FyPDF — PDF & file conversion suite · Edit

Mark the page — without breaking what's underneath.

Most online editors quietly flatten your PDF to a giant image before they let you draw on it. The imprint adds — it doesn't rebuild. Embedded fonts are honored, annotations stay where they were, and crops, watermarks, and page numbers are reversible because they live in their own layer instead of being baked into the page below.

Open the imprint Read the margins ledger

Layout untouched
Every edit adds to the page object model. Nothing under the mark gets re-flowed, re-rasterised, or quietly re-typeset.
Embedded fonts honored
Edits use the document's own embedded fonts where present. New marks are drawn in the same family, not silently substituted.
Annotations preserved
Highlights, sticky notes, and redactions stay where they were. Edits sit alongside them, never overwriting prior reviewer work.
Reversible by default
Crops, watermarks, and page-number bands are recoverable from the original PDF — no flatten-on-save, no destructive overwrite.

Running title · §01 / 248

DRAFT · DRAFT

Imprint— 47 —

Imprintbody

Numberfooter

Stampoverlay

Trimedges

page plate · §47

4 imprints · ready

The Imprint · 4 marks live

In-browserReversible

The Margins Ledger

Four imprints, every one with a known address.

Every operation listed below names the zone it imprints on. Header, body, overlay, edges, footer — labelled where they land so you know what lives next to what before you commit a save.

The Margins Ledger · Issue 03Edit Track · 4 ops · in-browser

No.

Operation

Where it lands

Promise

Spec sheet

Open

01Op.

Edit PDF

Imprint

ZoneBody copy

Add, replace, or recolour text, images, and shapes directly on the page — using the document's own embedded fonts wherever possible.

Inline textImage swapShape drawEmbedded-font reusePer-element undo

02Op.

Add Page Numbers

Number

ZoneFooter band

Insert page numbers in any of nine positions, with custom prefixes, suffixes, restart points, and Roman/Arabic mixed sequences.

9 anchor positionsCustom prefixPer-section restartRoman + Arabic mixSkip cover

03Op.

Add Watermark

Stamp

ZoneOverlay layer

Stamp text or image watermarks across pages — with opacity, rotation, layer order, and per-page or per-range scope.

Text + imageOpacity 5–100%Rotation any-degreeFront or behind textRange scope

04Op.

Crop PDF

Trim

ZoneEdges / bleed

Tighten margins, trim bleed, or remove headers — by exact dimensions, by visual selection, or auto-detected white space.

0.1 mm precisionVisual marqueeAuto-detect whitespaceMediaBox + CropBoxPer-page or all

Imprint · best for

Last-minute typo fixes · Brand-asset swaps · Diagram tweaks · One-line corrections

Zone · Body copy

Number · best for

Bound reports · Dissertations · Court filings · Multi-section documents

Zone · Footer band

Stamp · best for

Draft markings · Brand applications · Confidential stamps · Preview deliverables

Zone · Overlay layer

Trim · best for

Print-ready trims · Mobile-friendly margins · Header/footer removal · Tight scans

Zone · Edges / bleed

The Fidelity Manifesto

What the imprint never overwrites.

Four promises stamped onto every operation. The cheap path is to flatten a PDF to a giant image before letting you draw on it — these are the promises you give up when you do that, written down so you don't have to find out the hard way.

StampPromise · 01

The original layout stays put

Every edit lands in its own layer over the existing page object model. FyPDF adds — it doesn't reflow. The lines below your watermark, the figures beside your edited paragraph, the headers above your new page numbers all stay exactly where the publisher placed them.

SpecObject-model edit (no rasterise) · Z-order preserved · Underlying text untouched on save.

StampPromise · 02

Embedded fonts are honored

If the source document carries its fonts, edits use them — same family, same metrics, same kerning pairs. New paragraphs match the originals at the glyph level. When a font is missing, the substitution is flagged before save instead of silently swapping in something close-ish.

SpecFont-table reuse · Metrics-aware fallback · Visible substitution warnings · No silent re-rendering.

StampPromise · 03

Reviewer work survives

Highlights, sticky notes, free-text comments, redactions — all the annotation history a document accumulates as it moves between hands — stay where they were. New edits sit alongside the marks, not on top of them.

