Palimpsest

Palimpsest is a modern, client-side web application for quick, secure, and intuitive PDF manipulation.

Features:

• Edit PDFs: Reorder, rotate, delete pages, and extract specific pages as images.
• Visual Splitting: Use interactive Bauhaus-style markers to define split points between pages and download chunks instantly.
• Merge PDFs: Combine multiple files seamlessly with a high-contrast sorting interface.
• Images to PDF: Batch convert PNG and JPG files into a single, cohesive PDF document with automatic aspect-ratio preservation.
• Privacy First: 100% browser-based. No PDF files ever leave your device or are uploaded to any server.

Tech Stack

• Framework: Vite with Vanilla Javascript.
• Aesthetic: Custom Bauhaus-inspired design system (high-contrast, geometric, zero-radius borders).
• Core Engine: pdf-lib for binary PDF mutations.
• Rendering: pdfjs-dist running in a Web Worker for high-fidelity page thumbnails.
• UX: SortableJS for drag-and-drop reordering, fflate for ultra-fast client-side ZIP generation for image/split exports.

Local Development

Ensure you have Node.js installed.

1. Install dependencies:

   npm install

2. Run the development server:

   npm run dev

3. Build for production:

   npm run build

   The optimized static assets will be generated in the /dist directory.

Deployment

Palimpsest compiles to a static website and can be hosted on any standard web server (Apache, Nginx, Vercel, Netlify).

• Base Path: The current build is configured with a base path of /palimpsest/ (see vite.config.js). If you are deploying to the root of your domain, change this to /.
• Static Assets: After running npm run build, upload the contents of the dist/ directory to your server (e.g., via scp or rsync).
• MIME Types: Ensure your production server serves .mjs files with the text/javascript MIME type. A public/.htaccess file is included for Apache environments.

Known Limitations

• Encryption: pdf-lib cannot natively rewrite streams of encrypted PDFs. Palimpsest includes logic to detect encrypted/password-protected PDFs and will gracefully instruct the user to unlock them first (e.g., via "Save as PDF" in Chrome).