v3.40 · Balanced Split

Every PDF tool you’ll
ever need.

A complete PDF toolkit for macOS, Windows, and Linux that runs entirely on your computer. Merge, OCR, redact, sign, and automate — with on-device AI and zero telemetry. Free forever, open source, no accounts.

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The PDF studio
Slab reader with a PDF open
0PDF tools
0Platforms
0Trackers
$0Forever

01 — The toolkit

Everything a PDF suite does.
None of what it costs.

Sixty-five tools, one ⌘K palette to reach them all. The short list:

MergeSplitCompressOCRRedactSignEncryptWatermarkFlattenSanitizeBates numberingN-upDiffCropExtract textExtract tablesGrayscalePage labelsHeaders & footersRepairMarkdown → PDFOffice → PDFePub → PDFEdit textPresenter modeVim modeLibrary & tags+ more

Built for the whole workflow

What do you want
to do with your PDF?

From a scanned receipt to a print-ready report. Explore eighteen workflows already available in Slab.

Organize

Bring PDFs together

Merge documents in your chosen order, select pages from each file, and save one combined PDF.

  • Merge
  • Insert
Organize

Split without the page math

Choose an exact number of balanced files, custom ranges, or every-N-page chunks. Preview the outputs before saving.

  • Split
  • Split by Chapter
Organize

Keep pages and files in order

Reorder, rotate, delete, or duplicate pages. Use the library, folders, and tags to find your documents again.

  • Pages
  • Library
Convert

Take it to Word or Excel

Export PDF content to an editable Word document, or turn detected tables into an Excel workbook or CSV.

  • Reflow
  • Tabulate
  • Tables → CSV
Convert

Read beyond the PDF

Export to EPUB for your e-reader, or extract content as Markdown and HTML. Turn Markdown back into a PDF, too.

  • Bind
  • Markdown
Convert

Make scans searchable

Run OCR on scanned pages to add searchable text. Extract text from documents without retyping them.

  • OCR
  • Extract
Protect

Remove sensitive content

Redact content, detect common personal information, and sanitize hidden metadata before sharing a document.

  • Redact
  • Auto-Redact
  • Sanitize
Protect

Sign one file or a whole batch

Place a visible signature, or use Signet for certificate-based digital signatures and offline verification.

  • Sign
  • Signet
  • Batch Sign
Protect

Control how you share

Add password protection and permissions. Watermark copies and flatten form fields when preparing a final version.

  • Encrypt
  • Watermark
  • Flatten
Automate

Let folders do the filing

Watch a folder and route incoming PDFs by filename, contents, page count, or size. Preview matches before enabling a rule.

  • Hopper
Automate

Save your routine as a recipe

Chain repeated PDF operations into an Atelier recipe, then reuse the same sequence across your documents.

  • Atelier
  • Recipes
Automate

One template, many filled PDFs

Map CSV columns to a fillable PDF template and generate a personalized copy for each row.

  • Quill Batch
  • CSV mail merge
Review

See what changed

Compare document versions with text and visual comparisons. Use a three-way comparison when revisions share a common original.

  • Diff
  • Compare
  • Compare 3-way
Review

Prepare for long-term storage

Convert to PDF/A and inspect archival compliance with a per-rule report, including warnings that need attention.

  • Archive
  • Loupe
Review

Get ready for the print shop

Use Press to export PDF/X-4 with a print output intent. Add Bates numbers and page labels to organize a large set.

  • Press
  • Bates
  • Page Labels
Create

Build a form people can fill

Fill existing PDF forms, author fields in Quill Designer, or use Auto-Detect to propose fields for review.

  • Forms
  • Quill Designer
  • Quill Auto-Detect
Create

Give every page a finishing touch

Crop margins, add headers and footers, and arrange multiple pages on a sheet with N-up layouts.

  • Crop
  • Header/Footer
  • N-up
Create

Present a deck. Read in peace.

Present your PDF with Slides, or settle into Theater’s distraction-free workspace for long-form reading.

  • Slides
  • Theater

All of these tools run in the desktop app.

Get Slab →

New in v3.40

Pick the file count.
Skip the page math.

Split a report into an exact number of PDFs. Slab divides every page into balanced, consecutive parts, with extra pages in the first files. Ten pages into three files? Four, three, three.