SpecAnnotation z-ordering preserved · Redaction integrity intact · Comment threading kept across save.

StampPromise · 04

Outputs are real PDFs

Cropped, watermarked, paginated outputs are still real PDFs — text selectable, annotations live, structure tags preserved. They open as documents, not as flat scans, and they can be edited again later from the same canvas without quality loss.

SpecPDF/A-compatible · Selectable text · Tagged structure · Re-editable across sessions.

The Tool Spreads

Read each imprint as its own datasheet.

What each tool keeps intact, what it transforms, and where it pairs back into the rest of the suite. Four spreads, in order; alternate sides per spread to keep them scannable while you scroll.

SpreadPDF + caret → PDF

Edit PDF

Place the cursor on the page, type — the document's own embedded fonts pick up the new characters at the right metrics. Replace existing text inline, swap an image, or add a callout shape. Every change is its own object you can undo individually, and the surrounding lines never re-flow.

Preserves

Original line spacing and column widths
Embedded fonts and ligatures
Annotations and redactions in place
Document structure tags

Transforms

New text drawn in the page's own font tables
Per-element undo stack across the session
Image replacement keeps original sizing & DPI

Formats.pdf in.pdf outembedded-font reuse

Open Edit PDF

Pairs withConvert Organize Office

Garamond Pro · embedded

caret · embedded font reuse

SpreadPDF → PDF + numbering band

Add Page Numbers

Pick from nine anchor positions (corners, edges, centred). Add a prefix (Page · §) or suffix (of N). Restart numbering at a section break, mix Roman front-matter with Arabic body, skip the cover, or alternate recto/verso. The numbers print in the page's font family by default.

Preserves

Existing page content (no overwrite)
Document outline and bookmarks
Original page-numbering metadata if present

Transforms

9 corner / edge / centred anchors
Roman + Arabic mixed sequences
Per-section restart with custom prefix
Skip-page rule for covers, blanks, dividers

Formats.pdf in.pdf out1, 2, 3 / i, ii, iii / A-1, A-2

Open Add Page Numbers

Pairs withOrganize Office Advanced

— 47 —

i, ii, iii1, 2, 3Page X of YA-1, A-2

9 anchor positions · custom prefix

SpreadPDF + mark → PDF

Add Watermark

Stamp a text watermark (DRAFT · CONFIDENTIAL · NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION) or upload an image (logo, brand mark) and tile or centre it across pages. Choose opacity, rotation, layer order — front of the text for high-visibility drafts, behind for subtle brand washes — and scope it to all pages, a range, or alternating recto/verso.

Preserves

Page text remains selectable underneath
Original document structure intact
Annotations on covered pages preserved

Transforms

Opacity 5–100% per mark
Any-degree rotation, including diagonal
Front-of-text or behind-text layer order
Per-range or recto/verso scope

Formats.pdf in.pdf outtext · png · svg watermarks

Open Add Watermark

Pairs withSecurity Organize Optimize

DRAFT · DRAFT

Opacity

40%

opacity · rotation · range

SpreadPDF − margins → PDF

Crop PDF

Trim margins to exact dimensions, drag a marquee on a preview, or auto-detect surrounding whitespace. Crops update the MediaBox and CropBox at the PDF object level — no rasterising, no quality loss, no font re-rendering. Apply to one page or every page; the source file stays recoverable.

Preserves

Underlying text and fonts (no re-render)
Annotations within the kept region
Original PDF — recoverable after crop

Transforms

MediaBox + CropBox both updated
0.1 mm precision dimension input
Visual marquee on rendered preview
Auto-detect whitespace mode (per page)

Formats.pdf in.pdf outlossless crop

Open Crop PDF

Pairs withOrganize Optimize Advanced

184.0 mm245.0 mm

MediaBox + CropBox · 0.1 mm

Before · After

What the page looks like after the imprint.

Three real situations that arrive on the imprint desk. The before panel is what shows up; the after panel is what comes back when the operation is finished.

BeforeSource

Unnumbered manuscript

82 pages with no anchor — every reviewer scrolls back to figure out where they are in the discussion.

no anchor · scroll to find

Add Page NumbersAnonymous draft → numbered & dated

AfterOutput

Paginated proof

Roman front matter (i–vi) flows into Arabic body (1–76), with 'Page X of Y' in the corner of each spread.

