Contributing
- License
PDF documents are everywhere.
Organizations use PDFs for:
- Contracts
- HR documents
- Employee records
- Policies
- Invoices
- Statements
- Approval forms
- Reports
- Certificates
- Application forms
- Financial documents
- Internal documentation
Making even a small correction can sometimes require an expensive commercial PDF editor or uploading the document to an online service.
You might only need to:
Correct a name
Change a date
Fix an amount
Highlight a paragraph
Remove confidential information
Add a signature
Insert page numbers
Delete a page
Combine multiple PDFs
Password-protect a document
PeaBox PDF Studio is designed specifically around those practical workflows.
The goal is simple:
Open. Edit. Organize. Protect. Save. Done.
Normal PDF processing happens on your computer.
PeaBox PDF Studio does not require a PeaBox cloud account or an external document-processing API for normal operation.
This makes local processing particularly useful for documents containing:
- Employee information
- Customer information
- Contracts
- Financial information
- Internal business documents
- Personal information
- Confidential records
Tools should explain what they do.
PeaBox prefers labels such as:
Edit existing text
Add new text
Add image or signature
Highlight text
Permanently redact text
Rotate page
Delete page
Add watermark
Create protected copy
rather than relying entirely on unexplained icons.
PDF is a fixed-layout format.
PeaBox avoids making unpredictable changes simply to complete an edit.
For example, PeaBox does not automatically shrink replacement text until it fits an existing area.
If an edit cannot be completed safely, PeaBox should report the problem instead.
Documents should remain local whenever practical.
Cloud functionality, if introduced in future releases, should remain optional.
The codebase is intended to remain understandable and extensible.
Developers should be able to inspect, modify, test, package, and extend the application.
PeaBox PDF Studio v1.5.0 includes functionality across six major areas.
- Open PDF documents
- Correct existing PDF text
- Preserve detected text size
- Preserve text baseline
- Preserve text colour
- Add new text
- Add images
- Add signature images
- Native desktop PDF viewer
- Page rendering
- Thumbnail navigation
- Fit Page
- 100% viewing
- Zoom controls
- Native scrolling
- Page navigation
- Drag-and-drop page reordering
- Duplicate pages
- Extract selected pages
- Insert blank pages
- Insert another PDF
- Rotate pages
- Delete pages
- Merge PDF documents
- Highlight text
- Underline text
- Strike out text
- Add comments
- Permanent redaction
- Undo and redo
- Detect pages likely to require OCR
- Run OCR on scanned pages
- Search OCR-recognized text
- Search regular PDF text
- Highlight search results
- PDF metadata editor
- Watermarks
- Headers
- Footers
- Page numbering
- AES-256 protected copies
- Owner password
- Optional document-open password
- PDF printing/copying permission controls
PeaBox PDF Studio uses a native Python desktop architecture.
| Component | Technology |
|---|---|
| Programming language | Python |
| Desktop UI | PySide6 / Qt |
| PDF processing | PyMuPDF |
| OCR | Tesseract through PyMuPDF |
| Image processing | Pillow where required |
| Automated tests | pytest |
| Platform focus | Windows |
The desktop edition does not require a browser or local web server.
Operating System: Windows 10 or Windows 11
Architecture: 64-bit
Python: 3.11 or newer
RAM: 4 GB minimum
8 GB recommended
Disk: Approximately 1 GB available
Large PDFs containing high-resolution scans may require more memory.
This is the easiest installation method.
Download:
PeaBox_PDF_Studio_Desktop_v1.5.0.zip
Extract the ZIP into a normal directory.
For example:
C:\PeaBox\PDFStudio\
Do not run the application directly from inside the ZIP archive.
Double-click:
run_windows.bat
The launcher installs the required Python packages and starts PeaBox PDF Studio.
The first launch may take longer because dependencies need to be installed.
For developers and advanced users, a Python virtual environment is recommended.
cd C:\path\to\peabox-pdf-studiopython -m venv .venvCommand Prompt:
.venv\Scripts\activatePowerShell:
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1python -m pip install --upgrade pippython -m pip install -r requirements.txtpython app.pyAfter installation:
python app.pyor simply run:
run_windows.bat
PeaBox opens as a native desktop window.
Choose:
Open PDF
Select a .pdf file.
The document is loaded into the local PDF workspace.
Always keep a copy of important source documents before editing.
PDF text editing is fundamentally different from editing text in Microsoft Word.
PDF normally stores text at fixed coordinates.
A simplified PDF instruction could effectively mean:
Draw "Business Owner"
at X = 240
at Y = 320
using font size 11
There may be no concept of a flowing paragraph.
PeaBox therefore uses a conservative editing strategy.
- Choose Edit existing text.
- Navigate to the required page.
- Move the pointer over the text.
- PeaBox identifies editable text regions.
- Double-click the required text.
- Enter replacement text.
- Confirm the edit.
- Review the result.
2025 → 2026
Draft → Final
Pending → Approved
John Smith → John Smyth
$1,500 → $1,750
PeaBox does not automatically reduce existing text size simply to make a replacement fit.
If the original text is approximately:
11 pt
PeaBox attempts to keep it:
11 pt
If the replacement cannot fit safely, the application rejects the edit.
