Changes and test status of the PDF tools

Local build instead of a published version

The website currently runs only locally and is not publicly accessible; there is no confirmed publication date yet. This applies to all entries on this page: they describe changes that have been implemented in the local build.

Changes by date

Implemented changes, newest first
Date	Area	Type	What changes for you
18.10.2026	Language versions	Content	At the time of this entry, the website exists locally in 18 languages: German and 17 other languages. The latest corrections to the German texts have not yet been carried over to the other 17 language versions.
18.10.2026	Navigation	Design and navigation	New collapsible main menu for desktop and smartphone. All existing pages remain available at their familiar addresses.
18.10.2026	Privacy choices	Functionality	New compact selection at the bottom of the screen that lets you accept or decline optional analytics and advertising services and later change or withdraw your choice. Analytics and advertising remain switched off even after you consent. No providers are loaded.
18.10.2026	Overviews and texts	Functionality and content	First task filters on the German overview pages for PDF tools, guides and calculators. The information about browser storage and the tested browsers was also corrected. The filters are optional. All entries remain accessible via “All tools”, “All guides” or “All calculators”, and also without JavaScript.
18.10.2026	License notices	Content	Six supplementary files were added to the license notices. The details on the QPDF integration and on fontkit have not yet been fully clarified. The license notices are therefore not yet complete.
14.10.2026	Info pages and contact	Content and functionality	The Privacy, Legal notice, About us, Contact and Terms of use pages have been revised. They now name PDF KOMPRIMIEREN as the brand and support@pdfkomprimieren.com as the email address. The postal address is still missing, so the pages are still not final. A contact form with name (optional), email address, request and message has been implemented; file attachments are not possible. The form will only become available once a delivery method has been set up, and it is switched off in the local build. Instead, a link opens your email program, together with a note that receipt of messages has not yet been confirmed.
14.10.2026	PDF tools and calculators	Testing	All PDF tools and calculators were additionally tested locally in Firefox and in the WebKit engine on Windows. Each was tested with window widths for desktop and smartphone and with specially generated sample files. The downloaded results were independently reopened and checked. No files were uploaded and no external services were called in the process. No errors in the tools were noticed; their behaviour has not changed. WebKit on Windows is not the same as Safari. Safari itself and real smartphones and tablets were not tested.
14.10.2026	PDF to Word, text recognition and explainer page	Content	New illustrations show real examples. On PDF to Word, you see a sample PDF next to the preview of the generated DOCX file and can see how the text is reflowed. On text recognition, a sample scan is shown next to the generated searchable PDF, along with excerpts of the recognised, selectable text. You can download the source and result files of both examples. Under How it works, a flow diagram shows that your original file remains unchanged and that the program components for processing are loaded separately from it. All illustrations have captions and text alternatives. The tools themselves work unchanged.
14.10.2026	Preparation for a later publication	Testing	A new automated check verifies locally whether the website is still set to unpublished: whether all pages are still marked as not to be indexed, the sitemap is empty, neither Google tracking nor advertising is active, and the contact form is switched off. It lists separately the items that are still open before a publication, such as postal address, email receipt, legal information and tests on real devices. The check publishes nothing and enables nothing. A publication date has still not been set.
14.10.2026	PDF to Word, text recognition and Word to PDF	Functionality	Three new tools have been implemented in the local build. PDF to Word turns a PDF with selectable text into a DOCX file with editable, reflowed text; the page layout, fonts and images of the original are not retained. Text recognition turns a PDF with up to 20 pages into a searchable PDF or a text file; convert JPG and PNG files into a PDF first. Word to PDF converts a simple DOCX file of up to 20 MiB into a searchable PDF; older DOC files are rejected, and the exact Word layout is not retained. Open and check every saved file, because error-free recognition or conversion is not promised.
14.10.2026	Home page, articles and design	Design and navigation	On the home page, the area for selecting your file is now more clearly highlighted, and processing and result are visibly shown together. A task selector takes you directly to the matching PDF tools and calculators. On desktop, long articles show a table of contents that lets you jump to individual sections. On a smartphone, you expand and collapse it as needed. Mobile navigation works as before. No new tools, conversions or calculation methods have been added, and your files are processed exactly as before.
13.10.2026	Guides and own compression test	Content	A new guide for Linux describes documented commands for QPDF and Ghostscript that may be suitable depending on the starting situation, and shows how to check the saved file afterwards. These commands were not tested directly on a Linux system. The guide has its own card in the PDF guides. Also new is a test page on PDF compression with synthetic sample files. It shows the source file and result with their size in bytes, and you can download the measured files. The values apply to these examples. They are not an average for your own files and not a comparison with other tools.
13.10.2026	Info pages and footer	Content and navigation	New drafts have been added for the Privacy, Legal notice, About us, Contact and Terms of use pages. These pages are not yet final, because information about the operator, contact options and public operation is missing. You cannot send a message via the contact draft, and there is no public support channel. The footer now links to the own compression test and to these pages.
13.10.2026	Guides, info pages and navigation	Content and navigation	New guides for iPhone and iPad, for Android, on file size, page size and printing, and on documents for uni-assist and receipts for ELSTER. They are joined by explanations on reducing file size on Mac and Windows, on processing in the browser and offline, on signatures and forms, and on the process and limits of processing. The PDF guides organise all guides by topic, and a link in the footer leads there so that you can find the right help faster. This has not changed how the PDF tools and calculators work.
12.10.2026	PDF to target size	Fix	The set target size is compared as an exact byte count, without truncating any digits. A result reaches the target if it is no larger than this limit.
12.10.2026	Split PDF	Functionality	You explicitly choose one of four splitting methods. You save multiple result files individually or together as a ZIP.
12.10.2026	PDF tools and Images to PDF	Fix	If you change a setting after processing, the previous result is discarded. This prevents you from downloading a file with outdated settings. In Images to PDF, the pixel dimensions of an image are checked before it is decoded.
12.10.2026	Calculators	Fix	The DPI calculator also calculates in the reverse direction. Numeric inputs are validated more strictly so that invalid values are not used in calculations. The email calculator separates the size of the original file from its encoded size in the message.

