Edit PDFs right in your browser
Chrome opens PDFs but will not let you change a word of them. This extension adds the missing button: click it and whatever PDF you are looking at opens in a real editor, with its text ready to retype.
Not on the Chrome Web Store yet. The listing is in review. Until it is approved you can install the extension yourself from the source. The steps are further down this page.
How it works
1. Open a PDF in Chrome
Click any link ending in .pdf, or open a file from your computer. Chrome shows it in its built-in viewer, which is read-only.
2. Click the PDF Clay button
The toolbar icon becomes active whenever the page is a PDF. You can also right-click a link to a PDF and choose "Edit in PDF Clay" without opening it first.
3. Start typing
The document opens in the editor with its real text selectable. Click a word, retype it, and the original embedded font is kept: it does not become a picture or a text box pasted on top.
Why this is different from most PDF extensions
Most tools that claim to edit a PDF do not touch the original text. They lay a white rectangle over the old words and draw new ones on top in a substitute font. It looks passable on screen and falls apart the moment anyone selects the text, searches it, or prints it.
PDF Clay removes the original glyphs from the page and writes the replacement using the document's own embedded font. The result stays real text: selectable, searchable, and matching the rest of the page. That is the whole reason this project exists.
Scanned documents have no text to edit at all, only a picture of text. For those the editor can run recognition first, up to 50 pages a time, and then the words become editable like any other.
What the extension can and cannot see
Reads the tab’s address only
It checks whether the page you are on is a PDF. It does not read the contents of ordinary web pages.
Adds nothing to other sites
No scripts are injected anywhere. No ads, no trackers, no analytics of any kind inside the extension.
Local files need your say-so
Reading a PDF from your own disk requires you to switch on file access in Chrome. It cannot be granted quietly.
Keeps no history
Nothing about the document is stored once the editor tab opens. The upload itself is deleted within 6 hours.
Uploads travel over HTTPS. They are not separately encrypted while stored on the server, and we would rather say that than imply a protection that is not there. Full detail in the privacy policy.
Install it now
While the store listing is in review you can load the extension directly. It takes about a minute and works exactly the same.
- 1Download or clone the project, so you have the
extensionfolder on your computer. - 2Open
chrome://extensionsin a new tab. - 3Turn on Developer mode using the switch in the top right.
- 4Click Load unpacked and choose the
extensionfolder. - 5Optional: to edit PDFs stored on your computer, click Details on the extension and switch on Allow access to file URLs.
- 6Open any PDF and click the PDF Clay icon. Pin it to the toolbar so it is always one click away.
Questions
Is the extension free?+
Yes, and there is nothing to sign up for. It opens PDFs in the same free editor as the website.
Does the extension show ads?+
No. There are no ads and no analytics inside the extension, and it never adds anything to other websites you visit. Ads may appear on the website itself, which is what keeps the tools free.
What happens to my PDF?+
The extension reads the PDF in your browser and uploads it over an encrypted connection to the same place the website uses. It is deleted automatically within 6 hours, and there is a Delete button in the editor if you want it gone straight away.
Can it open PDFs saved on my computer?+
Yes, but Chrome requires you to allow it first. Open the extension’s details page and turn on "Allow access to file URLs". Chrome blocks extensions from reading local files until you grant that yourself, so nobody can enable it silently.
Which browsers does it work in?+
Chrome, and the other browsers built on Chromium: Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi all install Chrome extensions. Firefox and Safari use a different extension format and are not supported yet.
What permissions does it ask for, and why?+
Very few at install. It reads the address of the tab you are on so it knows whether that page is a PDF, and it talks to the PDF Clay server to upload the file. Permission to read a PDF from a particular website is only requested at the moment you click, for that site.
Do I need the extension to use PDF Clay?+
No. Everything works on the website by uploading a file as normal. The extension only saves you the download-then-upload step when a PDF is already open in your browser.
Or just edit a PDF right now
No extension needed. Upload a file on the website and start typing.
Open the editor