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Announcing indiPDF 1.1: Local OCR, Scanner Integration, and Enhanced Security

by admin indiPDF

The journey toward a powerful, privacy-first PDF editor continues today with the release of indiPDF 1.1. This update marks a significant milestone for the project, introducing some of the most requested features—including full OCR support and direct scanner integration—while doubling down on our commitment to client-side processing.

Here is a look at what’s new in version 1.1.

Powering Up with Local OCR

The headline feature of this release is the introduction of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) Support. Using Tesseract.js, indiPDF can now extract text from scanned documents and images.

In keeping with our privacy mission, all OCR processing happens entirely on your local machine. No data is sent to a server, and no internet connection is required. You can now:

  • Convert scanned images into searchable PDFs with a text overlay.
  • Recognize text across multiple languages.
  • Transform “flat” documents into interactive, selectable files.

Direct Scanner Integration (SANE)

For Linux users, indiPDF 1.1 now feels more like a complete document workstation. With SANE integration, you can import documents directly from compatible scanners. The app automatically detects available hardware and allows you to configure resolution and color modes. Once scanned, your documents are automatically converted into PDF pages within the app.

Comprehensive Image-to-PDF Tools

We have streamlined the way you build documents. The new “Add Pages” button is now a universal tool that supports both PDFs and a wide array of image formats, including PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, and WebP. Whether you are merging two reports or batch-importing multiple images, indiPDF handles the conversion seamlessly.

Advanced Compression and Security

Large PDF files can be a hurdle for email and web uploads. Version 1.1 introduces PDF Compression powered by Ghostscript. You can now choose from quality presets—ranging from Screen (72 DPI) for quick sharing to Prepress for high-quality printing—to find the perfect balance between file size and clarity. Note: PDF Compression requires Ghostscript to be installed on your system.

Additionally, we’ve added PDF Encryption. You can now password-protect your sensitive documents or remove encryption from existing files (provided you have the password) directly within the interface.

A Smoother, More Reliable Experience

Beyond the big features, we’ve spent a significant amount of time under the hood to improve the daily editing experience:

  • Better Annotations: We fixed issues with text boxes losing content, improved the positioning of underlines and strikethroughs, and enabled multi-annotation editing for batch color changes or deletions.
  • XFA Support: Complex documents, such as IRS forms, now print correctly.
  • Linux Compatibility: We’ve resolved the “white window” bug affecting users with specific GPU configurations and improved file dialog handling for Flatpak users.
  • Printing & Flattening: Annotations now reliably appear in printouts, and the “Save & Flatten” feature has been rebuilt to work with documents from GNOME Document Scanner and other external tools.

How to Update

indiPDF 1.1 is available now. If you’ve been waiting for a Linux PDF editor that combines privacy-first design with professional-grade tools like local OCR and direct scanner support, this release is the one to try.

indiPDF 1.0 Released!

by admin indiPDF

We’re excited to announce the official release of indiPDF 1.0, a full-featured PDF editor built from the ground up for Linux users.

Why We Built indiPDF

Linux has come a long way as a desktop operating system, but one gap has persisted: a capable, affordable PDF editor. The open source options are limited in functionality, and the commercial alternatives often cost hundreds of dollars per year in subscription fees—or worse, require uploading your documents to the cloud.

indiPDF changes that. It’s a native Linux application that handles everything from simple annotations to complex form filling, all while keeping your documents entirely on your computer.

What’s in Version 1.0

indiPDF 1.0 is a complete PDF editing solution:

Document Management — Open multiple PDFs in tabs, merge documents, split pages into separate files, and extract specific page ranges. Drag-and-drop page reordering makes reorganizing documents intuitive.

Text Editing — Edit existing text directly within PDF documents with support for font family, size, and color customization.

Annotations & Markup — Highlight, underline, and strikethrough text. Add text boxes, comments, shapes, arrows, stamps, and freehand drawings. All annotations can be flattened permanently into the PDF when needed.

Signatures — Create, save, and reuse signatures across documents. No more printing, signing, and scanning.

Form Filling — Work with fillable PDF forms, including support for calculated fields that automatically compute totals and averages.

Search & Navigation — Full-text search with keyboard navigation, zoom controls, and a thumbnail sidebar for visual page browsing.

Native Linux Experience — GTK-style interface with automatic dark/light theme detection for GNOME, KDE, and other desktop environments. Comprehensive keyboard shortcuts and system clipboard integration make it feel right at home.

Pricing That Makes Sense

indiPDF costs $35 for a lifetime license. That’s a one-time purchase—no subscriptions, no annual renewals, no upgrade fees. When version 2.0 ships, your license still works.

Want to try it first? indiPDF is fully functional without a license. The only limitation is that saved files include a small watermark until you purchase.

Privacy, Not Promises

Every document you open in indiPDF stays on your computer. There’s no cloud sync, no telemetry, no analytics. We don’t know what files you open, what edits you make, or how often you use the app. That’s by design.

Installation

indiPDF is available on Flathub:

flatpak install flathub com.indomitusgroup.indipdf

Or visit indomitusgroup.com/indipdf to learn more and purchase a license.

What’s Next

Version 1.0 is just the beginning. The roadmap includes OCR support, additional export options, and continued refinements based on user feedback. If you run into issues or have feature requests, the bug report page is the place to let us know.

Thanks for supporting independent software development. We hope indiPDF makes your Linux workflow a little better.