§Roman · i

— 1 —

Roman + Arabic mix · 9 anchors

TakeawayReviewers reference page numbers in their notes — and the notes stay legible across the round-trip.

BeforeSource

Internal draft

Last week's deck, minus the cover and the brand colour-bar — easy to confuse with the public version.

internal copy · indistinguishable

Add WatermarkPlain doc → branded preview

AfterOutput

Watermarked preview

Diagonal DRAFT mark behind the text, brand mark in the bottom corner — public from internal at a glance.

DRAFT

DRAFT · 30% · diagonal

TakeawayInternal work doesn't get screenshotted as the released asset by accident.

BeforeSource

Field-scanned report

Two-inch white margins, scanner-fingerprint bars at the top, page-edge shadow on the right.

wide margins · scanner bars

Crop PDFWide-margin scan → trimmed clean page

AfterOutput

Trimmed report

Margins tightened to 12 mm, fingerprint bars removed, edge shadow gone — same text, same fonts, smaller PDF.

trimmed · 12 mm margins

TakeawayReads like a real document instead of a photograph of one.

Who works the imprint

Five regulars at the imprint desk.

The personas who reach for edit tools weekly — and the specific imprints they make, not generic "any tool" lists. Find the closest match to what you're doing today.

Persona · 01The brand designer

Watermark every preview before it ships

Drafts go to the agency, the client, and the broader team. Each version needs a clear stamp so the wrong one never shows up in someone's screenshot of the launch slide.

Reaches for

Add Watermark · DRAFT diagonal · 30% opacity
Edit PDF · Swap an outdated logo on the cover

Persona · 02The thesis student

Roman front matter, Arabic body, restart at appendix

Three reviewers, one chair, four hundred pages of close-quote footnotes. The committee wants the dedication on i, the conclusion on 384, and the appendix renumbered A-1 through A-42.

Reaches for

Add Page Numbers · Mixed Roman + Arabic, per-section restart
Edit PDF · Last-pass typo corrections

Persona · 03The legal redliner

One-line edits without re-typesetting the page

Counsel asks for a single date change in clause 14.2.b. The contract is print-set, every other line is fine. The change has to land without re-flowing the surrounding paragraph or losing the redline history.

Reaches for

Edit PDF · Inline date correction · same font
Add Watermark · FOR EXECUTION ONLY · per-range

Persona · 04The print prepper

Tight crops, exact bleeds, no rasterise on the way out

Press wants a 3 mm bleed and the trim marks gone. The PDF was exported with extra margin and a designer's note in the footer. Crop has to be exact, lossless, and re-exportable.

Reaches for

Crop PDF · Exact 3 mm bleed · lossless
Edit PDF · Strip designer footer note

Persona · 05The contracts admin

Page-numbered deliverables, watermarked when in flight

Contracts move through legal, vendor, and signature workflows. Page numbers go on at execution; an IN REVIEW watermark goes on for the round trip; both come off cleanly when the executed copy gets archived.

Reaches for

Add Page Numbers · Page X of Y · footer-centre
Add Watermark · IN REVIEW · removable later

Common Questions

Before you imprint anything, a few honest answers.

Question Index

Q01 · 01 / 07

Will my embedded fonts survive a text edit?

Yes — when the source PDF carries its fonts, FyPDF reuses the same font tables for new characters. Glyphs match the originals at the metric level, kerning pairs stay intact, and you don't get a silent Helvetica substitution where Garamond used to be. If a glyph isn't available in the embedded subset, the editor flags it before save instead of swapping invisibly.

Imprint Reference · 01

7 questions in the imprint FAQIssue 03 · Edit

Set the press

The plate is inked. Tell it where to land.

Every imprint runs entirely in your browser. Pick the mark, drop the file, take the result. Embedded fonts are honored, the underlying layout is untouched, no watermark on the way out.

Open the imprint Tour every track in detail

Imprint dispatch · 4 operations

Issue 03

Edit PDFcaret

Add Page Numbers1, 2, 3

Add Watermarkdiagonal

Crop PDF− margins

All operations · in-browser · reversible

One Suite · Seven Tracks · Twenty-eight Tools and CountingStart with the surface →