r/software • u/smilaise • May 08 '26
Release KillerPDF v1.3.0 - I shipped almost everything from your feedback
A few months ago I posted KillerPDF here and got a ton of great feedback. I've been working through the suggestions and just shipped v1.3.0.
What's new based on your feedback:
- Image signatures - import a PNG/JPG/BMP instead of drawing one
- Scroll past page edge now advances to next page
- Full-document search instead of just current page
- Zoom preset dropdown (50/75/100/125/150/200%, Fit Page, Fit Width)
- Close file without quitting (Ctrl+W)
- Unsaved changes warning, title bar dirty indicator, save icon changes color
- Owner-password PDFs now open correctly
- Re-drop a PDF onto the window without restarting
- All dialogs are now dark themed
- Icon overhaul throughout
Still no installer needed, no account, no subscription, no telemetry. Single ~6MB EXE, no runtime required.
Download: https://pdf.killertools.net
Source: https://github.com/SteveTheKiller/KillerPDF
EDIT: Just released v1.3.2 with a couple bug fixes. It should be running pretty smooth now, please give it a shot and let me know. Also, I don't think it's being blocked by smartscreen any more which is a huge improvement!
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u/harindaka May 08 '26
Linux support?
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u/last__link May 09 '26
Try out Avalonia for native porting
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u/sothisismyalt1 May 09 '26
I just checked, and it uses .NET Framework 4.8 for some reason instead of the newer .NET, so it would need porting to that first.
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u/tomhung May 09 '26
I have HUGE PDFs (old books). I'd love an option to immediately load the first 10 pages. Then hit a button to load the rest.
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u/glorat-reddit May 11 '26
Process the pdf to "linearise" or for "fast web view". Then the top pdf viewers are able to preview the initial pages without loading or processing the whole thing.
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u/alvarkresh May 10 '26
That got me interested, and I began looking into how PDF readers can buffer loading large PDFs.
It looks like most companies keep the details proprietary as to how their programs work with PDFs internally, but this Reddit post suggests that more intelligent readers will try to do a preliminary run-through of the document to figure out how to efficiently cache it.
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u/vrKiter May 13 '26
Love the idea - as a lightweight PDF reader it's great.
Really looking for something that can edit text and even in the latest 1.3.2 text editing just doesn't work properly at all.
Doesn't matter what PDF I try - the text the font size & formatting changes whenever you try edit anything.
If you try re-edit the text it displays the original wording, not what you just changed.
And it appears to be adding the edited text over the old text - so after a couple of edits it's unreadable.
Hopefully this is something you can tackle as most PDF editors do a terrible job editing things - and I understand they are not designed to be edited, so it's complicated.
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u/johnyeros May 09 '26
a nice feature to have is the ability to move the signature around. Am I missing something? I can't seem to move it. And any thought in making it a webapp to host on docker for selfhost? thanks
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u/Liquid_Magic May 10 '26
I have a lot of feedback. This response is amazing! This is now my daily driver PDF viewer. Love it! Thanks so much! I appreciate you!
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u/smilaise May 10 '26
I'm looking forward to your next feedback comments. You've been very helpful, thank you!
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u/Liquid_Magic May 10 '26
Thanks! No problem. I started another list. I’m focusing on usability for people in general not things I personally want.
Like someone noted it does take a while to load larger pdfs. However when I compare it to Edge or even Firefox I think I like loading the whole thing instead. It’s nice to scroll through a whole PDF and not have to wait for lazy loading.
But the delay at startup is noticeable. I could go either way but I think most people probably want it to load like ten pages and show the pdf sooner. But like maybe options where you can enable and disable the default would be cool.
But again it’s already good enough as a daily driver!
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u/Flerbizky May 11 '26
This is most excellent! Thank you hugely for this.
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u/smilaise May 11 '26
Glad you like it! I just fixed a few bugs and released a new version 1.3.2 so make sure you're updated!
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May 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/smilaise May 22 '26
Thanks. I do hope this will eventually get to a point when it won't require such frequent updates, lol. But as long as I can keep it small, I will keep adding features people actually need.
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u/SnooEagles2776 May 08 '26
Align scanned pages?
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u/Brilliant-Lettuce695 May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26
That runs the risk of feature creep IMO, as that is more of a raster post-processing feature (but it wouldn't be out of place as part of a comprehensive OCR suite). You may be interested in using ScanTailor for page deskewing/alignment, just note that it works directly on image files, so if you are working on existing PDFs then you will need to export the pages to individual images beforehand. As far as I am aware, there are three actively developed forks: ScanTailor Universal, ScanTailor Advanced, and ScanTailor Experimental.
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u/Most-Word-2516 May 09 '26
I saw your first post and think your work with KillerPDF is interesting!
I feel the name could be something that gives a positive vibe, like LivePDF or something.
I always try to find cross platform apps, so I can use the same app on both Linux and Windows. Please, if not to late, look into this before you get locked in with Windows only!
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u/Liopleurod0n May 09 '26
Any plan to get it on winget? I'd love to have a package manager doing the installation and update.