This prevents situations where one edited field suddenly appears much smaller than surrounding text.
Avoid replacing:
Owner
with:
Senior Global Business Application Operations Owner
inside the same small PDF text area.
Use shorter wording, move new content elsewhere, or modify the original source document.
Use Add new text when the information does not already exist in the PDF.
Typical examples:
APPROVED
Reviewed
Reference: HR-2026-114
31-Jan-2026
Adding new text and correcting existing text are intentionally separate workflows.
PeaBox supports adding images such as:
PNG
JPG
JPEG
Use cases include:
- Signature
- Logo
- Stamp
- Photograph
- Screenshot
- QR code
Use:
PNG
Transparent background
Minimal empty margins
for the cleanest result.
Adding a signature image is not the same as creating a certificate-backed digital signature.
Drag page thumbnails into a new order.
Example:
1
2
3
4
can become:
1
3
2
4
Select the required page and choose:
Duplicate current page
A duplicate is inserted into the document.
Select one or more page thumbnails.
Use Ctrl to select individual pages.
Use Shift to select a range.
Choose:
Extract selected pages
Save the extracted pages as a separate PDF.
Choose:
Insert blank page
A new blank page is inserted after the current page.
Choose:
Insert PDF after page
Select another PDF.
Its pages are inserted after the current page.
Select the page and choose:
Rotate current page
The page rotates in 90-degree increments.
Select the page and choose:
Delete current page
PeaBox prevents deleting every page from the document.
Choose:
Merge PDF files
Select the PDFs.
For example:
Cover.pdf
Contract.pdf
Appendix.pdf
becomes:
Complete-Contract.pdf
Choose:
Highlight text
Double-click the required text.
A PDF highlight annotation is created.
Choose:
Underline text
Double-click the text.
Choose:
Strike out text
Double-click the text.
Choose:
Add comment to page
Enter the comment.
PeaBox creates a PDF comment annotation.
Choose:
Permanently redact text
Select the required text.
PeaBox asks for confirmation.
After confirmation, the selected text is removed and a redaction area is applied.
Redaction should be treated as permanent after the document is saved.
Always retain an original document before performing redactions.
PeaBox supports edit history for supported document modifications.
Keyboard shortcuts:
Ctrl + Z Undo
Ctrl + Y Redo
The current architecture uses in-memory PDF snapshots for edit history.
Supported controls include:
Zoom In
Zoom Out
Fit Page
100%
Common shortcuts:
Ctrl + +
Ctrl + -
Ctrl + 0
Ctrl + 1
A scanned PDF may contain only images.
Conceptually:
Paper
↓
Scanner
↓
Image
↓
PDF
The page looks like text to a human, but there may be no actual PDF text objects.
OCR is therefore required.
Navigate to the page.
Choose:
OCR current page
or use:
Ctrl + Shift + O
Enter the Tesseract language code.
English:
eng
PeaBox runs OCR on the current page.
OCR requires a separate Tesseract installation.
Tesseract language data must also be available.
Common language codes include:
eng English
deu German
fra French
spa Spanish
Install the relevant language packages when additional languages are required.
After running OCR:
Ctrl + F
Enter the text.
PeaBox searches the OCR-generated text representation.
Matches are visually highlighted.
v1.5 intentionally does not treat OCR text like ordinary PDF text for replacement.
A scanned page still contains pixels representing the original words.
Simply inserting new text would leave the original scanned text underneath.
Safe scanned-text correction therefore requires image-region cleanup or reconstruction.
That workflow is planned for a later version.
Use:
Ctrl + F
PeaBox can search:
- Native PDF text
- OCR-recognized page text after OCR processing
Search results are highlighted visually.
v1.5 introduces PDF metadata editing.
Choose:
Document properties
You can edit:
Title
Author
Subject
Keywords
The dialog also provides basic information about the document.
Metadata can be useful for:
- Search
- Document management
- Archiving
- Classification
- Knowledge management
Choose:
Add watermark
Enter text such as:
CONFIDENTIAL
DRAFT
INTERNAL USE ONLY
The watermark is placed across PDF pages using low-opacity text.
Watermarks modify document content.
Use Undo if a watermark was applied incorrectly before saving.
Choose:
Header and footer
Enter content such as:
PeaBox Labs
or:
Confidential
PeaBox applies the header/footer consistently across the document.
Choose:
Add page numbers
Enter a prefix.
Example:
Page
Choose a starting number.
Example:
1
The result becomes:
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
...
You can also use a custom prefix:
Appendix -
to create:
Appendix -1
Appendix -2
Appendix -3
v1.5 can create an AES-256 encrypted copy.
Choose:
Create protected copy
Enter:
Required.
This controls document ownership/security settings.
Optional.
If specified, users must enter the password to open the PDF.
Example:
Owner password:
StrongAdministrationPassword
Open password:
DocumentAccess2026
Then select the output PDF.
Protected PDFs can also contain permission preferences such as:
- Allow printing
- Allow copying
Important:
PDF permission flags depend on PDF reader software honoring them.
Password encryption should be considered the stronger security boundary.
