How to build a PDF workflow
- Pick a preset or add steps Start from a ready-made chain, or add steps one at a time and set their options.
- Put them in order Move steps up and down. Each step's output feeds the next one, and the builder flags orders that won't do what you meant.
- Drop your PDFs One file or many. The same chain runs over each of them.
- Run it, then save it Download the result, and save the recipe so next month's batch is one click.
Why chain tools instead of running them one at a time
Sending a scanned contract to a client is really four operations: repair whatever the scanner produced, strip the metadata that names your machine, stamp it CONFIDENTIAL, and get it under the mail server's attachment limit. Done tool by tool, that's four uploads, four downloads, and no easy way to tell which version is which. On a site that uploads your files, it's also four copies of a confidential document sitting on somebody else's disk.
A workflow does the same four operations in one pass, in memory. The intermediate files never exist as downloads, so there's no contract-final-v2-compressed-watermarked.pdf to clean up afterwards, and no ambiguity about which file to send.
Order matters, and the builder says so
Each step receives the previous step's output, exactly as if you had run the tools by hand in that order. That has consequences:
- Encryption ends the chain. Nothing can read an encrypted PDF without the password, so “Add a password” has to be last and “Remove password” has to be first.
- Compress after the print layout, not before. Compressing first re-encodes images that the layout step is about to scale down anyway. You pay the quality twice and get a bigger file.
- Stamp after the layout to stamp the sheets. Stamp before it and the watermark shrinks along with the pages, four little DRAFTs to a sheet.
- Number pages after removing them. Otherwise the numbering has gaps where the deleted pages used to be.
Saved recipes and share links
A workflow you'll use again can be saved by name in this browser, or turned into a link. The link contains the steps and their settings, but not your files, which never leave your device, and not any password, which is stripped before the link is made. Send it to a colleague and they get your chain, ready to run on their own documents.
What this doesn't do
Workflows run when you click Run, in this tab, on files you dropped. There's no watched folder or scheduled run, because there's no server: the same design that keeps your documents private is the reason nothing can happen while the tab is closed. If you need unattended batch processing on a schedule, you need something running on a machine somewhere, and that machine will have your files.
Common uses for PDF workflows
- Prepare a monthly report pack: the same compress, stamp and number chain, saved once and re-run every month.
- Batch-process a folder of scans: repair, crop and compress every file in one go, out as a ZIP.
- Send a document safely: strip metadata, watermark it, then password-protect it, in one pass.
- Standardise a team's output: share the recipe as a link so everyone stamps documents the same way.
- Print-ready in one click: select the pages, lay them out two-up and compress for the print shop's upload limit.
- Bates-stamp a production set: flatten, number and lock a batch of exhibits without touching each file.
Frequently asked questions
What is a PDF workflow?
A saved chain of PDF operations that run one after another in a single pass. Instead of compressing a file, downloading it, dropping it into the watermark tool, downloading it again and then adding page numbers, you build the chain once (compress, watermark, number) and every file you drop goes through all three.
Can I run a workflow on several files at once?
Yes. Drop as many PDFs as you like and the same chain runs over each one. A single file downloads as a PDF; several download together as a ZIP, one output file per input.
Are my saved workflows or files uploaded anywhere?
No. The chain runs in your browser like every other tool here, and saved workflows are stored in this browser's local storage. They never reach a server, which also means they stay on this device and in this browser.
Does a share link contain my documents or passwords?
Neither. The link carries only the recipe: which steps, in which order, with which settings. Passwords are stripped before a workflow is shared or saved, so whoever opens the link types their own.
Why must “Add a password” be the last step?
Because once a PDF is encrypted, nothing can read it without the password, including the next step in the chain. Encryption is the last thing that happens to a file. For the same reason “Remove password” has to come first: the steps before it would hit the password wall.
What order should the steps go in?
Usually: fix the file (repair, unlock), then change its pages (select, crop, resize), then stamp it (watermark, numbers), then lay it out for print, then compress, then protect. The builder flags the orders that are likely mistakes, like compressing before a print layout that will scale the images down anyway.
What happens if one step fails?
The run stops there and tells you which step failed and why: a corrupt file, a wrong password, a page range that doesn't exist. Nothing is skipped, because a chain that dropped a step without saying so would hand you a file that looks finished and isn't.