Free · No server upload · Runs in your browser

PDF Analyzer Inspect PDF metadata, permissions, text, images, and referenced fonts in your browser.

Upload a PDF to inspect its properties, permissions, text, images, and referenced fonts — with optional OCR and tone estimates when you need deeper analysis.

See the four steps
Metadata inspection Permission checks Text stats Tone estimate Processed in your browser
Built & maintained by Bhavin J. Sheth | Updated

Analyze a PDF

Upload a PDF, choose an analysis level, and generate a report based on the features you select.

Drop your PDF here

PDF files only · one file at a time

Topical Overview

What is a PDF Analyzer?

A PDF Analyzer examines the properties and readable content of a PDF without altering the original file. It inspects document metadata, reported permission flags, extracted text statistics, detected image objects, referenced fonts, and optional tone estimates.

Properties, content, and structure

People use PDF analysis for tasks such as reviewing document properties, checking permissions, estimating word counts, and inspecting metadata before sharing a file.

pdf.js reads the document's structure, metadata, and permission flags directly; Tesseract.js processes scanned pages that lack a digital text layer; Chart.js visualizes the resulting data. Basic, Standard, and Advanced settings let you choose which layers to process.

What the report includes

Document metadata

Title, author, creator, producer, creation and modification dates.

Document permissions

Check printing, copying, and modification permissions reported by the parser. (Flags describe settings, not malware scanning.)

Text statistics

Word count, character count, and average words per page.

Keyword-based tone estimate

Estimate document tone by matching predefined positive and negative words in extracted text.

Fonts & detected images

List referenced font names and count detected image objects per page.

Choose the analysis depth you need

Page selection and OCR settings control which content is processed within that analysis level.

1

Upload your PDF

Drag it onto the upload area, or click Select PDF. Thumbnails and basic file info appear right away.

Corrupted or password-protected files may require unlocking first.
2

Configure analysis settings

Use the control panel to set preferences:

Page selection: all pages or a custom range (e.g., 1, 3-5).
Analysis level: Basic, Standard, or Advanced.
OCR for scans: enable for image-based scanned PDFs.
3

Analyze

Click Analyze PDF. The report builds section by section, with a progress bar tracking each step.

Runs entirely in this tab — no upload queue.
4

Review and export

Read through the results grid, then export as a PDF report, JSON, CSV, or plain text.

Visualized stats 4 export formats

Situations where knowing what's inside the PDF matters

Cases where the properties and structure of a file are as important as its visible content.

Common situations for analyzing a PDF, by user type
Use caseWhat to inspectTypical user
Document reviewReview metadata and document permissions before sharing a PDF publicly.Document reviewers
Academic researchExtract text, count words, estimate reading time, and review basic text statistics.Students & researchers
Business reportsConfirm printing and copying permissions on confidential documents before sharing.Operations teams
Content analysisReview keyword-based tone signals in extracted text and count detected image objects.Marketers & editors
Translation quotesGet an extracted word count as one input for estimating translation effort or quoting.Translators & agencies
Document archivingExtract creation dates and metadata for cataloguing and archival records.Archivists & librarians
Print preparationReview referenced fonts and detected image objects.Print operators
Permission reviewReview metadata and document permissions before accepting or sharing a PDF.Document owners & IT teams
Document review
Review metadata and document permissions before sharing a PDF publicly.
Document reviewers
Academic research
Extract text, count words, estimate reading time, and review basic text statistics.
Students & researchers
Business reports
Confirm printing and copying permissions on confidential documents before sharing.
Operations teams
Content analysis
Review keyword-based tone signals in extracted text and count detected image objects.
Marketers & editors
Translation quotes
Get an extracted word count as one input for estimating translation effort or quoting.
Translators & agencies
Document archiving
Extract creation dates and metadata for cataloguing and archival records.
Archivists & librarians
Print preparation
Review referenced fonts and detected image objects.
Print operators
Permission review
Review metadata and document permissions before accepting or sharing a PDF.
Document owners & IT teams
Analysis levels explained

Three analysis levels, from quick checks to detailed reports

From a quick compatibility check to detailed text and page analysis — pick the depth that matches your task.

Basic

The fastest option — confirms parser compatibility and inspects core metadata and permissions.

