PDFolio – Help

PDFolio is your toolbox for PDF files: merge, organize, edit, protect and convert. This page explains the individual tools, the editions, and the questions we are most frequently asked.

On this page

Getting Started

After launching, you'll see all tools as tiles side-by-side. Clicking a tile opens the tool in its own window – the start screen remains visible behind it, so you can switch to the next tool at any time.

You can also drag PDF files directly onto the start screen. This will open the merge window with exactly those files.

Your documents stay with you.
PDFolio works entirely on your computer. There is no user account and no upload. An internet connection is only needed for activation and checking for updates.

A lock on a tile

This means that this tool belongs to a higher edition. An orange notice on the tile means that you are in the trial period – the results will then carry a watermark.

Merge and Organize

Merge & Organize

On the left, you see the pages of your loaded documents; on the right, the destination document. Add individual pages to the right with "+ Destination" and drag them with the mouse into the desired order. Each source file gets its own color – so you can always see which page comes from where.

The arrow between the two areas adds all pages of the selected source at once.

The name of the finished file is formed from the first source file, for example Invoice_merged.pdf.

"As individual pages to folder..." breaks down the destination document into individual PDF files – one per page. Therefore, a folder is selected and not a single file.

Delete pages

To remove individual pages or to extract a range – for example, "keep only pages 3 to 5".

The window shows all pages as thumbnails. Click the pages you mean – or type the range as 1-3,5; both remain synchronised. The color indicates what happens: green, if the page is kept, red, if it disappears.

Edit

Edit Text & Images

Click a line of text and change it. The font, size, and color of the template are adopted, so the change is not noticeable. On the right, you'll find the properties of the selected line.

You can also click images in the document – and then replace them with another or remove them entirely.

For context: PDFolio changes existing text, it is not a word processor. Text that becomes longer as a result will not automatically wrap to the next page – the PDF format does not support this.

Add text

In the same window, you can also add new text: turn on the "✚ Add text" switch, click on the desired spot, and type. The click point is the top left corner. Enter confirms, Esc discards.

You can move a placed text block with the mouse. If it is selected, size, font, color, as well as bold and italic, immediately apply to it; you adjust the content via "Change text" and remove it via "Remove".

Especially useful for scanned forms. Many forms have no fillable fields – "Fill in forms" then correctly reports that none are present. With "Add text," you simply place the text freely in the right spot. Together with "Insert Signature," the form is then ready to send.

Three tested standard fonts are available: Helvetica (sans-serif), Times (with serifs), and Courier (monospaced – good for forms with boxes because every letter has the same width). These are individual text blocks without automatic word wrapping.

Fill in forms

If you open a PDF with form fields, PDFolio recognizes them and displays them to you as a list – text fields, selection lists, checkboxes, and radio buttons. You fill them in and save the document.

Optionally, the fields can be flattened when saving. The content then remains visible but can no longer be changed – useful before you send the form.

Enhance

Watermarks & Page Numbers

Watermarks, headers and footers, as well as continuous numbering. You see the result in the preview before saving. Settings that you frequently need can be saved as a template and recalled later.

Insert Signature

Place an image of your signature in the desired location – also with a preview. This is a visible signature, not a digital signature with a certificate.

Protect

Password Protection

Set a password or remove an existing one. To remove it, you must know the existing password – PDFolio cannot recover an unknown password.

Edit Metadata

View, change, or delete title, author, subject, keywords, and creation program – individually or all fields at once. Useful before you pass on a document: Such information often reveals more than one would like.

Redact

Highlight the areas to be removed. PDFolio removes the content from the document – text, images, annotations, and form fields within the marked area will no longer be present.

Why this is important: Simply placing a black rectangle over a text is not enough. The text still remains underneath and can be selected and copied – this is exactly how the known mishaps with "redacted" documents occur. PDFolio actually deletes the content and then re-checks the result. Optionally, the document's metadata is also removed.

The color of the area is freely selectable: four presets, a palette, an input field for the color value – and an eyedropper that picks up the color directly from the document. This is useful for tinted paper, where a black area would unnecessarily stand out.

The color does not change the effect. The content is completely removed in any case. If you choose a color very close to the background, PDFolio will notify you: The redaction will then no longer be recognizable as such in the result.

Export as Image

Saves individual pages or the entire document as PNG or JPG files. Four resolutions are available: 72 dpi for web and email, 150 dpi for the screen, 300 dpi for printing, and 600 dpi for archiving.

Convert and Reduce

Office → PDF

Converts Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files to PDF. An installed Office suite is not required for this.

If fonts used in the source document are missing on your system, PDFolio will replace them with a suitable alternative. The result may then look slightly different than in Office.

Reduce file size

For documents that are too large to send by email. You choose between three levels: gentle, balanced, and strong. Fonts are consolidated, page contents cleaned up, and images re-calculated. Optionally, metadata is also removed.

