PDFolio – Help

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

On this page

Getting Started

After launching, you'll see all tools as tiles side-by-side. Clicking one opens the tool in its own window – the start screen remains visible in the background, 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 hint on the tile means that you are in the trial phase – the results will then have a watermark.

Merge and Organize

Merge & Organize

On the left, you see the pages of your loaded documents, on the right, the target document. Drag individual pages to the right and arrange them there with the mouse in the desired order. Each source file gets its own color – so you always see which page comes from where.

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

Delete Pages

To remove individual pages or to extract a range – for example, "only keep pages 3 to 5". Pages can also be rotated here and saved permanently in this orientation.

Edit

Edit Text & Images

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

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

For clarification: PDFolio changes existing text passages; it is not a word processor. Text that becomes longer as a result does not automatically flow to the next page – the PDF format does not allow for this.

Fill out forms

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

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

Add

Watermarks & Page Numbers

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

Insert Signature

Place an image of your signature at 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 determine an unknown password.

Remove Metadata

View, change, or delete title, author, and creation program. Useful before you share a document – such information often reveals more than one would like.

Redact

Mark the areas that should disappear. PDFolio removes the content from the document – text, images, annotations, and form fields within the marked area are no longer present afterwards.

Why this is important: Placing a black rectangle over text is not enough. The text still lies underneath and can be selected, copied, and searched – this is how the well-known blunders with "redacted" documents occur. PDFolio actually deletes the content and then re-checks the result. If desired, the document's metadata is also removed.

Export as Image

Saves individual pages or the entire document as PNG or JPG files.

Convert and Reduce Size

Office → PDF

Converts Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files to PDF. You don't need an installed Office suite for this.

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

Reduce File Size

For documents that are too large for email delivery. You choose between three levels: gentle, balanced, and strong. Fonts are consolidated, page content is cleaned up, and images are re-calculated.

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

Batch Processing

Applies an action to many PDF files simultaneously. You see the progress for each file individually.

Standard and Pro

After installation, all tools are available to you for 15 days. Documents saved during this period will have a watermark; after activation, it will be removed – however, already saved documents must be re-generated.

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

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

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 via email after purchase; it has the format PFO-STD-DIR-XXXXX-XXXXX-CC. You can copy the hyphens as well – PDFolio will clean up the input itself.

Use 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, contact our support – we will free up the slot for you.

Updates

PDFolio checks for a newer version on startup. You can turn off this check in the settings and also manually initiate it at any time.

What is checked before every installation: PDFolio checks the checksum and the code signature for every downloaded file. If either one 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 Privacy

Your documents do not leave your computer. There is no user account and no upload.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

My saved files have a watermark.

Then you are still in the trial phase. After activation with a license key, the watermark will be removed – however, you will need to re-generate already saved documents.

Isn't it enough to put 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 file does not get smaller when compressed.

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 no savings could be made.

A file cannot be opened.

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

The target file has a different name than expected.

PDFolio forms 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 shows a warning during setup.

For newly released versions, the SmartScreen filter occasionally reports an issue 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 restart the file.

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 Intel –, as well as Linux (64-bit, AppImage).

Still Have Questions?

If this page did not help 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 helps 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.