Papyx
Frequently asked questions
Does Papyx upload my files to a server?
No, never. Papyx is a desktop app: your documents are read from your disk, transformed in the app's memory, then written back to your disk.
This is not just a policy. The binary contains no HTTP client, and none of its native commands accepts a URL — the app has no technical means of sending anything anywhere.
Is Papyx free?
Yes, entirely, and for good. There is no Pro tier, no limited trial, no held-back feature: all eleven tools are there from the moment you install it.
Papyx is published under the GPL-3.0 licence, with complete source on GitHub.
Does Papyx need an internet connection?
No. Once installed, Papyx works entirely offline — there is not even an update check at startup.
You only need the network to download the installer.
Is there a limit on file size or number of files?
None. Because nothing is uploaded, there is no quota, no queue and no billing by the megabyte. The only real limit is your machine's memory.
A PDF of several hundred megabytes goes through like any other, as often as you like.
Which systems does Papyx run on?
The official installers are for Windows 10 (1803 or newer) and Windows 11, 64-bit.
There is no published macOS or Linux build for now: Papyx is built and tested on Windows, and publishing elsewhere takes a signing identity (macOS) and system packages (Linux). The code itself is cross-platform and builds on all three.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no account, no sign-up, no email address to hand over. The app does not know who you are, and has no way to find out.
How is this different from iLovePDF or Smallpdf?
The moves are the same: merge, split, compress, convert, watermark, number pages. The difference is where they happen.
An online service needs you to send it the document; size limits, queues, accounts and paid tiers all follow from that. Papyx does the work on your machine, which removes all four at once.
Does Papyx collect any data or analytics?
None at all. No telemetry, no install identifier, no crash reports sent, not even an update check.
Can Papyx open a password-protected PDF?
Yes, in the three tools that go through the rendering engine: PDF → Images, Compress and Extract text. The password is typed on the file's card, inside the app, and does not leave it.
The other tools — merge, split, organize, watermark — go through pdf-lib, which does not decrypt: they need an unlocked document.
Can Papyx password-protect a PDF?
No. pdf-lib, the library that writes the documents, cannot produce an encrypted PDF. Papyx can read a protected document given its password, but not create one.
Does Papyx do OCR?
No. The "Extract text" tool reads the text layer already present in the document. A scan without one comes out empty — that is the expected behaviour, not a bug.
Why does Windows show a warning during installation?
Because the installer is not signed with a publisher certificate. Those cost a few hundred euros a year, which is hard to justify for a free project.
So SmartScreen says "Windows protected your PC". Click "More info", then "Run anyway". If you would rather not trust a binary, the source is there to build yourself.
Can I use Papyx at work?
Yes. The GPL-3.0 licence puts no conditions on use: you can install and use Papyx in any setting, commercial included.
The .msi package exists precisely for deployment by group policy.
Does compression keep the text selectable?
No, and it is the only tool in that position. Compressing resamples every page as JPEG: the weight saved on a scan is real, but the document produced is a series of images.
The other ten tools leave page content alone.
How do I report a bug or suggest something?
Through the repository's GitHub issues. Papyx is an open project: precise reports, with the document that misbehaves when it can be shared, are what move it forward.