A few weeks ago, I needed to make a simple change to a PDF.
Nothing complicated.
I just wanted to merge a couple of files.
But somehow, a 10-second task turned into:
- Uploading my files to a server
- Waiting for them to process
- Closing ads and popups
- Running into file-size limits
- Downloading the file again
And I thought:
Why does working with a PDF still have to feel like this?
So I decided to build my own solution.
Introducing IHateLovePDF
I built IHateLovePDF — a free collection of PDF tools designed around one simple idea:
PDF operations should be fast, private, and simple.
The biggest decision I made was to process files directly inside the browser whenever possible.
That means your files don't need to be sent somewhere else just to perform a basic operation.
What I wanted to fix
I had four priorities:
⚡ Speed
No unnecessary upload → process → download cycle for operations that can happen locally.
🔒 Privacy
Your documents shouldn't have to leave your device for simple PDF operations.
🚫 No annoying ads
I wanted the interface to focus on the actual tool.
🧩 Simplicity
Choose a tool → select your file → get the result.
That's it.
What can it do?
Right now, IHateLovePDF includes tools for things like:
- Merging PDFs
- Splitting PDFs
- Compressing PDFs
- Rotating pages
- Extracting pages
- Reordering pages
- Converting images and PDFs
And I'm still working on it.
One thing I learned while building it
Doing something in the browser doesn't automatically make it fast.
Large files, memory usage, rendering, and keeping the UI responsive all become interesting problems when you're processing documents client-side.
Building this project taught me a lot about browser performance and designing around those limitations.
And there is still plenty I want to improve.
I'd love some developer feedback
The project is live:
I'd genuinely appreciate honest feedback.
- Was it fast on your device?
- Was anything confusing?
- Which PDF feature should I build next?
Every comment helps me improve the product.
Top comments (0)