The changes from 12 October directly affect the behaviour of the tools. You can find them in Reduce PDF to target size, Split PDF, Convert images to PDF, the DPI calculator and the email attachment size calculator.

On 13 October, new guides were added for iPhone and iPad and Android, as well as on the difference between file size and page size, on documents for uni-assist and on receipts for ELSTER. Also new are the guides for Mac and Windows, on processing without upload and on signatures and forms. In the PDF guides, you can find all guides organised by topic; the link there is now also in the footer. Calculation methods and PDF processing remained the same on that day.

How the changes were tested

The tool changes from 12 October 2026 were tested locally on the same day. Generated files were saved and reopened, in a Chromium-based browser with window widths for desktop and smartphone. Safari, Firefox and real smartphones and tablets were not tested separately.

For your own file, checking the saved copy remains important, especially in a different browser: open the downloaded file, compare the page count and order, and check text, images and scans at the points that matter.

Status as of 14 October 2026: The information on 12 October only describes the testing in Chromium at that time. Since then, all PDF tools and calculators have additionally been tested locally in Firefox and in the WebKit engine on Windows, with window widths for desktop and smartphone, and the saved results were reopened. WebKit on Windows is not the same as Safari: Safari itself and real smartphones and tablets have still not been tested. All tests took place in the local build, not on a public website. The contact form was tested locally but is switched off in the local build. Whether messages to support@pdfkomprimieren.com actually arrive has not yet been confirmed.

As of 18 October 2026: The changes from 18 October affect the interface, navigation and texts, not how your files are processed. They were tested locally with desktop and smartphone window widths. There was no new full test of all PDF tools and calculators in all browser engines for this. The test from 14 October still applies to the tools and calculators. Safari itself and real smartphones and tablets have still not been tested. All tests took place on the local version, not on a public website.

Known limitations and open items

The current local build comprises eleven PDF tools and six calculators. Some tasks and document types are deliberately not supported:

PDFs with a digital signature or certification, as well as encrypted PDFs, are rejected. Further restrictions, for example for interactive forms, vary from tool to tool.
Cropping existing PDF pages, changing their page format or splitting double pages in half is not possible.
For Office files, the only options are conversion from PDF to DOCX and from DOCX to PDF, each with reflowed text instead of the exact page layout. Older DOC files, Excel and other Office formats are not supported.

The exact file, page and pixel limits are maintained under Current technical limits. The Available PDF tools overview shows which tasks you can already complete.

There is currently no confirmed plan and there are no dates for further features. This page only lists changes that have actually been implemented.

Changes and test status