Extract text from a PDF without uploading it
You can copy the text out of a PDF without sending the file anywhere. LocalSign reads the PDF in your browser and returns its selectable text, with page separators, which you can copy or download as a .txt file.
Why this is useful
The text inside a PDF — a report, a quote, a record — can be exactly the part you don’t want sitting on someone else’s server. Extracting locally means the document and its contents stay on your device. One honest caveat: this reads real selectable text only. It has no OCR, so a scanned or image-only PDF will return little or nothing.
How to use it
- Open the Extract Text tool and choose your PDF.
- Pick all pages or a custom page range.
- Click Extract text to see the result with page separators.
- Copy it, or download a .txt file — nothing was uploaded.
Good to know
- Works only when the PDF contains real, selectable text — no OCR.
- Scanned or image-only PDFs return little or nothing.
- Layout and formatting are approximate; encrypted PDFs may fail.
FAQ
Does it work on scanned PDFs?
No. There is no OCR, so image-only/scanned PDFs return little or no text.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. The text is extracted locally in your browser; the file is not uploaded.
Can I extract only certain pages?
Yes — choose a custom range like 1-3, 5 instead of all pages.
Privacy & honesty
Your documents stay on your device — LocalSign has no servers that receive your files. Signatures, stamps, highlights, shapes, and other annotations are visual changes created by you. LocalSign does not verify, certify, notarize, or legally validate documents.