The result is not identical to the original. Because images are recalculated, image quality is lost – noticeably with "strong" setting. Keep the original file. A document that is already well compressed will not become smaller; PDFolio will tell you after the process.

Batch Processing

Applies an action to many files simultaneously – watermarks, page numbers, set or remove password, remove metadata, reduce file size, Office → PDF, export as image, and header or footer. You see the progress for each file individually.

Redacting, forms, and editing text are deliberately excluded: they require an individual decision for each document.

Save

When editing text and images, you have two options:

  • Save writes the changes back to the open file. The first time, PDFolio asks for confirmation because the original will no longer exist afterward.
  • Save as... creates a new file.

All other tools generally create a new file and leave the original untouched. The target name is derived from the original name, for example Invoice.pdf → Invoice_watermark.pdf.

Overwrite Protection: If the destination file already exists, PDFolio appends _pdfolio – to prevent accidental replacement. This also applies to image export, where one file is created per page. You can disable this protection in the settings.

Plus and Pro

After installation, you will have access to all tools for 15 days. Documents saved during this period will bear a watermark; it will be removed after activation.

Edition Includes Price
Plus Merge and organize, delete pages, edit text & images, add text, fill out forms, watermarks and page numbers, signature, password protection, metadata, image export from 24.99 €
Pro All from Plus, plus Office → PDF, reduce file size, redaction and batch processing from 39.99 €

Both editions are a one-time purchase, not a subscription – and available for 1, 3, or 5 devices. Updates are included for 12 months; the software will continue to run unchanged afterward.

Activate License: Click "Activate" in the top right – or, if a license is already entered, click Settings ▸ License Management. Enter your license key and confirm. You will receive the key by email after purchase; it has the format PFO-PLS-DIR-XXXXX-XXXXX-CC or PFO-PRO-... for the Pro Edition. You can copy the hyphens as well – PDFolio will clean up the input automatically.

Using on another device

Your license key is valid for the purchased number of devices. If you want to move to a new computer and the number is already exhausted, please contact our support – we will free up the space for you.

Updates

PDFolio checks for a newer version when it starts. You can disable this check in the settings and also initiate it manually at any time.

What is checked before every installation: PDFolio checks the checksum and the code signature for every downloaded file. If either does not match, the process is aborted. This check cannot be disabled.

Languages

PDFolio speaks German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Turkish, Czech and Russian.

Without a specific selection, the display adapts to your operating system. Under Settings ▸ Language, you can choose a fixed language – the change takes effect after restarting the program.

Data Protection

Your documents never leave your computer. There is no user account and no upload.

Anonymous usage statistics are disabled by default. If you enable them, only information about which features are used is transmitted – no identity, no email address, no license key, and no file contents. You can change this decision in the settings at any time.

Frequently Asked Questions

My key is not accepted.

First, check if you have inserted it completely and without additional characters – when copying from an email, a character can easily slip in. PDFolio will tell you the reason: incorrect length, foreign product, or an edition that your program version doesn't recognize. In the latter case, an update to the latest version will help.

My saved files have a watermark.

Then you are still in the trial phase. After activation with a license key, the watermark is removed – however, already saved documents must be recreated.

Is it not enough to place a black rectangle over the text?

No. The text still remains in the document and can be selected, copied, and searched – the redaction is purely optical. Use the Redact tool for this; it truly removes the content.

My form has no fillable fields.

This is normal for scanned forms – there are technically no form fields there. Instead, use Edit Text & Images and then "✚ Add text": This allows you to place the text freely at the appropriate spot.

My file does not get smaller when reduced.

This occurs with documents that contain few images or have already been compressed. The greatest gain is achieved with scanned documents and documents with photos. PDFolio will inform you if nothing could be saved.

A file cannot be opened.

If the document is password-protected, first remove the protection using the Password Protection tool. PDFolio cannot repair damaged files.

The target file has a different name than expected.

PDFolio generates the target name from the original name, for example invoice.pdf → invoice_watermark.pdf. If this file already exists, _pdfolio is appended to prevent accidental overwriting. You can disable this protection in the settings.

Windows displays a warning during setup.

With newly released versions, the SmartScreen filter occasionally reports because the file has not yet been downloaded often. Click on More information and then on Run anyway. The publisher must be Engelmann Software GmbH – otherwise, please cancel and download the file again from engelmann.com.

The AppImage file does not start on Linux.

On newer distributions, the libfuse2 package is often missing. Install it via your distribution's package manager and start the file again.

On which systems does PDFolio run?

Windows 10 from version 1809 and Windows 11 (64 bit), macOS 11 (Big Sur) or newer – for Apple Silicon and for Intel –, and Linux (64 bit, AppImage).

Still have questions?

If this page has not helped you, you can reach our support via engelmann.com/pages/support. Please tell us your operating system and your PDFolio version (found in the "About PDFolio" window) – this will help us to help you faster.

Under Settings ▸ Diagnostics ▸ Show you will also find a log that you can copy and attach to your request. It contains no personal data and no file contents.