Blog
Engineering blog about client-side PDF processing, WebAssembly, privacy-first web apps, and building free PDF tools. No fluff, no ads — just technical deep-dives.
How WebAssembly Powers Client-Side PDF Processing
Learn how ILikePdf uses WebAssembly to run Ghostscript and PDF libraries directly in your browser — zero server uploads, zero privacy exposure.
Read More →PDF Compression Guide: Reduce File Size Without Losing Quality
Complete guide to PDF compression. Learn the difference between lossless and lossy compression, image downsampling, and font subsetting.
Read More →Why Client-Side PDF Processing Is the Future of Document Privacy
Server-upload PDF tools expose your documents. Here's why client-side processing with WebAssembly is the privacy-first alternative.
Read More →ILikePdf vs iLovePDF vs Smallpdf: 2026 Comparison
Detailed comparison of free PDF tools: ILikePdf vs iLovePDF vs Smallpdf. Features, privacy, limits, and pricing compared.
Read More →Building a PWA PDF Editor: Lessons from Shipping ILikePdf
Technical deep-dive into building a production PWA for PDF editing — service workers, offline support, manifest config, and caching strategies.
Read More →Why we write about PDF engineering
Most PDF tool sites are black boxes — you upload a file and never learn what happens to it. We publish these articles to show how client-side processing actually works: the WebAssembly engines, the memory trade-offs, the compression algorithms, and the privacy reasoning behind each design decision. If you build for the web, or just care about what happens to your documents, these posts will give you a working mental model.
What we write about
The blog covers four threads: how WebAssembly runs PDF engines in the browser, practical document engineering like compression algorithms, the privacy design of client-side tools, and honest comparisons with the major PDF services. New posts appear roughly every two weeks, and each one explains the technical reasoning behind a decision we actually made building ILikePdf.