  • File info (name, size, pages)
  • PDF metadata inspection
  • Reported permission flags
  • Parser compatibility check

Standard

Adds text extraction, image detection, and referenced fonts on top of the Basic checks.

  • Everything in Basic
  • Extracted text from selected pages
  • Word & character counts
  • Detected images per page
  • Referenced font list

Advanced

The deepest analysis level — adds keyword-based tone estimates, estimated reading/speaking times, and page-wise content.

  • Everything in Standard
  • Keyword-based tone estimate
  • Estimated reading time
  • Estimated speaking time
  • Page-wise content viewer

When the report doesn't look right

What's actually happening, and the fastest way through it.

Symptom
Why it happens
Fix

"Invalid" compatibility check

The PDF is corrupted, password-protected, or non-standard.

Unlock with Unlock PDF first, or re-download the file.

Empty text extraction

The PDF is an image-based scan without selectable text.

Enable the OCR toggle and select the correct language, then re-analyze.

OCR is slow

A large scanned document takes time to render and OCR page by page.

Use Specific Pages to OCR only the pages you need, or switch to Standard analysis.

Permissions show "Unknown"

The PDF parser could not determine permission flags reliably, which can happen with encrypted files.

Unlock the PDF first, then re-upload to check its document permissions.

Tone always "Neutral"

The document contains few or no words from the English sentiment word list.

Normal for technical or formal text — tone uses a keyword-based heuristic.

Report charts missing

Advanced analysis was not selected, so chart visualizers were not generated.

Select Advanced analysis level to generate charts for tone and word counts.

"Invalid" compatibility

Why: Corrupted or encrypted PDF.

Fix: Unlock first or re-download.

Empty text

Why: Image-based scan.

Fix: Enable OCR.

OCR slow

Why: Large scan.

Fix: Use specific pages.

Permissions "Unknown"

Why: Encrypted or parser restricted.

Fix: Unlock first.

Tone "Neutral"

Why: No sentiment words matched.

Fix: Normal for technical docs.

Missing charts

Why: Not Advanced level.

Fix: Use Advanced analysis.

Get more reliable analysis results

A straightforward workflow that avoids common reprocessing.

Check parser compatibility first

Review the parser compatibility status after loading the PDF. If it is Invalid, fix or unlock the file before relying on the rest of the analysis.

Enable OCR for scanned documents

If the PDF is a scanned document without selectable text, enable OCR to extract text from page images.

Use specific pages for large PDFs

For large documents, analyze only the pages you need to reduce processing time and browser memory use.

Use Advanced for tone & timing

Reading time, speaking time, and tone estimations are processed at the Advanced level — Basic and Standard focus on structure and text.

Inspect metadata before sharing

Use the metadata panel to review author and generator fields before releasing a document to the public.

Export in the right format

Choose PDF for a visual summary, JSON for programmatic pipelines, CSV for spreadsheets, or TXT for plain text review.

PDF Analyzer FAQs

Answers to common questions about PDF analysis, OCR, privacy, permissions, and tone estimates.

Are my PDFs uploaded to a server for analysis?

No. The PDF is read and analyzed directly in your browser. The tool does not send the PDF file to our server for analysis.

What does the Parser Compatibility check mean?

A Compatible result means the PDF could be opened and parsed successfully by the browser PDF engine.

When should I use the OCR option?

Turn on Enable OCR when the PDF is an image-based scan. For digitally created PDFs that already have selectable text, OCR is unnecessary and slower — use it only if normal text extraction comes back empty or garbled.

How is the sentiment analysis calculated?

Word-list matching: the tool counts known positive and negative words in the extracted text and compares those counts to label the overall tone as Positive, Negative, or Neutral. It is a simple keyword-based heuristic, not a full NLP model.

What happens to my file after I'm done?

Nothing — it was never uploaded. The report is generated in your browser and downloaded as a new file; the original PDF stays untouched.

Behind the tool

How the PDF Analyzer works

This write-up explains how the browser-based analyzer reads PDF metadata, permissions, text, and scanned pages using client-side JavaScript libraries.

Published on freeCodeCamp

How to Build a Browser-Based PDF Analyzer Using JavaScript

Covers metadata inspection, permission checks, text extraction, OCR, and report generation — all while keeping documents on your device.

Read the write-up on freeCodeCamp

Written by Bhavin Sheth · Founder, AllInOneTools