Browser-based PDF tools & guides

Simple PDF tools for everyday tasks

Merge, split, compress, convert, rotate and tidy up PDFs right in your browser — then understand what each tool did, why, and what to try if the result isn't what you expected.

  • Files processed in your browser
  • No account or sign-up
  • No watermarks
Why IQ PDF Manager

Built to be useful, not just quick

There are many PDF tools online. These are the principles this one is built on.

Privacy by design

Your files stay on your device

Each tool processes your file locally in your browser using JavaScript — it is not uploaded to our server. That's not a marketing claim; it's how the tools are built.

How browser-based processing works

Clear results

Honest about what happened

Compression shows the real before-and-after size and says so when a file can't be made smaller. Tool pages explain limits — like when text stops being selectable — before you run into them.

One job per tool

Simple controls, explained

Every tool does one task with a handful of options. Below each tool you'll find when to use it, step-by-step instructions, common problems and answers to real questions.

Your original file is never modified. Every tool creates a new file for you to download, so you can always go back to the version you started with.

Some advanced features may, in the future, require sending a file to a server to work reliably. If that's ever true for a tool, we'll say so clearly on that tool's page — we won't bury it in fine print.

Understanding PDF files

Not all PDFs are built the same way

Two PDFs can look identical on screen and behave very differently in a tool. Knowing which kind you have explains most surprises — especially with compression and conversion.

Text-based PDFs

Created by software — a word processor, a web browser's "Save as PDF", an invoicing system. The letters are stored as real text, so you can select, search and copy them, and they stay sharp at any zoom.

These files are usually small already. Page tools work perfectly on them; heavy compression rarely helps.

Scanned (image-based) PDFs

Created by a scanner or phone camera. Each page is a photograph of paper, so the words are pixels: you can't select or search them unless text recognition (OCR) has been added.

They're often large — and they're the files that shrink most with image-based compression.

Image-heavy PDFs

Brochures, photo reports, presentations and catalogues mix real text with many photos or graphics. The text is light; the images carry most of the weight.

Results vary: if the images were already compressed when the PDF was made, there may be little left to save.

Why PDF file sizes vary so much

A PDF's size comes mostly from embedded images. Fonts add some weight, because a PDF carries the fonts it needs so it looks the same everywhere. Text and vector graphics — lines, charts, shapes — are very compact. That's why a 200-page text report can be smaller than a two-page scan, and why the resolution a document was scanned at matters far more than its page count.

Why some PDFs behave differently in tools

Page operations (merge, split, rotate, delete, extract) copy pages as they are, so they work the same on every kind of PDF. Operations that redraw pages as images — PDF to JPG and image-based compression — turn text into pixels. Protected, damaged or unusually built files may not open at all. Learn to tell the types apart.

Choosing the right tool

Which PDF tool do I need?

Find the task that matches what you're trying to do.

  • Combine several PDFs into one documentApplications, reports in chapters, a month of receiptsMerge PDF →
  • Turn one PDF into several separate filesA scanned bundle of letters, sections for different peopleSplit PDF →
  • Make a PDF smaller for email or an upload formEspecially scanned or photo-heavy filesCompress PDF →
  • Turn photos or image scans into one PDFReceipts, signed forms, notes photographed on your phoneJPG to PDF →
  • Get PDF pages as imagesFor slides, websites, messaging apps and social mediaPDF to JPG →
  • Fix pages that are sideways or upside downCommon with scans and landscape tablesRotate PDF →
  • Remove a few unwanted pagesBlank scan pages, duplicates, pages not meant for the recipientDelete PDF Pages →
  • Keep only selected pages in a new PDFOne chapter, one form — or re-order pages by typing a new sequenceExtract PDF Pages →
Common PDF problems

Problems people run into — and what to do

Practical fixes for the situations that bring most people to a PDF tool.

"My PDF is too large to email"

First remove pages you don't need to send, then try lossless compression. For scanned documents, image-based compression usually makes the biggest difference.

Compress PDF · Guide: reducing file size

"The pages are in the wrong order"

For whole files, set the order before merging. For pages inside one file, type the correct sequence (for example 1-4, 6, 5, 7-10) into Extract PDF Pages to get a reordered copy.

Extract PDF Pages · Merge PDF

"My scanned PDF is hard to work with"

Scans are images, so text can't be selected and files are large. Page tools work normally; Extra compression reduces size; sideways scans can be fixed without quality loss.

Guide: scanned vs text PDFs · Rotate PDF

"I only need certain pages"

Keeping a few pages? Extract them into a new file. Removing a few? Delete them. Need several separate files? Split by page range.

Extract · Delete · Split

"Some pages are sideways"

Rotate just those pages by 90° (clockwise), 270° (anticlockwise) or 180° (upside down). Rotation changes a page setting, not the content, so nothing loses quality.

Rotate PDF

"Several documents need to become one PDF"

Trim each document to what's needed, fix any sideways pages, turn photos into PDFs, then merge in the order the reader expects.

Merge PDF · Guide: merging well

"The conversion didn't turn out as expected"

Blurry text, a bigger file or unselectable text usually means pages were turned into images. Photos appearing sideways come from phone orientation tags. Each has a straightforward fix.

Troubleshooting guide

"The file won't open in the tool"

It's usually password-protected, damaged, or not really a PDF (a renamed Word file or image). Check that it opens in your normal PDF reader first.

What to try

How it works

Four steps, all in your browser

When you open a tool, your browser downloads the page and the open-source code that does the work. When you choose a file, that code runs on your own device — the file is read from your disk, processed in memory and saved through your normal download.

1

Choose a tool

Pick the PDF task you need from the tools above, or use the chooser if you're not sure.

2

Add your file

Drag and drop, or tap to browse. The file is opened by your browser, not sent to us.

3

Set your options

Pick pages, order, or settings specific to that tool.

4

Download the result

Your finished file downloads straight to your device. The original is left unchanged.

Because your own device does the work, very large files are limited by its memory, and tools that draw pages (PDF to JPG, image-based compression) take a moment per page. Read how browser-based processing works, including what it does and doesn't protect.

FAQ

Common questions

Yes. Every core tool on this page — merging, splitting, compressing, converting, rotating, deleting, and extracting pages — is free to use, with no daily limit imposed by an account tier.

No. You can use every tool right away. There's no sign-up, no login, and no dashboard to manage.

No. For every tool on this site, your file is processed locally in your browser using JavaScript — it is not uploaded to our server as part of using the tool. Once a tool page has loaded, most tools keep working even if you go offline.

No. The tools don't add watermarks, stamps or branding to the files you create.

Nothing. Tools only read the file you choose and create a new file for you to download. Your original stays exactly as it was on your device.

Yes. IQ PDF Manager is built to work on phones and tablets as well as desktop browsers, including tapping to select files and downloading results directly to your device.

Standard PDF files created by any software should work. Password-protected or heavily restricted PDFs may not process correctly, since decrypting them isn't something we attempt.

Because processing happens in your browser rather than on a server, the practical limit depends on your device's available memory. Individual files over 150 MB are not accepted, and very large files may run slowly or fail on lower-powered devices.

Compression depends heavily on how a PDF was built. A PDF full of large, uncompressed images can often shrink a lot; a PDF that's mostly text and already efficient may barely change. We always show you the real result rather than a guaranteed percentage.

Choose a PDF tool and get started

No account, no waiting, no watermark — and your files stay on your device.