Use Save As rather than overwriting important originals.
Recommended:
Original:
Employment-Contract.pdf
Edited:
Employment-Contract-edited.pdf
For important documents:
Open original PDF
↓
Make small edits
↓
Review affected pages
↓
Apply annotations if needed
↓
Apply document tools
↓
Save As a new file
↓
Close PeaBox
↓
Open saved PDF again
↓
Review entire document
↓
Distribute final copy
PeaBox PDF Studio follows a local-first processing model.
Normal operations do not require:
Cloud PDF processing
PeaBox account
Remote conversion API
Browser upload
External document storage
This can make the tool suitable for environments working with:
- Employee documents
- HR records
- Contracts
- Internal documentation
- Business reports
- Personal documents
Users remain responsible for:
- Windows security
- Disk encryption
- Endpoint protection
- File permissions
- Backups
- Secure distribution
- Document-retention policies
- PDF paragraphs do not automatically reflow
- Replacement must fit the original area
- Exact embedded fonts cannot always be reused
- Text converted to outlines is not editable as normal text
- OCR supports reading/search
- OCR-text replacement is not yet supported
- Exact scan reconstruction is not yet supported
Current signatures are image-based.
Certificate-backed digital signatures are not yet implemented.
Advanced visual drag/resize controls for added images and text remain planned.
Advanced PDF form creation/editing remains planned.
Run:
py --versionThen:
py -3 -m pip install -r requirements.txtLaunch manually:
py -3 app.pyModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'PySide6'
Fix:
py -3 -m pip install PySide6ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pymupdf'
Fix:
py -3 -m pip install PyMuPDFPossible causes:
- Scanned PDF
- Image-only PDF
- Text converted to vector paths
- Unsupported text encoding
- Unusual PDF structure
Try OCR if the page appears scanned.
The replacement is probably wider than the original region.
This is intentional.
Use shorter wording instead of forcing PeaBox to change the font size.
Verify Tesseract is installed.
Also ensure the required Tesseract language data exists.
peabox-pdf-studio/
│
├── app.py
├── pdf_engine.py
├── requirements.txt
├── run_windows.bat
│
├── README.md
├── CHANGELOG.md
├── ROADMAP.md
├── LICENSE
│
└── tests/
└── test_engine.py
Clone:
git clone https://github.com/PeaBox-Labs/peabox-pdf-studio.gitEnter directory:
cd peabox-pdf-studioCreate environment:
python -m venv .venvActivate:
.venv\Scripts\activateInstall:
python -m pip install -r requirements.txtRun:
python app.pyRun:
pytest -qTests should be added whenever editing-engine behaviour changes.
Important regression areas include:
- Text size preservation
- Page operations
- Redaction
- Encryption
- Metadata
- Watermarks
- Page numbering
- OCR-related detection/search
The simplest distribution mechanism is the release ZIP:
PeaBox_PDF_Studio_Desktop_v1.5.0.zip
The user extracts it and runs:
run_windows.bat
For wider distribution, package PeaBox into a standalone Windows executable using PyInstaller.
Example development command:
python -m pip install pyinstallerThen:
pyinstaller --noconsole --name "PeaBox PDF Studio" app.pyA future production build should additionally include:
- Application icon
- Version metadata
- Installer
- Start Menu shortcut
- File association
- Code signing
- Upgrade/uninstall support
An installer can subsequently be produced using tools such as Inno Setup or WiX.
Planned:
- Drag images directly on the PDF
- Resize handles
- Move newly inserted text
- Move signatures
- Freehand drawing
- Lines
- Arrows
- Shapes
Planned:
- OCR-assisted scanned text correction
- Safe image-region cleanup
- Scan-aware reconstruction
- Better OCR language support
Planned:
- PDF compression
- Optimization profiles
- Attachment management
- Bookmark management
- Table-of-contents editing
Potential longer-term areas:
- Advanced layout-aware editing
- Form creation
- Certificate-backed digital signatures
- PDF comparison
- Batch document processing
- Better embedded-font reconstruction
- Document metadata editor
- Watermarks
- Headers and footers
- Page numbering
- AES-256 protected-copy export
- Password protection
- OCR-assisted reading
- OCR search
- Scanned-page detection
- Search-result highlighting
- Highlight
- Underline
- Strikeout
- Comments
- Permanent redaction
- Drag-and-drop page ordering
- Page extraction
- pull request
Example:
```bash
git checkout -b feature/visual-image-resize
Please include:
PeaBox version
Windows version
Python version
PDF type
Operation performed
Expected result
Actual result
Error message
Steps to reproduce
Never publish confidential documents in a public issue.
Create a synthetic PDF reproducing the problem whenever possible.
PeaBox PDF Studio is released under the MIT License.
See:
LICENSE
for the complete license terms.
PeaBox PDF Studio is part of the PeaBox ecosystem of practical software and experimentation projects.
The project focuses on making everyday PDF operations understandable, private, and accessible without forcing users into a cloud-first workflow.
PeaBox PDF Studio is not trying to win through the largest possible number of buttons.
It is trying to make common PDF tasks understandable:
Open. Edit. Organize. Review. Protect. Save. Done.