A private PDF editor: everything stays in your browser
Many popular “online PDF” tools send your files to their servers for processing. PDF Scene does the opposite: rendering and editing run locally. Here is why that matters for privacy.
The problem with uploaded PDFs
Once a file leaves your device, you depend on the provider’s retention policy, subprocessors, and jurisdiction. For payslips, medical records, or trade secrets, that risk is often underestimated.
Even with encryption in transit, the provider can see (or could see) content for the duration of processing.
The PDF Scene approach
Import, editing, merge, annotations, and export happen in your browser. No account is required to start. Documents can be stored locally (IndexedDB) on your device.
Pro subscription (payment via Polar) does not change this principle: your editing PDFs are not the “product” sent to our servers.
When a cloud tool still makes sense
If you need real-time multi-user collaboration, server APIs, or qualified electronic signatures, a specialized cloud service may fit. For solo personal or professional editing with privacy requirements, local browser processing is often the best trade-off.
Edit a PDF without sending it to a server
- Open PDF Scene — Use https://pdfscene.com.
- Import locally — Choose a file from your device.
- Edit — Modify pages and annotations in the browser.
- Export locally — Download the result to your disk.
Questions fréquentes
Is PDF Scene GDPR compliant?
As a Belgian publisher (Romain Mathieu), we document our processing in the privacy policy. The “privacy by design” approach minimizes personal data on the server for Free editing.