PDF inspection tools

Read-only tools: they answer questions about a PDF without producing a modified one. PDF info viewer opens the file and reports its page count, page dimensions, embedded fonts and metadata — the first thing to check when a document prints at the wrong size, renders differently on someone else's machine, or is about to be sent somewhere it should not stay identifiable.

PDF page counter is the narrow version of that, built for counting across several files at once, which is what you need when a print quote or a filing limit is priced per page. Compare PDFs extracts the text from two documents and shows where they differ, so a revised contract or specification can be checked against the version you agreed to instead of read end to end again.

Inspection is nearly always the step before a decision — whether to send a file, whether to sign it, whether the copy you received matches the one you approved. That makes it an odd thing to do by handing the document to a third party first. These tools parse the file in your browser and show what they find on screen; nothing is stored, and closing the tab is the whole of the cleanup.