Inkstone
A simple, lightweight tabbed PDF reader for Windows and Linux that does more than
read: sign, fill, search, print, and reorganize pages — without the bloat,
subscriptions, or cloud uploads of commercial PDF software. Built to get away from
paid PDF suites for everyday reading, signing, and light editing.
Download
Grab the latest release — no account, no installer wizard hassle:
All versions: Releases page.
On Linux, make the AppImage executable first: chmod +x Inkstone-x86_64.AppImage.
The binaries are unsigned, so Windows SmartScreen may warn on first launch —
choose More info → Run anyway.
Read & navigate
- Open, page through, zoom, and fit-to-width
- Multiple tabs — open many PDFs at once; drag tabs to reorder
- Continuous vertical scrolling with crisp HiDPI rendering
- Sidebar with page thumbnails and the document outline / bookmarks —
click to jump (toggle with
F9)
- Find text in a document (
Ctrl+F) with match highlighting
- Print (
Ctrl+P)
- Recent files menu, and drag-and-drop one or more PDFs onto the window
- Dark mode for the app interface (View → Dark Mode)
Sign
- Apply your signature: Signature ▾ → Place signature on page, drag to
position, drag the corner to resize, rotate with
R / Shift+R, then save
- No transparent PNG needed — sign a blank sheet of paper, photograph it, and
open the photo; Inkstone removes the paper background automatically (keeps the ink,
even blue pen, and auto-crops)
- Remembers your signature image so you only pick it once
Fill & edit
- Typewriter / text tool (
Ctrl+T) — type directly onto a page (fill forms,
add notes), then save
- Highlighter (
Ctrl+H) — drop a marker-yellow highlight, drag it over the
text, resize with the corner handle, Delete to remove; saved as a real PDF
highlight annotation
- Undo (
Ctrl+Z) — reverses annotation placement/removal (inside a text box
it undoes typing)
- Page surgery — right-click any page to extract it to a new PDF,
rotate it left/right, or delete it from the document
- Append PDF — File → Append PDF... merges another PDF onto the end of the
open document
Save
- Saving overwrites the original file (atomic temp-file replace), or use
Save As (
Ctrl+Shift+S) to write a copy
> This applies a visual image of your signature. It is not a cryptographic /
> digital signature.
Run from source
python -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/python -m pip install -r requirements.txt # Windows: .venv\Scripts\python
.venv/bin/python main.py
Run the tests with:
.venv/bin/python -m pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
.venv/bin/python -m pytest tests/
First use:
- Signature ▾ → Signature setup... → pick your signature image (remembered
after this). No signature file? Sign a blank sheet of paper, take a photo, and
pick that — the paper background is removed for you.
- Open a PDF (or drag one onto the window).
- Signature ▾ → Place signature on page, position/resize/rotate it, then save.
Shortcuts
- Open:
Ctrl+O • Close tab: Ctrl+W • Save: Ctrl+S • Save As: Ctrl+Shift+S
- Find:
Ctrl+F • Print: Ctrl+P • Add text: Ctrl+T • Highlight: Ctrl+H • Undo: Ctrl+Z • Toggle sidebar: F9
- Rotate signature:
R / Shift+R
- Next / Previous page:
PageDown / PageUp
- Zoom in / out:
Ctrl++ / Ctrl+-, or Ctrl + mouse wheel
CI builds (GitHub Actions)
PyInstaller cannot cross-compile, so each binary is built on its own OS via the
bundled workflow (.github/workflows/build-pdf.yml). Pushing a v* tag builds
all three binaries and publishes them to a GitHub Release
automatically; the workflow can also be run from the Actions tab to get
artifacts without a release:
| Artifact | Contents |
|---|
Inkstone-windows-installer | Inkstone-Setup.exe — installer with Desktop + Start Menu shortcuts |
Inkstone-windows-portable | Inkstone.exe — portable, no install |
Inkstone-linux | Inkstone-x86_64.AppImage — portable |
Building locally
Linux AppImage
bash packaging/build_appimage.sh
# -> dist/Inkstone-x86_64.AppImage (chmod +x, then double-click)
Needs internet on first run (downloads appimagetool).
Windows portable .exe (build on Windows)
packaging\build_windows.bat
REM -> dist\Inkstone.exe (portable, double-click)
Windows installer (build on Windows)
Build the .exe first, then compile the installer with Inno Setup:
iscc packaging\inkstone_installer.iss
REM -> dist\Inkstone-Setup.exe (creates Desktop + Start Menu shortcuts)
Files
main.py — entry point, app iconviewer.py — main window: tab host, toolbar, menus, sidebar, dark mode, navigationdocument_tab.py — one open PDF per tab: render, navigate, zoom, sign, text, find, page surgerypdf_document.py — PyMuPDF wrapper: render pages, thumbnails, outline, stamp/save, extract/delete pagessidebar.py — page thumbnails + outline navigation panelsignature_item.py — draggable / resizable / rotatable signature overlaytext_item.py — draggable typewriter text overlayhighlight_item.py — draggable / resizable highlight overlaysignature_processing.py — turns a paper photo into a transparent-background signatureconfig.py — remembers signature path, last folder, recent files, window geometry, UI prefsversion.py — version string + CI build provenancesecurity/ — self-contained pre-commit security gatepackaging/ — PyInstaller spec, AppImage + Windows build scripts, Inno Setup
installer script, icons
License
Released into the public domain under The Unlicense — free for
anyone to use, modify, and distribute, forever, with no restrictions.