We've added quite a bit to Forge PDF over the last few days, and v1.3.0 is now available.

We've added quite a bit to Forge PDF over the last few days, and v1.3.0 is now available. For anyone who hasn't used it, Forge PDF is my free, open-source PDF editor for Windows. It runs offline, doesn't require an account or subscription, and doesn't upload your documents. This update adds form filling, OCR for scanned documents, bookmarks, notes, more page tools, password-protected exports, and local recovery. Here's what each of those actually does. FILL OUT PDF FORMS You can now fill existing text fields, choose items from simple dropdowns and option lists, check boxes, and select radio buttons directly in the app. There is also a field picker that lists the supported fields in the document. Pick the field you want to change, enter the text or select the option, and continue through the form. You don't have to hunt around the page for every individual field. This uses form fields already built into the PDF. It doesn't turn an ordinary flat page into a fillable form. BOOKMARKS AND DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION You can add a bookmark for the current page, browse the document's bookmarks, and use them to jump to a section. Simple top-level bookmarks can also be renamed or removed. The title, author, subject, and keywords stored with the PDF can now be edited. That gives you a way to correct the document details as well as the visible pages. We've also added rotation of selected page ranges in one operation, with one Undo to reverse the whole change. Instead of rotating a group of sideways pages individually, you can select the range and rotate it together. Page labels are another addition. You can set a numbered or prefixed label range and see those labels in the pages panel. These are labels for navigating the document, rather than numbers printed on top of the pages. PDFs that already have custom page labels are left alone. NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS You can now add, edit, and delete PDF text notes, and browse notes from across the document in one place. There are also native PDF highlight annotations. Drag a highlight onto the page, review the highlights on that page, change the color of supported highlights, or delete one you no longer need. The original painted Highlight tool is still available too. The new annotation option gives you highlights that can be reviewed and managed separately. MORE USEFUL SEARCH The search we added in the previous release now includes case-sensitive and whole-word options, a results list, and next/previous navigation. You can search for a particular word without getting every longer word containing the same letters, or match the capitalization you entered. The results list also makes it easier to jump between matches across different pages. Regular search uses text already in the PDF. For scanned documents, we've added OCR. SEARCHABLE SCANNED DOCUMENTS The Windows ZIP now includes the OCR engine and English language data. You don't need a separate OCR installation for that package, and the recognition runs locally. There are two ways to use it: - Create a searchable image copy. The app renders the pages into a new PDF and adds recognized text behind the images, allowing the words to be searched. - Add a searchable text layer to supported scanned pages while retaining the original page graphics, links, bookmarks, and document details. The second option is for simple image-only pages that haven't been rotated or cropped and don't already contain text, forms, or signatures. Both options currently support up to 20 pages. You get progress updates while it works, a Cancel option, and a choice among installed language files. OCR can misread words, so review the result, especially with handwriting or complicated layouts. The image-copy option also loses the original document's interactive features and vector quality. PASSWORD-PROTECTED EXPORTS There is now a Save encrypted copy option using AES-256 encryption. Set a password for the new PDF and save a separate protected copy. Forge PDF does not store that password. Use that specific option when you want encryption. Normal Save a copy remains unencrypted, even if the original PDF required a password to open. Saved editing sessions and recovery files are unencrypted too. AN IMAGE-ONLY REDACTED EXPORT We've added a separate export that blacks out a selected area and rebuilds every page from rendered images. The new PDF discards the original text objects, forms, links, annotations, bookmarks, attachments, and metadata. That means giving up searchable text, interactive features, accessibility structure, and vector quality. This export supports up to 20 pages, has page-size limits, and creates an unencrypted copy. It does not erase the original document or older editing sessions, so inspect the output and handle those other copies separately before sharing sensitive material. The regular Whiteout and Clear footer tools still only cover things visually. The underlying content remains in the PDF. Do not use those tools to hide confidential information. LOCAL RECOVERY You can now choose to keep a local recovery snapshot while working on a document. Pick a destination, and the app updates that file after edits following a short idle delay. If the app closes unexpectedly, you can open the snapshot as an editing session. Recovery is off by default. You can stop the updates or explicitly delete a recovery snapshot. Recovery files don't include Undo history, remain on disk until deleted, and may miss the latest edit if the app closes before the update finishes. Recovery is unavailable for password-opened PDFs, and the files should not be used for sensitive material. We've also changed saving so new copies and sessions are fully written before being put in their final location, and reduced repeated page-count work during edits and Undo/Redo. THE OTHER RECENT ADDITIONS This follows the October 23 release, which added: - Local TrueType fonts for added text, with a check for missing characters. - PNG/JPEG image stamps, including placement previews and transparency. - Saved editing sessions, so you can reopen a document with its saved Undo history, within the session limits. - Document-wide text search. - Improved controls for smaller windows and a hideable pages panel. - Export summaries showing pages, links, form fields, and annotations for review. The existing tools are still there too: add text, merge PDFs, rearrange or duplicate pages, delete pages, insert blank pages, export selected pages, whiteout, and footer clearing. There are still limits. Forge PDF doesn't rewrite existing paragraphs, validate digital signatures, handle every type of PDF form, or create fully tagged accessible PDFs. Some page edits flatten forms and annotations. It remains an everyday-document editor with a 50 MB and 500-page limit, so review saved copies before sharing them. For the ready-to-run Windows app, download the Windows ZIP, extract it, and open Forge PDF.exe. Keep the extracted files together. Download v1.3.0: https://t.co/b5KHF3HgSB Project page: https://t.co/fJgNEHAtls Source code: https://t.co/gtdU1qjyYa