Daily Post July 31 2025
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Stirling-PDF:
Created by Anthony Stirling, found himself unable to easily sign a PDF document without paying for commercial tools or exposing sensitive files to untrusted online services. Frustrated by the lack of trustworthy, open source alternatives, Stirling decided to build his own web-based PDF manipulation tool. Initially conceived as a quick experiment using artificial intelligence tools, the project gained traction after being shared within developer communities. Recognizing a market gap, Stirling expanded the project with new features and committed to building a stronger platform sustained by open source contributions and community feedback.
The ethos is the open source model the core application is free to use and its source code is available publicly on GitHub. This commitment is full transparency, enabling anyone to audit, contribute to, or deploy the tool on their infrastructure. Business growth is driven by offering enterprise-grade upgrades, while the essential PDF features remain universally accessible.
Features
It leverages web technologies and is primarily distributed as a self-hosted application using Docker containers. This design provides flexibility so users can deploy the platform on virtually any environment from personal computers to enterprise-scale servers—ensuring complete control over where and how their data is processed. The application’s architecture facilitates both individual and enterprise use cases, with documentation and sample configurations to support various hardware and deployment scenarios, including low-resource systems.
Deployment is straightforward. Users need only a working Docker installation, after which the application can be launched using a command or through Docker Compose. For advanced use, the platform exposes a configuration layer supporting custom integrations, automated tasks, and scaling for large organizations.
These are some of the things you can do:
- Merge multiple PDF documents into a single consolidated file, or split a large PDF into smaller ones.
- Rearrange, rotate, or remove individual pages within a document via an intuitive interactive interface.
- Convert PDFs to and from other formats, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images, and even markdown or HTML.
- Edit PDFs by adding annotations, text fields, images, or drawings directly onto pages.
The platform doesn’t stop at basic operations. It offers other features as well:
- OCR to convert scanned documents or images into fully searchable and editable PDFs.
- Compression algorithms to shrink file sizes for easier sharing without sacrificing quality.
- Security enhancements such as password protection, encryption, redaction, certifying and signing documents, and adding watermarks.
- Automated metadata cleaning and the ability to sanitize documents, removing unwanted comments or embedded information.
- Batch tools for repetitive tasks, like extracting all images from a document or applying consistent branding elements across multiple files.
For developers and power users, it provides an API, allowing programmatic manipulation and integration with custom scripts or external workflows. Its unique “Pipeline” feature enables users to chain together various operations such as redacting then compressing a document in an automated sequence, streamlining bulk or complex PDF processes
Accessibility
The application is responsive, supports dark mode, and offers visual guides for each function. Comprehensive documentation, a vibrant community, and frequent updates ensure that new users can get started quickly, while experts can explore more advanced features at their own pace.
Installation is equally accessible, with guides and tutorials covering everything from Docker-based deployments to security settings and API integrations. The project is widely adopted in self-hosting communities, IT departments, and privacy-focused organizations due to its reliability and convenience.
Community and Ecosystem
The rapid development pace of Stirling-PDF reflects the strength and enthusiasm of its community. More than 150 contributors have added features, fixed bugs, and refined the tool, resulting in over 50 capabilities and millions of downloads worldwide. The platform has been featured by technology publications, received recognition from leaders in the open source field, and is actively used by a significant portion of the Fortune 500.
Support and documentation are community-driven, with new requests, bug fixes, and feature proposals managed transparently via GitHub. Businesses and advanced users benefit from enterprise support offerings and a clear product roadmap focused on expanding compatible document types, introducing new AI-powered features, and integrating deeper automation.
It is a good tool well worth a peak at. https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF?tab=License-1-ov-file#readme