User Guide
Everything PDFWise can do, and how to use it — scan, organize, sign, convert, and protect your documents, all processed on your own device.
Quick start
Three steps from a paper document (or an existing file) to a finished PDF.
- Add a document. Tap the Scan button on Home to capture a paper document with your camera, or use Import PDF to bring in a file you already have.
- Open the Toolkit and pick a tool — merge, split, compress, watermark, protect, e-sign, convert, or edit. Every tool works on documents already in your PDFWise library.
- Share or save the result from the Viewer — send it through any app via the share sheet, or save a copy straight to your Downloads folder.
The Toolkit
Every tool runs entirely on your device — nothing is uploaded to process it.
Merge
Combine two or more PDFs into one file, in the order you choose.
Split
Break a PDF apart by page ranges (e.g. "1-3, 5") or into one file per page.
Compress
Shrink file size with an adjustable quality slider that re-encodes embedded images.
Image to PDF
Turn one or more photos into a single PDF, one page per image.
Watermark
Stamp a diagonal text watermark across every page.
Protect
Lock a PDF with a real AES-256 password so only people you share it with can open it.
Remove Password
Take the password off a PDF you can already unlock, once you no longer need it protected.
e-Sign
Draw a signature with your finger and stamp it onto any page of a PDF.
Word to PDF
Convert a .docx file's text and basic formatting (bold, italic, headings) to PDF, on-device.
Excel to PDF
Convert an .xlsx workbook's cell values into a paginated PDF grid, one section per sheet.
Edit PDF
Fill in a PDF's real form fields when it has them, or freehand draw and add typed text anywhere on the page when it doesn't.
A note on conversions: Word-to-PDF and Excel-to-PDF are built to work fully offline, without a third-party conversion service. They convert text, basic formatting, and cell values accurately, but complex layouts, tables, embedded images, charts, and cell formatting from the original file aren't reproduced.
Scan & Search
Scan
Capture paper documents with your camera. Edges are detected and cropped automatically, and you can capture multiple pages into a single PDF before saving.
Search
Every scan runs through on-device text recognition (OCR) in the background, so you can search across both document titles and the text inside your scans.
Viewer & sharing
Tap any document in your library to open it.
- Share — send the PDF through any app on your device via the system share sheet.
- Save to Downloads — copy the file into your device's public Downloads folder.
- Unlock — if a document is password-protected, the viewer prompts for the password before rendering the pages.
Backup & Restore
Connect your own Google Drive to keep a copy of your library off-device.
- Files are backed up to a private "PDFWise Backups" folder that only PDFWise can see in your Drive — the app never sees the rest of your Drive.
- Turn on Auto backup daily to back up new or changed PDFs automatically.
- Wi-Fi only keeps auto-backup from using mobile data.
- Restore pulls your backed-up documents back down onto a new or reset device.
Personalize
Found under Settings.
- Appearance — choose Light (default), Dark, or Accent, a bolder brand-forward color scheme.
- Language — PDFWise's interface is available in 20 languages, with English as the default; change it any time from Settings.
- Smart reminders — an optional daily nudge if you haven't opened PDFWise yet that day.
- Biometric app lock — require your fingerprint or face to open PDFWise, on devices that support it.
Streaks, badges & unlocks
The Insights tab tracks your real usage — nothing here is cosmetic.
- Daily streak — tracked from your device clock; use any tool once a day to keep it alive.
- Badges — a 15-badge catalog for first-time use, usage milestones, streaks, and storage saved.
- Levels — an XP system with named levels based on how much you've used the app.
- Weekly report — a Monday-to-Sunday chart of your activity, with a week-over-week comparison.
- Feature unlocks — Image to PDF, Watermark, and Protect start locked on the Toolkit grid the first time you install PDFWise, and unlock permanently after you've completed 1, 3, and 5 actions with other tools. This is real gating, not a visual effect — keep using the app and they'll open up.
Privacy, built in
- PDFWise is offline-first: scanning, merging, splitting, compressing, watermarking, password-protecting, e-signing, converting, and editing all happen on your device — your files aren't uploaded anywhere to be processed.
- No account or sign-in is required to use the app.
- Google Drive backup is entirely opt-in, and scoped so PDFWise can only see the one backup folder it creates — never the rest of your Drive.
- Read the full Privacy Policy for details.