Simpdf on HackerShow

Dev tools

pdf editor

SHOW HN2020

Legend

A simple PDF text editor

Shown by shashanoid on May 31, 2020. Click the card to turn it over.

327points

74comments

#119of 3,028 in 2020

Top 4%of 2020 by points

How HN took it

MixedNo clear lean

4 positive, 12 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 15 critical, out of 33 comments about the project. Thread score -0.29.

Execution: 2 for, 7 againstIdea: 1 for, 2 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 3 againstPerformance: 1 for, 2 against

Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.

positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker

PDF text editing can't reliably handle missing glyphs or reflow
From 2 comments
- So it claims to > Edit pdf like a word doc while preserving structure and format. While I'm sure there are cases where this works pretty well and can be very useful, it may be…
  jfk13 on HN
- > When I tried to replace the To party's name, the text came back partly bold and partly not. Most likely, the PDF used a subsetted embedded bold font, so it only worked for…
  jfk13 on HN
Multi-column layouts break and text overwrites
From 1 comment
- A few notes. It doesn't seem to work with documents that have multiple columns. Pushing text over just overwrites the other column. It doesn't seem to reflow text where the…
  michaelmrose on HN
Arbitrary code execution risk in backend filename handling
From 2 comments
- https://github.com/shashanoid/Simpdf/blob/1557bf838a8debeee1a6f21c12ee3e91c420b855/backend/run.py#L31 Btw, arbitrary code execution vuln here, OP.
  hombre_fatal on HN
- You could create a file named ; echo 'hi'; # and it appears as if it would probably run anything you put between ; and # (in this case it will echo hi). Unless the filename is…
  chipperyman573 on HN
Server instability and downtime under traffic
From 2 comments
- hackernews traffic crashed the host :( Cant wait to try tho!
  yodaarjun on HN
- The website isn't loading anything for me right now.
  mamurphy on HN

Provide a sample PDF
From 1 comment
- You should provide a sample pdf file so we don't have to hunt around for a (small) pdf file just to see how it works.
  throwawat573635 on HN
Fix save and download
From 2 comments
- I used this to delete a few pages from a pdf file. However, I can't download the edited version. The "save and download" option is just resulting in opening another blank webpage.
  koulvi on HN
- I love it. How do I save it?
  kyawzazaw on HN
Run locally
From 1 comment
- Now I just wish there were a version that could run locally. All the Linux PDF viewers suck -- they can't even save a fill-in PDF form or insert a signature.
  dheera on HN

How does it work technically
From 1 comment
- I tried it with a bit complex pdf structure and it worked like charm +1. Would love to learn more about the underlying techniques/tech.
  mhasbini on HN

Okular
From 1 comment
- There are actually a plethora of choices that are great for what most people are doing namely viewing documents. Forms and annotations are also supported by a number of choices.…
  michaelmrose on HN
Master PDF Editor
From 1 comment
- I spent an afternoon trying a bunch of them some years ago. I settled on the freeware Master PDF Editor version 4 (version 5 inserts a watermark unless you buy a license).…
  mrb on HN
Qoppa PDF Studio
From 1 comment
- The best editor I’ve found is Qoppa PDF Studio. Although not free it is cross-platform (written in Java) and their licenses are perpetual. They do have a free viewer app which…
  jack20 on HN
Inkscape
From 1 comment
- Congratulations for the launch. Looks nice. For those that are cautious uploading sensitive PDFs, you can always just open them with Inkscape, and start editing pretty much…
  x32n23nr on HN
Xournal
From 1 comment
- Try xournal. I had a really positive experience with it.
  BossingAround on HN