LocalSign

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers about LocalSign. Still stuck? See About or email contact@infrays.org.

Is LocalSign free?
Yes. LocalSign is completely free to use. There is no account, no watermark, and no paid tier.
Are my PDFs uploaded?
No. Your PDFs are processed locally in your browser and are not uploaded to any server. Loading the website itself requires normal network requests for its code, styles, and images, but your documents stay on your device.
Do I need an account?
No. LocalSign does not require any account or sign-in. Just open it and start.
Does LocalSign add a watermark?
No. Exported files do not contain any LocalSign watermark.
Is this a legally verified signature service?
No. LocalSign places a simple electronic signature mark only. It does not verify the identity of any signer and does not guarantee the legal validity, enforceability, or acceptance of any document. It is not a certified, qualified, notary, Aadhaar eSign, or DSC service. For legal validity in your jurisdiction, consult a qualified lawyer.
Which browsers are supported?
LocalSign works in recent versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari. Some PDF features require an up-to-date browser, so older browsers may not work correctly.
Can I merge and split PDFs?
Yes. The PDF Tools area lets you merge multiple PDFs, split a PDF (by every page, custom ranges, or selected pages), and organize, rotate, or delete pages.
Why do some encrypted PDFs fail?
Password-protected or encrypted PDFs may fail to load or process because their contents are locked. Remove the password (for example, by re-saving an unlocked copy) and try again.
Does LocalSign store my files?
No. Your files live only in your browser's temporary memory while the page is open and are discarded when you close or refresh the tab. There is no cloud storage, database, or persistent storage of your documents.
Can I use it on mobile?
Yes. LocalSign is mobile-responsive and works on phones and tablets. Precise placement and drag-and-drop are easier on a desktop, so editing is desktop-first.
Can I add shapes to a PDF?
Yes. The editor's Enhance menu includes rectangle, ellipse, line, and arrow shapes. They are placed, draggable, resizable annotations exported as real vector graphics.
Can I highlight PDF content?
Yes, with the Highlight tool — a transparent colored rectangle you place over any area. It is a visual annotation; LocalSign does not do true text-selection highlighting yet.
Can I convert images to PDF?
Yes. The Images to PDF tool combines PNG, JPG, or WebP images into one PDF, with reordering, page-size, and margin options — all in your browser.
Can I convert PDF pages to images?
Yes. The PDF to Images tool exports pages as PNG or JPG. One page downloads as a single image; multiple pages download as a ZIP. This tool intentionally rasterizes pages because the output is image files.
Can LocalSign compress every PDF?
No. Browser-only compression is limited. LocalSign performs a safe, lossless re-save that reduces some PDFs but not all — already-optimized files may not shrink. We do not rasterize pages or recompress images, and we never claim guaranteed size reduction.
Are files uploaded during conversion?
No. All conversion (images to PDF, PDF to images) and compression happen entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to any server.
Are stamps, highlights, and shapes legally meaningful?
No. Stamps, shapes, highlights, watermarks, headers, footers, and page numbers are visual annotations created by you. LocalSign does not verify, certify, approve, notarize, or legally validate any document. You are responsible for how you use any annotation.
Can I install LocalSign?
Depending on your browser, you may be able to install LocalSign as a web app from the address bar or browser menu. Files are still processed locally in your browser and are not uploaded.
Can LocalSign extract text from scanned PDFs?
No. Text extraction works only when the PDF contains real, selectable text. Scanned or image-only PDFs return little or nothing because OCR (optical character recognition) is not included.
Can LocalSign remove all hidden metadata?
No. The PDF Metadata tool is best-effort cleanup of common document metadata (title, author, subject, keywords, creator) — not forensic anonymization. The Producer field is set to the PDF library used, and embedded XMP metadata in complex PDFs may remain. It may not remove every hidden trace.
Is PDF Info a security scanner?
No. PDF Info is a read-only viewer for basic document details (page count, file size, page dimensions, rotation, and a metadata summary). It does not scan for malware or analyze security.
Are these tools uploaded to a server?
No. Extract Text, PDF Metadata, PDF Info, and every other tool process your files locally in your browser. Your documents are not uploaded to any server.
Can LocalSign process multiple PDFs at once?
Yes. The batch tools — Batch Compress, Batch Extract Text, and Batch PDF Info — let you add several PDFs and process them together, with per-file results plus ZIP and combined/report downloads.
Does batch processing upload files?
No. Batch tools run entirely in your browser, just like the single-file tools. Your files are never uploaded to a server. Large batches may depend on your device's memory.
Why does batch compression not always reduce files?
Compression is safe, lossless optimization only — a re-save that helps some PDFs but not others. It does not rasterize pages or recompress images, so already-optimized files may not shrink, and we never claim guaranteed reduction.
Can batch extract text from scanned PDFs?
No. Like the single-file tool, batch extraction works only when a PDF contains real selectable text. Scanned or image-only PDFs return little or nothing because no OCR is included.
Are batch reports stored anywhere?
No. Batch results and reports are generated in memory and offered as downloads. Nothing is stored or logged; closing or refreshing the tab clears everything.