THE FILES.CO JOURNAL
Notes on PDFs, privacy, and standards.
How the tools work, why your files never leave the browser, and the technical detail that matters.
How to extract text from a PDF
Need the words out of a PDF as plain, editable text? Pull them out in your browser with files.co. The document stays on your machine the whole time.
Jul 29, 2026 · 5 min readGuidesHow to add bookmarks to a PDF so it's easy to navigate
A long PDF with no bookmarks is a wall of pages. Add a clickable outline so readers jump straight to any section. Do it in your browser with files.co.
Jul 27, 2026 · 5 min readGuidesWhy Won't My PDFs Merge? Common Errors and Fixes
Merging PDFs should be simple, but a handful of things can make it fail. Here's what usually goes wrong and how to fix it, without uploading your files anywhere.
Jul 26, 2026 · 5 min readGuidesHow to add a header or footer to every page of a PDF
Stamp a title, a date, page numbers or a 'Confidential' line across every page of a PDF. Do it in your browser with files.co, no upload needed.
Jul 25, 2026 · 5 min readGuidesHow to OCR a Scanned PDF and Make It Searchable
Turn a scanned PDF into a searchable, selectable document. A step-by-step guide to running OCR in your browser, no upload required.
Jul 23, 2026 · 6 min readGuidesHow to split a PDF into separate files
One big PDF, and you only need a few pages out of it. Split it into separate files right in your browser with files.co. Nothing gets uploaded.
Jul 23, 2026 · 5 min readNo spam. Just PDF craft.
Once in a while, a useful note on PDFs and privacy.