  • Exact file count
  • Live page preview
  • Source stays unchanged

Open Split, choose Into N files, and review the filenames and page ranges before saving. The preview also works with custom ranges and every-N-page chunks.

See what’s new →
Slab Split preview dividing a ten-page PDF into three files of four, three, and three pages

Try it

One palette.
Every tool.

The real ⌘K palette from the app, running right here. Type to filter all 65 tools.

⌘K

    65 tools

    02 — Beacon

    An AI that can’t reach
    the internet.

    Chat with citations, summaries, semantic search, PII redaction, study mode, voice — running on-device by default. No API keys, no quotas, no “AI plan.” Unplug the network and keep working.

    • Beacon Chat
    • Summary
    • Semantic Search
    • PII Redact
    • Smart Outline
    • Citations
    • Study Mode
    • Glossary
    • Voice Mode
    Beacon AI answering a question about a PDF

    03 — Hopper

    Teach your folders to
    file themselves.

    Point Hopper at a folder — ~/Downloads, a scanner, a shared inbox — and attach a recipe. New PDFs get flattened, OCR’d, redacted, watermarked, renamed by Beacon, and filed away. A live log streams every run. ⇧⌘H to open it.

    Rules you write once

    Six predicate kinds route each file — first match wins, the rest fall through.

    • filename glob
    • regex
    • text contents
    • page count
    • file size
    • catch-all

    Preview before it runs

    Edit a predicate and green ✓ chips light up beside your actual recent files, showing what each rule would catch.

    The incumbents, priced out

    Hazel is $42 and can’t read PDFs. Adobe’s automation needs an enterprise license and phones home. Hopper is free and local.

    04 — Slab Server

    The same engine,
    in 80 megabytes.

    Headless Slab: an HTTP API plus a drag-and-drop web UI in a single Docker image. Put it on your NAS, script it, hide it behind a reverse proxy. Same Rust core as the desktop app.

    05 — Foundry

    Yours, down to the theme.

    A declarative plugin system — themes, locales, commands, AI providers, PDF actions — without writing Rust. A typed TypeScript SDK ships three working examples inside the app, and Bench is the signed marketplace.

    Coming in the next release

    A calmer workspace.
    A little more you.

    The new Glass appearance pairs translucent panels with nine accent colors. Choose a warm Orange, a quiet Slate, or a fresh Teal, with comfortable and compact spacing.

    • Glass theme
    • Nine accent colors
    • Keyboard-friendly settings

    Split and Merge also get clearer output previews, saved-file confirmations, and a Show in folder action to take you straight to the results.

    These improvements are merged into the main branch. The current download is v3.42.7; this preview shows what is coming next.

    Explore the preview →
    Slab Settings with Glass appearance, Teal accent, and all nine color choices
    Glass + Teal — a preview of the next release.

    The honest table

    Why you’d switch.

    SlabAdobe AcrobatHazel
    PriceFree, GPL-3.0Subscription$42
    Files stay on your machineYesCloud round-tripsYes
    Offline AI inside PDFsYes, on-device—Can’t read PDFs
    Watched-folder PDF automationHopper, freeEnterprise licenseRules, no PDF content
    65 PDF toolsYesYes—
    Plugin marketplaceFoundry, signed——
    TelemetryNoneYesNone

    Prices as publicly listed.

    Questions

    Asked often.

    Is Slab really free?

    Yes — free software under the GPL-3.0, free forever. No accounts, no trials, no upsells, no “pro” tier.

    Does it work offline?

    Completely. Every tool runs on your machine — including Beacon, the AI. Unplug the network and keep working.

    Which platforms are supported?

    macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows, and Linux. Slab Server ships as a Docker image for your NAS or homelab.

    Where do my files go?

    Nowhere. They never leave your computer — no cloud round-trips, no telemetry, no analytics. This site sets zero cookies too.

    How is this different from Adobe Acrobat?

    It’s free, local-first, and open source. No subscription, no cloud lock-in, and your documents are never uploaded anywhere.

    Who builds Slab?

    It’s built in the open on GitHub — star the repo, file issues, send pull requests. That’s the whole business model: there isn’t one.

    Download

    Free. Take it.

    v3.42.7 — server error codes, Split ranges & accessibility. Release notes →

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